It is a great pleasure to introduce Global Policy: Next Generation, a new annual issue of Global Policy Journal, edited by early career researchers and dedicated to publishing the work of early career researchers. It is an even greater pleasure to introduce the first editorial team who have turned the idea of exploring ‘next‐generation’ research in global politics and policy into a reality. In my capacity as the executive editor of Global Policy Journal, I am immensely proud to have worked with three extraordinarily talented PhD researchers: Gregory Stiles (University of Leeds), Emma Lecavalier (Durham University/University of Toronto) and Amna Kaleem (University of Sheffield). It is difficult to overstate the impact of their hard work, critical abilities, creative thinking, and collegial mindsets on the production of such a fantastic first GPNG issue.
Global Policy: Next Generation is the most important output to have emerged out of Global Policy North, an informal network of academics and researchers based in the north of England, with a hub at Durham University’s Global Policy Institute. This first issue of GPNG has benefited from invaluable support offered by Durham University and Wiley‐Blackwell, the co‐owners of Global Policy Journal, and by the steering committee of Global Policy North.
My aims for GPNG were three‐fold. First, GPNG was set up to be a platform for training a new generation of journal editors in honing their interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary skills as well as their capacities for critical, yet constructive engagement with authors from across the world. Second, GPNG aims to be a virtual workshop for early career researchers who would like to benefit from peer to peer mentoring as an integral part of the often challenging publication process. Third, the content of GPNG is to reflect emerging themes in the areas of global collective action problems and transnational policy research.
The questions underpinning the Global Policy: Next Generation initiative are therefore about what is new in global policy research, who is working on these themes, and what are the different and competing perspectives they bring to the table. The first issue showcases these answers in an exemplary way. The GPNG editors and I look forward to collaborating on the next set of issues. Their editorial introduces the context and the content in greater detail. My role here is to formally thank them for sharing their intellectual expertise and entrepreneurship.
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