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Good news to share: Backlog no more
Journal of Affective Disorders 87 (2005) 1 – 2 www.elsevier.com/locate/jad
Editorial
Good news to share: Backlog no more
Building on the vision of the Founding Editors, Gene Paykel and the late George Winokur, during the past decade the present Editors have expanded the representation of papers from countries beyond those that traditionally were the main contributors to the literature in affective disorders. Thus, today we have contributions not only from the USA, UK, Germany and Switzerland, Scandinavia and Japan, but also from Canada, Latin America, the rest of continental Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India and Hong Kong. In addition, a broader diversity of professional disciplines is now contributing to the Journal of Affective Disorders. We have become the official journal of the International Society of Affective Disorders (ISAD), and associated with the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Section of Affective Disorders. By entering into these partnerships, we have expanded the quantity, diversity and quality of what we accept for publication. We have continued to publish Special Issues that receive high citations. These issues are almost always devoted to highly original thematically connected material. In the process of expanding the scope of the Journal, we had developed a substantial backlog of papers. Pressure from authors and ISAD members as well as the publisher led to us making a commitment in our last editorial meeting in Cancun in March of 2004 that in 15 months we would eliminate the backlog. The good news is that we have now achieved this goal ahead of schedule in April 2005. This has not been just the work of the editors, though we have had to become very stringent in accepting only the very 0165-0327/$ - see front matter D 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2005.05.001
best papers submitted to us. Elsevier has kindly provided a significant boost to the number of pages we publish per year. Authors have been flexibly responsive to the Editors’ invitation to produce more succinct prose and organization of their papers. We have thus been able to reach a bsteady stateQ in terms of the number of papers we do accept without backlog, and without sacrificing quality, originality or breadth. In addition, now that we are a fully electronic journal with online submission and peer review at http://ees.elsevier.com/jad, publication times will be even faster. This is an opportune time to thank our Publishing Editor, Phil Bishop, our Issues Manager, Rosie Malone and her staff, as well as the Editorial Office Assistants, Anita Carlyle and Eve Burr. Their tireless efforts greatly facilitate the work of the Journal. As we have the chance to communicate with our readers about the review process, we would like to mention an assessment we just received from a reviewer who said about a paper: bThis version looks little changed (no new bibliography, still boverinterpretingQ), still, I thought it was basically publishable in the first place rather than block the path of knowledge over issues of style and such!Q He did state that he was paraphrasing C.S. Pierce, the American pragmatist philosopher. We obviously do not wish to reveal the identity of this reviewer who not only exemplifies scholarship but Erikson’s mature stage of generativity. This provides a good opportunity to remind our authors who may have had their papers turned down that an editor and a
2
Editorial
journal are not there to serve as mere gatekeepers, but to help authors present their work and ideas in the best light. In thanking this anonymous reviewer, we would like to extend our gratitude to and admiration for the dedicated international college of clinical scientists and scholars who provide the
editors and the authors with invaluable advice and expertise. Hagop Akiskal Cornelius Katona Co-Editors-in-Chief
Editorial
Good news to share: Backlog no more
Building on the vision of the Founding Editors, Gene Paykel and the late George Winokur, during the past decade the present Editors have expanded the representation of papers from countries beyond those that traditionally were the main contributors to the literature in affective disorders. Thus, today we have contributions not only from the USA, UK, Germany and Switzerland, Scandinavia and Japan, but also from Canada, Latin America, the rest of continental Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India and Hong Kong. In addition, a broader diversity of professional disciplines is now contributing to the Journal of Affective Disorders. We have become the official journal of the International Society of Affective Disorders (ISAD), and associated with the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Section of Affective Disorders. By entering into these partnerships, we have expanded the quantity, diversity and quality of what we accept for publication. We have continued to publish Special Issues that receive high citations. These issues are almost always devoted to highly original thematically connected material. In the process of expanding the scope of the Journal, we had developed a substantial backlog of papers. Pressure from authors and ISAD members as well as the publisher led to us making a commitment in our last editorial meeting in Cancun in March of 2004 that in 15 months we would eliminate the backlog. The good news is that we have now achieved this goal ahead of schedule in April 2005. This has not been just the work of the editors, though we have had to become very stringent in accepting only the very 0165-0327/$ - see front matter D 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2005.05.001
best papers submitted to us. Elsevier has kindly provided a significant boost to the number of pages we publish per year. Authors have been flexibly responsive to the Editors’ invitation to produce more succinct prose and organization of their papers. We have thus been able to reach a bsteady stateQ in terms of the number of papers we do accept without backlog, and without sacrificing quality, originality or breadth. In addition, now that we are a fully electronic journal with online submission and peer review at http://ees.elsevier.com/jad, publication times will be even faster. This is an opportune time to thank our Publishing Editor, Phil Bishop, our Issues Manager, Rosie Malone and her staff, as well as the Editorial Office Assistants, Anita Carlyle and Eve Burr. Their tireless efforts greatly facilitate the work of the Journal. As we have the chance to communicate with our readers about the review process, we would like to mention an assessment we just received from a reviewer who said about a paper: bThis version looks little changed (no new bibliography, still boverinterpretingQ), still, I thought it was basically publishable in the first place rather than block the path of knowledge over issues of style and such!Q He did state that he was paraphrasing C.S. Pierce, the American pragmatist philosopher. We obviously do not wish to reveal the identity of this reviewer who not only exemplifies scholarship but Erikson’s mature stage of generativity. This provides a good opportunity to remind our authors who may have had their papers turned down that an editor and a
2
Editorial
journal are not there to serve as mere gatekeepers, but to help authors present their work and ideas in the best light. In thanking this anonymous reviewer, we would like to extend our gratitude to and admiration for the dedicated international college of clinical scientists and scholars who provide the
editors and the authors with invaluable advice and expertise. Hagop Akiskal Cornelius Katona Co-Editors-in-Chief