This is a new initiative from TJA – the opportunity for readers to provide thoughtful short responses to opinion pieces – and any other articles – published in TJA, other than submitting fully fledged articles. 

The need for this outlet for readers’ inputs is heightened by TJA’s return to the practice of publishing invited opinion pieces – that can turn out on occasion to be highly polemical, as you can see from this issue.  

Such short articles – or ‘letters to the Editor’ – should be sent by email to TJA’s Managing Editor, under the heading of ‘Reader’s response’.   Excluding any articles that would bring the Journal into disrepute, these will be published regularly in updates of the ‘Readers’ responses’ page, between issues of the quarterly TJA.  It is essential that authors provide full contact details (phone and postal addresses as well as email) so that verification of their identity can be checked if necessary.  TJA reserves the right of light editing to improve punctuation, grammar and spelling – as it does for the more traditional articles it publishes.

Readers’ responses should not exceed 500 words each, to improve their readability.  Readers’ responses to other readers’ responses will be accepted for publication if they are seen to add to constructive policy debate.