Abstract

It becomes already traditional that the journal Thermal Science makes a selection of the papers presented at the Dubrovnik Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems. In this issue we have a pleasure to select papers presented at the 4th Dubrovnik Conference, held in 2007, with special emphasis to the sustainable development and the needs for new energy policy in the countries from the South Eastern European region. Influence of the topics discussed at Dubrovnik Conferences on the energy policies of the countries in the region, can be clearly noticed looking at the research and development activities of the modern energy efficient technologies and use of renewable energy sources. The best examples are the topics and R&D&D projects financed in the frame of the National Energy Efficiency Program of Serbia, presented in the issues No. 2, 2006 and No. 4, 2006. Having in mind wide scope of problems in implementation of the new energy policies in the South East European countries, Guest editors this time made a choice in the range from the problems in traffic to the use of biomass. I am deeply grateful to the Guest editors, Professors Neven Duić, Naim Afgan, and Zvonimir Guzović, for their nice paper selection, hoping that papers published in this issue, as well as in previous issues devoted to Dubrovnik Conference, will reach their main goal: "...to help energy researchers and experts in the region in this time of paradigmatic change, to have an insight into the things to come." This issue has also, a special contribution, a lecture of the world's estimated Professor Noam Lior, devoted to the "art of writing scientific papers". In the last few years, editorial boards of the journal Thermal Science were faced with large number of papers written by young authors, not experienced in writing papers. Due to bad presentation of their results, it was hard work for reviewers to reveal and point out main quality of the results aiming to be presented in the papers. For this reason, we decided to publish lecture of the Professor Lior: The Science and Art of Archival Engineering Publication, in order to educate young researchers how to present their valuable scientific results. We are greatly grateful to Professor Lior, for permission to publish this lecture, held recently at the conference Sustainable development and climate changes, held in Niš, Serbia, from June 19-20, 2008. We are sure that this will be interesting to be read, and will be useful, for large number of the readers of our journal.