Editorial

After more than forty years of existence, the field of humour research is flourishing. It seems that now more than ever the time is right for the study of humour in general. But how do we facilitate progress in our field? As Willibald Ruch rightly pointed out, “(…) as academics we don’t only have the obligation to conduct research and further our understanding of humour and laughter. We also have the obligation to teach our knowledge to those who want to learn and also to inform the public about what we know and what we don’t know in this area” (Ruch 2003: 5). Now that the field is mature and the work of researchers has moved into the mainstream of scholarly dialogue, the establishment of new alternative forums is the path to follow. Consequently, the present journal aims at promoting diversity in the field and providing a meaningful arena for discussion. Moreover, given that humour research spreads across many different journals and author or edited volumes, it is in our best interest, as an academic community, to be able to provide a new freely accesible scholarly journal that addresses the humour research community at large. Thus, the European Journal of Humour Research is an open-access multidisciplinary forum which is complementary to the leading HUMOUR: International Journal of Humour Research or the newly-born yet already acknowledged Israeli Journal of Humour Research: An International Journal.