The journal Les/Wood is published by the University of Ljubljana Press

Revija Les/Wood izhaja pod okriljem Založbe Univerze v Ljubljani

Abstract

With some 40,000 students, the University of Ljubljana is the largest and oldest university in Slovenia. It includes 26 faculties and academies, and covers all scientific disciplines. Consequently, its publishing activity is also very rich and wide-ranging. At the end of the academic year 2019/2020, when the University of Ljubljana celebrated its 100th anniversary, a long-held wish came true: that the university would have a single, united publishing house. The University of Ljubljana Press was thus established, joining the publishing activities of the faculties and academies through a unique organisational structure. While the basis of the University of Ljubljana Press remains the publishing activities of the faculties, an important step has been taken by starting to publish our publications under the common name of the University of Ljubljana Press. When this process is fully completed, it will become clear that the University of Ljubljana Press is one of the largest university presses in Europe, publishing more than 250 monographs per year.

The University of Ljubljana also publishes 50 international scientific journals. Almost all of the journals are open access, meaning that articles are available immediately after the publication of each issue. Since the journals have been published on a variety of websites and platforms, the University of Ljubljana Press has initiated a single web portal for the UL journals. The portal is based on the Open Journals Systems, which also provides all the necessary publishing steps for editors (electronic submission of articles, peer reviewing, etc.). The portal is available at https://journals.uni-lj.si/. The portal currently hosts 19 journals and has published more than 6,500 articles.

One of these journals is Les/Wood, which has been published twice a year in the open access diamond model since 2017. The journal continues the legacy of Wood: The Journal of the Wood Economy (Les: revija za lesno gospodarstvo), which was published continuously between 1949 and 2013. The journal publishes original research articles that explore the broad field of wood science and technology, topics that are particularly relevant to a sustainable approach in today's world. Wood is the only renewable resource we have in abundance in Slovenia. Therefore, it is very important to promote knowledge about wood and wood composites, as well as modern technologies for wood processing and treatment, and also to support research in construction and design, as well as the management of wood and wood products. The editorial office of Les/Wood is located at the Biotechnical Faculty of the University of Ljubljana and since 2021 the journal is published under the brand the University of Ljubljana Press. We believe that this step will help the journal gain greater international visibility and thus strengthen its interdisciplinary focus.

I would like to congratulate the editors of Les/Wood for all the work they have done to ensure that the journal achieves the high standards of academic publishing. Together, we will continue to promote the global exchange of knowledge and thus contribute to a more sustainable development of the modern world.