This paper reviews the fourth decade of the "Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management," including author analyses and thematic insights from articles published from 2009 to 2018. In addition to an increase in the number of articles published, the "Journal" now publishes more articles by authors from outside Australia, female authors and co-authored articles. "Institutional management and leadership" is the most common theme, responsible for just over one quarter of articles. By methodology and level of analysis, roughly half of all articles utilise "survey" or "multivariate" approaches and target national-level insights. Due to the practical orientation of the journal, many articles integrate management, leadership and policy with other common higher education themes, such as "student experience" and "quality assurance."