The growth of e‑government over the past few years has been remarkable – all the more so given the miserable experience of e‑business over the same period. Despite the dot.com crash, interest in e‑government is still growing with an increasing number of conferences, publications and special editions of journals dedicated to this topic. That there is a need for regular publications dedicated to this field (and the related field of e‑democracy) is now evident. That a new publication should be electronic is common sense.

With its traditional conservatism, the academy is slowly edging away from the world of print and toward the world of electronic publication. If one thinks about it, a print journal dedicated to e‑business in any of its forms looks increasingly anomalous in this day and age. So the launch of an Electronic Journal of e‑Government is not only timely, but also in keeping with a longer term migration of academic publication away from the tyranny of paper.

Up to now, much of the reluctance to move to electronic publishing in the academic world has had to do with concerns about quality. Established print journals have elaborate peer‑review processes that not only ensure that what is published is high quality, but that also deliver credibility when presented in CVs to promotion boards or a tenure committees. Just about anybody with a basic knowledge of HTML can publish a journal on the web and the result is a great deal of dross masquerading as serious work. However there is no reason why an electronic journal should not apply equally strict standards and carry just as much weight as its paper cousins provided clear reviewing and publications procedures are rigorously applied. Given these, the ease of availability, the speed of dissemination and the relatively low, sometimes zero, access cost for readers create an overwhelming case for this medium. While it would be rash to predict the imminent demise of the printed journal, it is probable that that in ten years time selected sites on the web (or its successor) will, at the very least, be just as prestigious a forum in which to publish.

The Electronic Journal of E‑Government therefore welcomes submissions from contributors in all areas of e‑government and e‑democracy. The editors are particularly concerned that the coverage should be international and the journal will encompass both theoretical papers, empirical research and/or papers describing practice from both the academic and practitioner communities. It is intended to establish this journal as a seminal source of good research and practice information on e‑government.

Finally, while there is a solid and rapidly growing literature on e‑government, e‑democracy is not by any means as well served. For this reason we would particularly welcome articles on e‑democracy and particularly on the potential for and limits of information and communications technologies to make for a more democratic and politically engaged society.