Editorial

Abstract

This is the first issue of volume 92 of the Netherlands Journal of Geosciences – Geologie en Mijnbouw (NJG). Last year we concluded with the thick centenary volume of KNGMG, which followed the even thicker special issue in honour of Jef Vandenberghe. Together with the other papers that appeared in volume 91, we have good confidence that the journal’s impact factor will again approach 1.0, ranking NJG above many other established journals with a regional scope. At the end of last year I stepped down as editor-in-chief after a period of five years and as editorial board member from 2003-2012. During this period NJG evolved from black-white to full-colour and we made a start with electronic publishing in cooperation with IGITUR. I am happy to leave behind a healthy journal which would not have been possible without the many authors who submitted their manuscripts to NJG, the special issue editors, reviewers, editorial board members, NJG foundation, and IGITUR publishing. A special thanks goes to Jos Rietstap, who not only created the attractive NJG lay-out, but is always dedicated as technical editor to produce a nearly perfect and good looking journal issue. I have full confidence in the editorial board and especially Ronald van Balen to lead the journal to a new level.   Wim Hoek, editor in chief 2008-2012   We are very grateful to Wim Hoek for the energy and enthusiasm which he devoted to our journal. I am honoured to be appointed the new editor-in-chief, and I will do my utmost best to be as dedicated as he was. In addition, we welcome Geert-Jan Vis, physical geographer and sedimentologist, as our new editorial board  member. Geert-Jan made his PhD on the development of the river Tagus (Portugal) and is now active in  modelling the deeper geology of the Netherlands at TNO – Geological Survey of the Netherlands. The outlook for the journal for the next year is good. However, a major concern remains the relative low number of good quality manuscripts that we currently attract. This year and also the start of next year we expect again full issues but we will rely heavily on special issues. Of course we welcome these special contributions, but we would like to see more regular papers. So, please keep sending us your manuscripts. Hopefully we can make the transition to full Open Access in the near future, since that would increase the number of submitted manuscripts, the publication speed and the number of citations.    Ronald van Balen, editor-in-chief, also on behalf of editors Rick Donselaar, Jeroen Schokker and Hanneke Verweij Netherlands Journal of Geosciences