After eight years as Editor, David Middleton is stepping down. We thank him warmly for the work he has done for Edinburgh Journal of Botany (EJB). During his time the journal has always been published on time, circulation has increased and the time from submission to publication has remained short for a print journal at about a year.

The job of editing EJB is being redefined as I take over. First, I shall be Editor for a fixed term of three years. More importantly, I shall be assisted by a team of Associate Editors whose names and responsibilities may be seen in this issue. The journal’s broad range of botanical research will be kept, with a strong emphasis on taxonomy. Submissions to EJB should be sent to ejb@rbge.org.uk as always. Those that are suitable in content and quality will be forwarded by me to the Associate Editor responsible for the subject area. The Associate Editor will commission reviews and correspond with the authors until the manuscript is ready to return to me for final editing and the next stages of publication.

Scientific publication is changing rapidly with advances in electronic publication. During my editorship, the ways in which EJB might adopt some of the new methods will be assessed. These may include online manuscript submission, open access and early online viewing.

The role of the Editorial Advisory Board is being considered. For the time being, it is to remain substantially unaltered but this too will be assessed over the coming three years.

Authors are encouraged to submit copy in any of the subject areas covered by the journal to the email address given above. We look forward to publishing a wide range of high-quality botanical works.