Historical perspectives
The Geological Survey of Norway, which was founded in 1858, began publishing collections of papers on Norwegian geology in 1890. During these early years, and in the first part of the 20th century, almost all papers were in Norwegian, although the very first article in English appeared in 1905. Papers in the English language have dominated from around 1960. The publications, which were numbered consecutively, had no formal title until as late as 1972 when two separate series were introduced¿the Bulletin, in English, and the Skrifter, in Norwegian. The consecutive numbering was maintained, however, with a secondary number for each series, but in 1984 the Bulletin formally took over the main numbering system that had then existed for over 90 years. At the start of the new millennium, after 110 years of publishing, we had reached Bulletin 435.
The Bulletin today
The Bulletin publication series of the Geological Survey of Norway comprises contributions to the Earth Sciences with special reference to Norwegian geology, geophysics, geochemistry, hydrogeology and certain aspects of environmental geology. Manuscripts on particular topics of geoscience research from neighbouring countries may, in certain cases, also be considered, providing that the subject matter is if direct interest to Norwegian geology.
In general, a volume of Bulletin consists of several research papers on diverse topics. From time to time, a collection of papers may appear as a thematic Bulletin; for example, on the geology of one particular region, or on one particular aspect of geoscientific research.
Papers are published online consecutively after revisions and editorial handling is complete at www.ngu.no/bulletin. Papers published within the same year constitute one volume, with the possibility of intermittent thematic volumes. This ensures speedy publication, generally within 2 months of submission.