To kick off a new year and a new issue, Points of View authors Susan J. Ellis and Steve McCurley sink their editorial talons into the lack of quality academic research on volunteering, lashing out at researchers who approach volunteering as a mystery and routinely neglect to build on existing practitioner literature. True to form, these intrepid volunteer management experts offer suggestions designed to help academics meet stringent scholarly standards while conducting research that’s genuinely helpful to those working daily with volunteers. And they also challenge volunteer management practitioners to be more supportive of academics and volunteerism research, providing a few suggestions to promote valuable interaction between the two groups. After all, Ellis and McCurley conclude, “Academic researchers can, theoretically at least, be of use in the real world.” Read more