Introduction

With this issue Scandinavian Political Studies enters a new phase: after twelve volumes of the Yearbook we embark on the publication of a quarterly. Volume 12 of the Yearbook series was sent out to our subscribers and the booksellers only a few weeks ago: you will find a list of its contents on another page. We wound up the Yearbook series with a set of detailed accounts of developments in our discipline over the years since we first started to plan this joint Nordic venture. The Board of our Nordic Political Science Association decided to use this opportunity to take stock of the progress made and the difficulties encountered over this 15-year period and commissioned articles country by country on the growth of the profession and on trends in the production of research.

We recommend this last issue of the yearbook series to all readers of this quarterly: the volume offers a useful introduction to political science in the Nordic countries and will serve for some time as a key reference work for any one interested in acquiring information about institutions, projects, and publications.

The Nordic Political Science Association decided to switch to a new format for Scandinavian Political Studies in October, 1976. Several factors accounted for this decision: the increase in the volume of papers submitted, the need for speedier publication of research reports, the greater flexibility of the quarterly format, the greater ease of marketing. The Association hopes to make Scandinavian Political Studies an effective organ for the exchange of information about research, about findings, about methods, and about efforts of theory construction, not only across the five Nordic countries, but among all scholars interested in the advancement of the discipline.

The basic editorial policy remains unchanged: Scandinavian Political Studies is open to all Nordic scholars active in political research as well as to scholars from other countries contributing to records on the five countries. To ensure the highest possible quality, no article will be accepted until it has been judged by at least one referee from another country. We shall continue to distinguish between research articles and surveys of current events. We hope to be able to bring regular surveys of recent

elections and other recent developments in each country, not necessarily in each issue, but at least twice a year. We shall not bring ordinary book reviews but will from time to time commission review articles covering larger bodies of recent literature. We shall no longer publish yearly bibliographies as in the earlier series: instead we have decided to issue a selective bibliography every third year.

We call upon all political scientists in the Nordic countries to send in articles and reports for consideration, even in rough drafts. It is important for us to establish the closest possible links with all departments and universities and we look forward to extensive interchanges in the years to come.

Bergen, January 1978