When the Welding Research Council was organized in 1935, one of its principal objectives was to make available to the research workers and subscribers of the Council the information existing in the literature throughout the world.Accordingly, for a number of years one of the main activities of the Council was the preparation of literature reviews on carefully selected subjects. Some 100 literature reviews have been prepared by the Council and published. Some of these earlier literature reviews form the base for further literature reviews, research work, interpretive reports, and the like.The problem of publishing and making available this information was initially solved by a contractual arrangement with the American Welding Society, which has been continued over the years.Under this contract The Welding Journal, published by the American Welding Society, created a Welding Research Supplement, which forms part of the Journal, but has its own separate numbering system.