Editorial

This issue marks the handover of the managingeditorship of the New Zealand Geographerfrom Professor Eric Pawson at the Universityof Canterbury to Associate Professor EtienneNel at the University of Otago. The managingeditor role was created in 2005 when responsi-bility for publication of the journal wasassumed by Blackwell, now Wiley-Blackwell.An editorial at the time observed that ‘[w]eredefine ourselves as an internationally focusedyet New Zealand based journal committed to arange of scholarly work across the concerns ofgeography. With that broad remit we aim tostand out as a significant journal within the aca-demic and educational landscape’ (Kearns et al.2005, p. 2).

Over the last six years, the journal has stoodout in a number of ways, some conspicuous,some less so but nonetheless, of everydayutility. First, its availability has increased signifi-cantly. It is now accessible through about 4000libraries worldwide, usually as part of elec-tronic portfolios. This is a 20-fold increase, andit has seen the journal enter parts of the world,such as East Asia and many developing coun-tries, in which it was previously invisible.Second, the entire backlist of the journal, fromits founding issue in 1945, has been made avail-able by the publisher on the journal’s website.Third, and in recognition of its growing quality,the journal was accepted as part of the SocialScience Citation Index in 2007, with its firstimpact factor released in 2009. In 2010, thisincreased to 0.75, ranking the New ZealandGeographer at 41 in the list of 61 geographyjournals in the index. In all these senses, thejournal has benefited as the 2005 editorial said,‘from the global reach available to a major pub-lisher of high-impact journals’ (Kearns et al.2005, p. 1).

The journal, however, retains its own charac-ter as the emblematic New Zealand cabbagetree (Cordyline australis) on the cover indi-cates. It remains dedicated, as it always has, to

recognition of the interdependence of thephysical and human aspects of our world. Thecore of the journal continues to carry, as doesthis issue, important research papers in bothphysical and human geography. It is one of thefew mainstream journals to have, in its Geo-Edsection, an ongoing commitment to geographi-cal education. Each issue carries a Commen-tary, which seeks to raise matters for reflectionamong the wider community of geographers inNew Zealand and in overseas. In this issue, it iscontributed by the President of the NewZealand Geographical Society. A short Geo-News section, now supplemented by news on amuch improved Society website, carries itemsof wider interest such as awards and obituaries.Each issue is rounded off with a lively bookreview section.

The journal continues to welcome contribu-tions from around the world and from differentparts of the profession. In this issue, we publishpapers not only from New Zealand but alsofrom colleagues based in Canada,Australia andGermany. We aim to stimulate debate and dia-logue, as is exemplified by the lively exchangefollowing the first Research article in this issue.The journal wishes to encourage writing bypostgraduate researchers, one of whom is rep-resented in this issue, and from practicingteachers. Having repositioned ourselves inrecent years to reflect the nature and vitality ofthe discipline of geography, as seen from aSouth Pacific base, we remain committed to‘standing out with all the distinctiveness andtenacity of the New Zealand cabbage tree’(Kearns et al. 2005, p. 1).

Eric Pawson and Etienne Nel

Reference

Kearns R, Nichol S, Flaws M (2005). Editorial: Repo-sitioning ourselves. New Zealand Geographer61, 1–2.

New Zealand Geographer (2011) 67, 1

© 2011 The AuthorsNew Zealand Geographer © 2011 New Zealand Geographical Society

doi: 10.1111/j.1745-7939.2011.01190.x