The publishing environment for scientific research is changing dramatically after years of relative stasis. For academic journals like , the current turbulence presents both challenges and opportunities. I am pleased to report in this year-end editorial that the journal is up to the task. We have introduced several initiatives that are enabling us to evolve, adapt and diversify, thus maintaining our reputation as the world's leading and most prestigious journal in organismal biology. Our editors and support staff in London have continued to work hard to improve publication metrics, while seeking new avenues to achieve the Royal Society's mission of ‘recognizing, promoting and supporting excellent in science’. This requires us to be nimble but highly selective in what we publish, giving preference to articles that present novel research findings and syntheses of broad general interest to our readership. Given the increasing number of journals competing for exciting new articles in the biological sciences, this represents a major challenge. Making the most attractive option for authors is one of our major goals, and we have tried to do this by diversifying our editorial board, decreasing decision times and providing various opportunities for authors to promote their findings more broadly via social media and through blogs.
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