Salisbury's research, as illustrated by these four selected outputs, focuses on the practice and theory of illustration (more specifically children's book illustration) and the relationships and tensions between the two. He a practitioner who, as well as practicing the art of illustration, writes widely on the subject with a concern to shed light on the practice from the perspective of the artist. Salisbury's ongoing research concerns are to create greater dialogue between theory and practice in the study of children's book illustration.

Hitherto, research into children's book illustration has tended to come from within the academic arena of education, from those whose primary interest in the illustrated children's book stems from its role in the education of the child. This research tends to focus on outcome rather than on process. One of Salisbury's primary concerns has been to build links between theory and practice, between the 'word people' and the 'picture people', to bring greater understanding of the underpinning processes of the creative practice. He has approached this both within his authored books and articles on the subject and by developing practice-led research degrees in the subject at Anglia Ruskin University. Doctorates in the subject are currently being undertaken here by established professional practitioners in the field. A further initiative is in the form of the close links developed between the MA in Children's Book Illustration at Anglia Ruskin and the Faculty of Education at Cambridge University. A shared seminar series across the two Faculties has been particularly successful. Morag Styles (Reader in Children's literature at the Faculty of Education, internationally renowned researcher) and Salisbury have been 'lecture-swapping' across the institution for some time and are currently engaged in co-authoring a book that explores the picture book from our respective perspectives (provisional title: Children's Picturebooks: Theory and Practice- Rotovision publishers).

Salisbury's creative practice is crucial in informing his written outputs (and vice versa). Although currently engaged with writing books, he also strongly believes in the principle of research through practice. The four outputs, though aimed at different audiences, all contribute to the 'knowledge pool' within illustration, bringing the practical, creative and conceptual issues to the fore, through both his own visual work (and reflections thereon) and those of other practitioners.

As outlined above, the subject is dominated by research in a cultural and educational rather practice-led context. Researchers such as Maria Nikolajeva, Morag Styles, Lawrence Sipe, Perry Noddleman and Barbara Kiefer have dominated the study of picture books. Salisbury has, since developing his research, been asked to contribute book chapters and to various publications in this arena, thereby 'infiltrating' and contributing a new perspective to the study of children's books.

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