The Editors are pleased to report that the Journal of Zoology had another successful year in 2001. The submission of high-quality papers has continued to increase in numbers, and although these are most welcome, it means that far more papers are received than we are able to publish. We therefore have to make hard decisions about the selection of topics to be covered and we have to keep a balance between vertebrate and invertebrate taxa. In August, it was agreed that the focus of the Journal should be re-directed to the publication of hypothesis-driven research that is of interest to the general reader in zoology. Although we will continue to publish original research and reviews within the whole field of zoology, and provide information on the latest trends and developments, papers on the systematics of a restricted number of taxa, or on topics of specialist interest only, will not normally be accepted. We have also introduced a mechanism for accelerated publication for papers that are considered to be of topical interest or those that describe innovative research.