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Update: what’s new in Biological Psychiatry
EDITORIAL Update: What’s New in Biological Psychiatry Quality of Content, Publication and Review Time By limiting accepted articles to only those that are judged to have high impact to the field, or meet the criteria for “important new lead,” we are pleased to have reached our goal of rapid publication. Currently, we are accepting 21% of submitted original articles. Articles that meet Priority Communication status are published 3 months after acceptance. Abstracts of articles are posted on our website immediately upon acceptance. Nearly all other articles are published within 6 months of acceptance, with most articles being published within 4-5 months. We give authors an answer to their submissions, on average, in 41 days and have plans to reduce our time for this even further.
New Feature Neuroscience Perspectives The editorial leadership felt that there was a need for brief discussion pieces that would introduce newest concepts and developments in basic and clinical biological psychiatry. We developed the format for the new “Neuroscience Perspectives” feature by combining selected criteria from our current format of original research reports, Reviews, and Techniques and Methods articles, and adding several requirements. Neuroscience Perspectives will focus on new methodologies or techniques, conceptual advances in our understanding of disease mechanisms, relevant scientific advances including those from areas other than psychiatric research or clinical practice. Each article will highlight caveats and limitations, as well as promise for the implications relevant to biologic psychiatry research.
Neuroscience Perspectives Editor We are pleased to announce that Husseini K. Manji has agreed to join the senior leadership as editor in launching this new feature. Neuroscience Perspectives articles are generally invited but interested contributors should contact Dr. Manji directly. Neuroscience Perspectives are concise primers on a variety of the most cutting-edge topics and subject to the usual peer-review. We expect that these articles will be very well received as an instrument to disseminate state-of-the art information and for highlighting implications for research. Neuroscience Perspectives will be featured monthly, and we are pleased to be publishing the first of these articles in the upcoming months. © 2001 Society of Biological Psychiatry
Electronic Initiatives Contributors, referees, and readers have expressed interest in electronic communications for manuscripts from the initial submission to end publication stage. Biological Psychiatry has several initiatives, believed to help us achieve reduced time at each stage throughout the peerreview and publication process.
Electronic Submission We believe that we can further reduce the time from “receipt of manuscript” to “completed review,” by using simple technology - e-mail, universal file formats, internet access - that is available, and in common use, globally. We have allowed electronic submissions in a pilot project and have found substantial reduced time in performing the manuscript peer-review process using electronic communication exclusively compared to hard-copy submission. We hope that authors will take advantage of the reduced time for processing of their manuscripts, and choose to submit them electronically. We have updated our website (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/biopsych), and in this issue, we have updated the section on ‘Form’ in our Information for Authors, to include instructions for electronic submission which require no more technical expertise than is required for accessing the internet, using e-mail, and a word-processing program. We will continue to receive hard-copy submissions, but we prefer and encourage authors to submit their work electronically.
Immediate Internet Publication of Selected Manuscripts Our publisher has agreed to make “full text” articles available on the internet 4-6 weeks after acceptance, for a selected group of articles designated by the senior editors. Selection criteria include “Priority Communication” status articles, and other articles that represent particularly important new leads in the field. Selected full text articles will be formatted for journal style including figures, tables, and references, and posted on our website immediately after author verification. Articles will be citable by a website address until the time of publication in the printed version of the journal, approximately 3 months after acceptance.
Enhanced Website Functionality This year, our publisher will add more functionality to our existing website. Full text of articles published since 1997 0006-3223/01/$20.00 PII S0006-3223(01)01192-1
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BIOL PSYCHIATRY 2001;50:1–2
will continue to be available online to subscribers. Enhanced features will be added with the introduction of Elsevier’s new web platform, MedicineDirect. Current plans call for MedicineDirect to allow enhanced access from Biological Psychiatry’s website to approximately 140 Elsevier medicine journals, and other participating journals. Readers will have the capability to browse articles by issue, or by subject. Reuters news feed will update the site with breaking news in the field. Quick and advanced search features will allow readers to search Biological Psychiatry’s site alone, or expand their searches to include other journals available in full text and/or on MEDLINE as well, using familiar MEDLINE search options. Users of MedicineDirect will be allowed to subscribe or renew their subscriptions online. A unique format on MedicineDirect, available to subscribers and non-subscribers, will allow online request and immediate download of reprints for all journal articles on a ‘pay-perview’ basis. Expanded search capability will allow readers to find articles by key words, author, topic, and articles that cite related work. Readers will be able to save their searches to use again, and combine search strategies. Based on personalized saved search criteria, users can opt to receive e-mail alerts to articles when published, updates of breaking news from Reuters, and selected Tables of Contents as participating MedicineDirect issues are published. Enhanced website features include links on reference lists to
full text (for Elsevier and participating publications) or MEDLINE Abstracts (for non-participating journals).
New Information for Authors In addition to our present submission requirement policy, we now require that all submitted manuscripts, as well as revised manuscripts, be accompanied by a letter indicating that all authors have reviewed, and approve of, the version being submitted. Our Information for Authors is updated in this issue to reflect this change, and reorganized for ease of use. Other changes include specifications for Neuroscience Perspectives articles, and information about electronic submission and publication. Dennis S. Charney, Editor NIMH Bethesda, MD Robert B. Innis, Deputy Editor Yale University School of Medicine New Haven, CT Eric J. Nestler, Deputy Editor The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dallas, TX Husseini K. Manji, Neuroscience Perspectives Editor NIMH Bethesda, MD
New Feature Neuroscience Perspectives The editorial leadership felt that there was a need for brief discussion pieces that would introduce newest concepts and developments in basic and clinical biological psychiatry. We developed the format for the new “Neuroscience Perspectives” feature by combining selected criteria from our current format of original research reports, Reviews, and Techniques and Methods articles, and adding several requirements. Neuroscience Perspectives will focus on new methodologies or techniques, conceptual advances in our understanding of disease mechanisms, relevant scientific advances including those from areas other than psychiatric research or clinical practice. Each article will highlight caveats and limitations, as well as promise for the implications relevant to biologic psychiatry research.
Neuroscience Perspectives Editor We are pleased to announce that Husseini K. Manji has agreed to join the senior leadership as editor in launching this new feature. Neuroscience Perspectives articles are generally invited but interested contributors should contact Dr. Manji directly. Neuroscience Perspectives are concise primers on a variety of the most cutting-edge topics and subject to the usual peer-review. We expect that these articles will be very well received as an instrument to disseminate state-of-the art information and for highlighting implications for research. Neuroscience Perspectives will be featured monthly, and we are pleased to be publishing the first of these articles in the upcoming months. © 2001 Society of Biological Psychiatry
Electronic Initiatives Contributors, referees, and readers have expressed interest in electronic communications for manuscripts from the initial submission to end publication stage. Biological Psychiatry has several initiatives, believed to help us achieve reduced time at each stage throughout the peerreview and publication process.
Electronic Submission We believe that we can further reduce the time from “receipt of manuscript” to “completed review,” by using simple technology - e-mail, universal file formats, internet access - that is available, and in common use, globally. We have allowed electronic submissions in a pilot project and have found substantial reduced time in performing the manuscript peer-review process using electronic communication exclusively compared to hard-copy submission. We hope that authors will take advantage of the reduced time for processing of their manuscripts, and choose to submit them electronically. We have updated our website (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/biopsych), and in this issue, we have updated the section on ‘Form’ in our Information for Authors, to include instructions for electronic submission which require no more technical expertise than is required for accessing the internet, using e-mail, and a word-processing program. We will continue to receive hard-copy submissions, but we prefer and encourage authors to submit their work electronically.
Immediate Internet Publication of Selected Manuscripts Our publisher has agreed to make “full text” articles available on the internet 4-6 weeks after acceptance, for a selected group of articles designated by the senior editors. Selection criteria include “Priority Communication” status articles, and other articles that represent particularly important new leads in the field. Selected full text articles will be formatted for journal style including figures, tables, and references, and posted on our website immediately after author verification. Articles will be citable by a website address until the time of publication in the printed version of the journal, approximately 3 months after acceptance.
Enhanced Website Functionality This year, our publisher will add more functionality to our existing website. Full text of articles published since 1997 0006-3223/01/$20.00 PII S0006-3223(01)01192-1
2
Editorial
BIOL PSYCHIATRY 2001;50:1–2
will continue to be available online to subscribers. Enhanced features will be added with the introduction of Elsevier’s new web platform, MedicineDirect. Current plans call for MedicineDirect to allow enhanced access from Biological Psychiatry’s website to approximately 140 Elsevier medicine journals, and other participating journals. Readers will have the capability to browse articles by issue, or by subject. Reuters news feed will update the site with breaking news in the field. Quick and advanced search features will allow readers to search Biological Psychiatry’s site alone, or expand their searches to include other journals available in full text and/or on MEDLINE as well, using familiar MEDLINE search options. Users of MedicineDirect will be allowed to subscribe or renew their subscriptions online. A unique format on MedicineDirect, available to subscribers and non-subscribers, will allow online request and immediate download of reprints for all journal articles on a ‘pay-perview’ basis. Expanded search capability will allow readers to find articles by key words, author, topic, and articles that cite related work. Readers will be able to save their searches to use again, and combine search strategies. Based on personalized saved search criteria, users can opt to receive e-mail alerts to articles when published, updates of breaking news from Reuters, and selected Tables of Contents as participating MedicineDirect issues are published. Enhanced website features include links on reference lists to
full text (for Elsevier and participating publications) or MEDLINE Abstracts (for non-participating journals).
New Information for Authors In addition to our present submission requirement policy, we now require that all submitted manuscripts, as well as revised manuscripts, be accompanied by a letter indicating that all authors have reviewed, and approve of, the version being submitted. Our Information for Authors is updated in this issue to reflect this change, and reorganized for ease of use. Other changes include specifications for Neuroscience Perspectives articles, and information about electronic submission and publication. Dennis S. Charney, Editor NIMH Bethesda, MD Robert B. Innis, Deputy Editor Yale University School of Medicine New Haven, CT Eric J. Nestler, Deputy Editor The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dallas, TX Husseini K. Manji, Neuroscience Perspectives Editor NIMH Bethesda, MD