With this volume, the Journal of the History of Biology marks the transition to new co-editors in a succession of past editors to whom we are grateful for making it the primary publication venue for historians of biology. We are keenly aware of the Journal’s importance in shaping the field, and indeed in constituting it, and have benefitted from it as both readers and authors -- especially as early career scholars. That is why we were delighted to assume the editorship of this journal for the next five years. We take our role as chief editors seriously, viewing it as a responsibility, and an honor, but also as a way of thanking and enabling the community that was instrumental in fostering our own careers as scholars.

We plan to continue with much of what has preceded, keeping to the Journal’s mission as a source accessible and valuable for practicing life scientists, while at the same time one upholding the highest standards of historical scholarship. We hope that our backgrounds in science will help us engage effectively with practicing scientists, and believe that our complementary historiographic expertise in different areas of the life sciences, and differing methodologies and philosophies, will foster a diverse and inclusive scholarly community. We strive to welcome a variety of approaches to the more classical domains of the history of biology, but also applaud work that connects approaches rooted in other disciplines -- philosophy, sociology, anthropology, literary studies, and area studies– to the history of biology, and that explores the intersections of race, class, gender and disabilities with life science.

We are especially pleased that the Journal has become much more international over the years, and includes not just submissions exploring the history of biology in a variety of contexts, but also includes an editorial board with an increasingly international flavor. We very much hope to continue this trend and trust that our own international backgrounds and affiliations will help. Indeed, though it can be a temporal challenge, we celebrate the fact that communications for JHB often start in Australia, make stops in India and the Netherlands before reaching the United States, making production of this journal now a truly global effort. We also hope that the regional emphasis placed on some of our Topical Collections will provide us with an even broader global perspective bringing new scholars into the history of biology, and are especially keen to assist the continued acquisitions of new manuscripts that will fulfill their initial promise.

And if impact factors or any such metrics are accurate indicators of success, the Journal is on an upward trajectory, thanks to the efforts of the many past editors, but especially to Karen Rader and Marsha Richmond. They have worked tirelessly not just on the journal but also in helping make the editorial transition as smooth as possible, along with the staff at Springer Nature, as have the many graduate students at Wayne State University assisting production over the past five years. We are especially appreciative of the long service of Lijing Jiang as book review editor, who has been working with us as we try to meet the many challenges resulting from changes in the publication world, the international postal service, as well as pandemic-related stresses on reviewers. Some journals have accommodated to these challenges by abandoning book reviews altogether, but we feel that book reviews remain crucial for the field and especially for early career scholars. Indeed, given these challenges we believe that the role of book review editor has become too great a burden for any one person, and moving forward, we are taking on the role of book review editors ourselves. One new feature of the journal will be an “Editor’s Pick,” a featured book review that will draw on the expertise of the Associate Editors, the Topical Collections Editors, as well as the Editors-in-Chief. We thus anticipate a more active role for both the Editorial Board and the Topical Collection editors in serving as book reviewers, as well as referees and advisors in our shared venture.

This first issue contains some of these book reviews we have actively solicited ourselves. The articles were all submitted and reviewed under Karen Rader and Marsha Richmond’s leadership. We anticipate that many of the next issues this year will be filled with manuscripts they have shepherded through most or all of their journey to publication, and look forward to seeing new manuscripts through all stages in our new roles. We are aware that the Editorial Manager system employed by Springer Nature has been designed to work primarily for scientific publications, and have been working with the publisher to make production as a whole friendlier to the humanities. In the interest of consistency in copy-editing, however, we have returned to the style sheet long endorsed by Springer, and hope this will make the process much easier and less confusing given the digital realities of 21st century publications such as JHB. We do note that Springer Nature will be adopting a new submission platform this year and anticipate enhanced operation.

We thus look forward to working with all of you in the coming years and encourage you to submit your best work, as ever, and also to suggest topics and books to review. We especially encourage early career scholars to send us manuscripts to read, and welcome advice from experienced veterans on the JHB team. We encourage you to write to us at our joint account jhistbioleditors@gmail.com or to consult us individually at N.Rasmussen@unsw.edu.au and bsmocovi@ufl.edu. We hope to meet JHB readers new to us and catch with up old friends in person at future meetings, especially at ISHPSSB and HSS.

Nicolas Rasmussen

Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis

Co-Editors