Since my last editorial, in the spring issue earlier this year, there have been a few significant events concerning the International Journal of Practice Development (IPDJ); I’d like very much to share an overview of these now. First, we had a face to face board meeting with members of the International Practice Development Collaborative (IPDC) in Toronto, Canada. Members of the Collaborative were very pleased with the progress of the IPDJ and have committed to providing funding that will enable it to continue being the primary publication for practice development papers and allow the editorial team at the Foundation of Nursing Studies to carry on growing the journal’s reputation. I for one am very grateful to the IPDC for its confidence and continuing support for the journal. As a reminder this is our shared vision:

The International Practice Development Journal is an online journal with a vision, over the next five years, of becoming the first choice publication for academics and practitioners working in the practice development field internationally. Our commitment is to publish and make freely accessible, scholarly inquiry into practice development and related fields, and expand the international community of practitioners, educators and academics working in the area of practice development. Our aim is to publish material that challenges assumptions and provokes new visions and ideas, helping health care workers engage in dialogue about the contribution practice development makes to health care services and academia (https://www.fons.org/library/about-ipdj.aspx).

Second, the IPDC held its international conference (Enhancing Practice 14) in Toronto, in September. The conference was a lively and creative gathering in many ways and our appreciation goes out to the organisers from West Park Healthcare Centre and Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing at Ryerson University. Here the IPDJ team were able to talent-spot for new authors and potential papers, and we very much hope to see these authors and their papers coming through into publication in 2015. Those of you who like to get your diaries organised well in advance might like to note the next Enhancing Practice Conference will be in summer 2016, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Third, this year has seen several well deserved tributes and awards coming to one of IPDC’s founding members, Professor Brendan McCormack, of Queen Margaret’s University, Edinburgh. It is wonderful to see his work recognised publically and internationally, beyond the practice development community – more of which can be read in this issue’s guest editorial. However, we thought it fitting for the practice development community itself to acknowledge these achievements. So, we have for you an issue that offers a taster of the research and development Brendan has been involved with along, with some of his students and colleagues. We also thank all the other authors for their contributions in this issue. Enjoy!

This article by Jan Dewing is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 3.0 License.