With the present issue, Volume 5, Issue 1, Lessons Learned appears in principle later than originally planned. However, this timing is far less significant than it would have been in previous years. With our recent transition to a consistent online-first publication model, the emphasis has shifted from the release date of a complete issue to the timely publication of individual scholarly articles.

Online first primarily means one thing: clear benefits for our authors. Articles are published immediately after successful peer review and completion of the editorial process. They become visible, citable, and accessible without the need to wait for an entire issue to be finalized. This approach accelerates the dissemination of research results and allows contributions to enter scholarly discourse at an earlier stage, benefiting both authors and readers. The complete volume is then assembled organically, once all articles assigned to it have been published.

In this context, the later appearance of the present volume should not be understood as a drawback, but rather as the result of a more flexible and author-centered publishing process. Lessons Learned no longer follows rigid publication dates; instead, a volume is closed when it is complete in terms of content.

We are especially pleased to announce an important milestone for the journal’s visibility and reputation: Lessons Learned has recently been accepted into the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Inclusion in the DOAJ recognizes our editorial standards, the transparency of our workflows, and our strong commitment to open access publishing. For authors, this means increased international discoverability and an additional level of quality assurance through a widely respected index of open access journals.

At the same time, we are already looking ahead. The next issue, Volume 5, Issue 2, will be created and published online in the coming days. It will be the first thematic special issue of Lessons Learned, marking an important step toward providing focused spaces for in-depth scholarly discussion. Like the current issue, it will be published entirely in online-first mode and will gradually take shape as individual articles become available.

We thank all authors, reviewers, and readers for their continued trust and support. With these developments, Lessons Learned is well positioned to further strengthen its role as an open, visible, and contemporary forum for scholarly insights and reflective practice.

Stefan Odenbach