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The Pittsburgh Special Issue
Physiology & Behavior 77 (2002) 459
Editorial
The Pittsburgh Special Issue This special issue represents an experiment of sorts for Physiology and Behavior. Rather than summarizing the reports of a recent meeting, or gathering together a series of interrelated reports on a single theme as we sometimes do for other special issues, this special issue summarizes the current research on physiology and behavior of a group of investigators at one institution, the University of Pittsburgh (see the preface by Ed Stricker and Peter Strick). It is the journal’s intent that this special issue will serve to highlight the accomplishments of the ‘‘Pittsburgh’’ group with solid, up-to-date articles, each of which would of course stand on its own. A second goal is to attract other institutions to consider putting together an analogous special issue. I chose the University of Pittsburgh for this experiment for several reasons. Foremost is the fact that a critical mass of scientists and scholars doing stellar research exists there. In point of fact, I understand that if time and space were not factors, twice as many reports from local faculty could have been solicited. Another reason is related to the organization of scholars interested in the neurosciences in Pittsburgh. As even a cursory glance at the author line on the reports indicates, there is considerable collaboration among investigators at the various institutes in Pittsburgh, and numerous departments are represented. Finally, my personal choice to head the project, Ed Stricker, has been the Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh and the Co-Director of the Neuroscience Program that spans the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. He is therefore in the ideal position to know the spectrum of ongoing research and faculty interests. Ed is organized, eclectic, and authoritative, and he is an excellent editor, traits that served him well in putting this volume together. His choice of Peter Strick to co-edit the special issue made the task easier in every respect, and I believe that the final product is impressive indeed.
My instructions to Stricker and Strick were that, as Guest Editors, it was their decision to decide the specific investigators or labs to be included in the special issue. I also told them that, in accord with journal policy, all reports had to deal with some content area that includes both physiology and behavior, and that any individual article could be a report of research, a review, a theoretical piece, or whatever the authors chose. All reports were initially reviewed by Stricker and Strick and returned to the authors, and after satisfactory revision, all were then forwarded to my office where they were reviewed and returned to the authors again. Hence, the quality and integrity of the journal were maintained, and all of this occurred in record time. As I read over the reports, I am impressed with the breadth of research represented. This includes the wide variety of topic areas covered and techniques applied, as well as the multiple species studied. I am also impressed with the quality of the individual articles as well as the collective statement being made. All of these are of course important to the mission of Physiology and Behavior. I am certain that this special issue will additionally serve diverse functions at the University of Pittsburgh. It will provide an important forum advertising the recent work of each lab. It will be a useful recruiting tool for prospective students, fellows, and faculty. It will be very helpful as students and other trainees choose labs and mentors. Finally, I suspect that it will be particularly useful to highlight the achievements of the group to local administrators. For all of these reasons, I am hopeful that other institutions will consider such an endeavor and have their research community highlighted in a special issue of Physiology and Behavior.
0031-9384/02/$ – see front matter D 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 0 3 1 - 9 3 8 4 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 9 1 5 - 0
Stephen C. Woods University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH, USA
Editorial
The Pittsburgh Special Issue This special issue represents an experiment of sorts for Physiology and Behavior. Rather than summarizing the reports of a recent meeting, or gathering together a series of interrelated reports on a single theme as we sometimes do for other special issues, this special issue summarizes the current research on physiology and behavior of a group of investigators at one institution, the University of Pittsburgh (see the preface by Ed Stricker and Peter Strick). It is the journal’s intent that this special issue will serve to highlight the accomplishments of the ‘‘Pittsburgh’’ group with solid, up-to-date articles, each of which would of course stand on its own. A second goal is to attract other institutions to consider putting together an analogous special issue. I chose the University of Pittsburgh for this experiment for several reasons. Foremost is the fact that a critical mass of scientists and scholars doing stellar research exists there. In point of fact, I understand that if time and space were not factors, twice as many reports from local faculty could have been solicited. Another reason is related to the organization of scholars interested in the neurosciences in Pittsburgh. As even a cursory glance at the author line on the reports indicates, there is considerable collaboration among investigators at the various institutes in Pittsburgh, and numerous departments are represented. Finally, my personal choice to head the project, Ed Stricker, has been the Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh and the Co-Director of the Neuroscience Program that spans the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. He is therefore in the ideal position to know the spectrum of ongoing research and faculty interests. Ed is organized, eclectic, and authoritative, and he is an excellent editor, traits that served him well in putting this volume together. His choice of Peter Strick to co-edit the special issue made the task easier in every respect, and I believe that the final product is impressive indeed.
My instructions to Stricker and Strick were that, as Guest Editors, it was their decision to decide the specific investigators or labs to be included in the special issue. I also told them that, in accord with journal policy, all reports had to deal with some content area that includes both physiology and behavior, and that any individual article could be a report of research, a review, a theoretical piece, or whatever the authors chose. All reports were initially reviewed by Stricker and Strick and returned to the authors, and after satisfactory revision, all were then forwarded to my office where they were reviewed and returned to the authors again. Hence, the quality and integrity of the journal were maintained, and all of this occurred in record time. As I read over the reports, I am impressed with the breadth of research represented. This includes the wide variety of topic areas covered and techniques applied, as well as the multiple species studied. I am also impressed with the quality of the individual articles as well as the collective statement being made. All of these are of course important to the mission of Physiology and Behavior. I am certain that this special issue will additionally serve diverse functions at the University of Pittsburgh. It will provide an important forum advertising the recent work of each lab. It will be a useful recruiting tool for prospective students, fellows, and faculty. It will be very helpful as students and other trainees choose labs and mentors. Finally, I suspect that it will be particularly useful to highlight the achievements of the group to local administrators. For all of these reasons, I am hopeful that other institutions will consider such an endeavor and have their research community highlighted in a special issue of Physiology and Behavior.
0031-9384/02/$ – see front matter D 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 0 3 1 - 9 3 8 4 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 9 1 5 - 0
Stephen C. Woods University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH, USA