Research and practice can co-exist

Abstract

Welcome to another issue of SPIP offering you insights into the most recent activities in the software process improvement arena. Since its inception, SPIP has endeavoured to combine the latest contributions in research with practice reports and stories of actual implementation of good practice. Stories recounting experiences, lessons, problems and solutions offer an extremely valuable learning tool and opportunity for reflection. We have therefore always viewed them as a crucial part of the repertoire of papers that we offer our readers. Over the years we have seen many good papers in both categories. Our secret wish for the future is for a more integrated publication when we no longer need to make a distinction between the different categories of papers. Indeed, many research papers are grounded in practice and address the true needs of the process community. Likewise, many practice papers have a good grasp of practical research that can be used to support further discovery and can thus be based on empirical knowledge and wellsupported evidence.