Abstract

One way to think about research articles is to consider them to be ‘answers’ that are offered up to the readership. But that is a somewhat one-sided definition and rather negates the role of the reader. Instead of seeing the articles in this edition of New Vistas as a series of scholarly results, we might instead consider them to be the starting points for future thinking. In reading through the work presented for this edition I found myself asking lots of questions and questioning a whole series of personal assumptions. I found myself examining my biases and reflecting on some areas of life that I had never really examined in a deep and meaningful way. It is for this reason that I am so grateful to our authors. Each has offered some unique insight into modern life, sometimes through examining the past; sometimes through examining policy; sometimes through examining practice, and sometimes through examining the very nature of knowledge. All the work in this edition offers insight, scrutiny and expert analysis but, like any good research, the articles here don’t just offer simple answers, they push you to respond. The authors of this edition of New Vistas examine policy, practice and scholarship. We open with Kwok asking why dissatisfied customers no longer complain and never return their goods. Further scrutiny of modern business life is then offered by Devlin through discussion on air transportation public service obligations. Then, in our third article, Ells shines a light on the litigation rules of practice in England and Wales. From these socio-economic perspectives we move to a much more subjective arena as Robertson, Stock and Görzig offer some unique insight into whether societal perceptions of butch and feminine lesbians are changing. Godwin Pearce further examines the subjective in a powerful exploration of the experiences of Black students. As a scholarly journal it is pleasing to read in our final article Forster and Omar’s well-informed piece on Information Literacy – as this type of work underpins everything else that is offered here. Finally, we close with a profile of Marcus Nicholls, whose PhD work examined the interplay between text and media in Huysmans’ novel, À Rebours. The work presented here is rich and varied. There are some ‘answers’ but I hope that, like me, you also feel provoked by the articles and they offer you the chance to find out more about the world around us; ask difficult questions and push for good answers. In the current climate we can find ourselves shielded from the truth – some in authority lie to us; some restrict our access to the facts; some pretend that everything will be just fine if we put our trust in them. But blind acceptance is not the academic way. This is why is am so pleased that our authors look under the stones of reality. They peek inside the cracks and crevices of modern life. They ask questions. And they help us to ask questions.

How to Cite:

Blair, E., (2019) “Editor's note”, New Vistas 5(2), 1. doi: https://doi.org//uwl.84