The “Journal of Software: Evolution and Process” is an archival journal that publishes high quality, state-of-the-art research and practice papers dealing with the conception, development, testing, management, quality, maintenance, and evolution of software, systems, and services, as well as the continuous improvement of processes and capabilities surrounding them. The journal continues the tradition of “The Journal of Software Maintenance and Evolution: Research and Practice” and “Software Process: Improvements and Practice”. We will therefore continue to cover the traditional topics related to software maintenance and evolution as well as software process improvement and practice. At the same time, the concept behind the journal has evolved into a unified vision that recognizes the fundamental changes and transformations that are occurring in the fields of software and systems engineering and the need for us to adapt by broadening the topics that we address and the research methods that are used coupled with the perspectives that are utilised.

Fundamental changes are occurring in the variety, scale and scope of software, systems and services that are being developed from new web and mobile computing to battle theatre technologies and everything in between.