Introduction to now wider and deeper? A special collection of editorial reflections on the progress of European criminology

A decade ago, in a 2014 editorial on the future of European criminology, David Smith, then Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Criminology argued that ‘European criminology needs to become both wider and deeper: wider in the range of countries, in the scope of the subject matter, in the borrowings from related fields … and in the research methods used; deeper through a close engagement between humanistic and scientific approaches’. In this editorial collection marking the 25th Anniversary of the European Society of Criminology, the 2025 European Journal of Criminology Editorial Team celebrates and reflects on the breadth and depth of European criminology today; its unique contributions to global knowledge about crime and criminal justice; and its future directions, priorities, and challenges.