Report of the Editor of the American Political Science Review, 2003–2004

This is the third annual report that I have submitted since assuming the editorship of the APSR in September of 2001. In my initial report, I characterized 2001–2002 as a start-up year for the new editorial office, greatly complicated by the September 11 attacks and the disruption of mail service by the anthrax threat, but highlighted by major procedural and outreach initiatives and by a massive upsurge in submissions. My second report described a year of beginning to settle in to a more “normal” operating mode, of undergoing an intensive internal review and instituting new procedural refinements as a consequence, and of experiencing a further, and unexpected, increase in submissions. The main theme of my third report is one of stability—continuity with, rather than major departures from, the situation described in last year's report. I think it is accurate to say that during the past year we functioned in normal operating mode rather than making it up as we went along, as often seemed to be the case during the early going.