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HEARING RESEARCH 25 YEARS
Hearing Research 175 (2002) 1 www.elsevier.com/locate/heares
Editorial
HEARING RESEARCH 25 YEARS The ¢rst issue of Hearing Research was published 1978, thus 25 years ago this year. I have had the privilege to serve as the Journal’s Editor-in-Chief since its creation. Science as well as the publication of scienti¢c journals have undergone large changes during that period. As most scienti¢c journals, Hearing Research started modestly and the number of manuscripts that were published in the Journal increased steadily until approximately 10 years ago when it reached a plateau and the number of published manuscript has stayed nearly constant since. I regard that the most important goal of Hearing Research is to provide a service to the scienti¢c community which give all researchers the same possibility of prompt publication of good research without regard to other factors than the quality of the research. Peer review of the manuscripts is absolutely essential both for the Journal, the authors who submit manuscripts and for science in general. All manuscripts that are published in Hearing Research, including those of Special Issues, have been peer reviewed. Peer review of manuscripts that are submitted to the Journal rely on a group of people who provide their time, knowledge and wisdom anonymously and without any compensation or reward in any form for the great work they do. Their reviews and comments often include suggestions for improvements of the manuscripts and sometimes hints that can help to make the authors’ thinking more clear. While I regard the suggestions and advice regarding improvements of a manuscript, and often of the science that is reported, to be the most import aspect of the review process, the reviews and the judgment of the individuals reviewers are the basis for making decisions about what should be published and what should not. I want to take this opportunity to express my great appreciation to all the reviewers, who are or have been Members of the Board, and the many ad hoc reviewers who all have provided such an excellent service to ben-
e¢t of the Journal, the authors and the scienti¢c community. Printed journals are still the major vehicles for communication of the results of scienti¢c research despite the prediction of the end of the era if print journals. As has so many other predictions about the future, this one did not materialize and the importance of printed journals is still great although some changes have occurred. When an article has been printed and distributed in many copies it is essentially indestructible and cannot be changed. We all enjoy the enormous power of electronic searches of articles in printed journals. The importance of electronic distribution of articles in scienti¢c journals is on a rise but it has not replaced the printed journal. I believe that the printed journal will exist for many years to come. I am happy to ¢nd that Hearing Research is thriving after a quarter of a century in existence. I am grateful for having had the opportunity to work with so many brilliant and dedicated people during these 25 years. Personally, I want to thank all current and previous Board Members for their support, and I thank all ad hoc reviewers for their work for the Journal. I have had the privilege to work with two excellent people who have served the Journal as Editorial Secretaries. A special expression of gratitude to the authors for entrusting their precious work to Hearing Research. Without the authors’ con¢dence in the Journal there would have been no journal. Last, but not least I thank the Publisher for producing a high quality journal. I have enjoyed working with many people at Elsevier during all these years.
0378-5955 / 02 / $ ^ see front matter < 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. doi:1 0 . 1 0 1 6 / S 0 3 7 8 - 5 9 5 5 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 7 8 6 - 4
HEARES 4058 18-12-02
Dallas, October 2002 Aage R. Mller, Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief Hearing Research
Editorial
HEARING RESEARCH 25 YEARS The ¢rst issue of Hearing Research was published 1978, thus 25 years ago this year. I have had the privilege to serve as the Journal’s Editor-in-Chief since its creation. Science as well as the publication of scienti¢c journals have undergone large changes during that period. As most scienti¢c journals, Hearing Research started modestly and the number of manuscripts that were published in the Journal increased steadily until approximately 10 years ago when it reached a plateau and the number of published manuscript has stayed nearly constant since. I regard that the most important goal of Hearing Research is to provide a service to the scienti¢c community which give all researchers the same possibility of prompt publication of good research without regard to other factors than the quality of the research. Peer review of the manuscripts is absolutely essential both for the Journal, the authors who submit manuscripts and for science in general. All manuscripts that are published in Hearing Research, including those of Special Issues, have been peer reviewed. Peer review of manuscripts that are submitted to the Journal rely on a group of people who provide their time, knowledge and wisdom anonymously and without any compensation or reward in any form for the great work they do. Their reviews and comments often include suggestions for improvements of the manuscripts and sometimes hints that can help to make the authors’ thinking more clear. While I regard the suggestions and advice regarding improvements of a manuscript, and often of the science that is reported, to be the most import aspect of the review process, the reviews and the judgment of the individuals reviewers are the basis for making decisions about what should be published and what should not. I want to take this opportunity to express my great appreciation to all the reviewers, who are or have been Members of the Board, and the many ad hoc reviewers who all have provided such an excellent service to ben-
e¢t of the Journal, the authors and the scienti¢c community. Printed journals are still the major vehicles for communication of the results of scienti¢c research despite the prediction of the end of the era if print journals. As has so many other predictions about the future, this one did not materialize and the importance of printed journals is still great although some changes have occurred. When an article has been printed and distributed in many copies it is essentially indestructible and cannot be changed. We all enjoy the enormous power of electronic searches of articles in printed journals. The importance of electronic distribution of articles in scienti¢c journals is on a rise but it has not replaced the printed journal. I believe that the printed journal will exist for many years to come. I am happy to ¢nd that Hearing Research is thriving after a quarter of a century in existence. I am grateful for having had the opportunity to work with so many brilliant and dedicated people during these 25 years. Personally, I want to thank all current and previous Board Members for their support, and I thank all ad hoc reviewers for their work for the Journal. I have had the privilege to work with two excellent people who have served the Journal as Editorial Secretaries. A special expression of gratitude to the authors for entrusting their precious work to Hearing Research. Without the authors’ con¢dence in the Journal there would have been no journal. Last, but not least I thank the Publisher for producing a high quality journal. I have enjoyed working with many people at Elsevier during all these years.
0378-5955 / 02 / $ ^ see front matter < 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. doi:1 0 . 1 0 1 6 / S 0 3 7 8 - 5 9 5 5 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 7 8 6 - 4
HEARES 4058 18-12-02
Dallas, October 2002 Aage R. Mller, Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief Hearing Research