Bigger and Better: Expanding in Reviews and the Electronic Era

Abstract

The Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA) has announced that a new Editor-in-Chief will be appointed for fall 2014, when my mandate ends. I am grateful to the CPA for this exciting job. In recent years, The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry (The CJP) has focused on original research and systematic review papers in all areas of psychiatry. The In Review series, which I helped to develop in 1997, is the most frequently referenced. The topics are chosen by the Editorial Board, and Guest Editors invite experts to review the literature. Readers of this section will note how much psychiatry has progressed, but also how much it still has to learn - research methods are only beginning to illuminate clinical issues, and many treatment methods have not yet been shown to be effective. In 2013, the January issue will focus on Psychosis in 3 In Reviews (specifically, risk of psychosis, prodromal symptoms, and social causes) and the February issue will have 2 In Reviews on Gene-Environment Interactions (relating to major depressive disorder and posttraumatic stess disorder) and Neuroplasticity (that is, schizophrenia as a neuroplasticity disorder). Future issues will deal with Disaster Mental Health Response, Melancholia, Behavioural Additions, Cognitive Remediation, Depression Psychotherapy, and more.The Editorial Office received nearly 200 manuscripts in 2012. While the quality of the submissions has risen, only about one-third make it to print, and a rapid publication policy has kept our time-to-publish rate down to less than 10 months in 2012 - only 2011 was faster at less than 9 months. The CJP's impact factor is stable at 2.4, above the median and ranked 62 of the 129 psychiatry journals listed in the Journal Citation Report.The new Editor-in Chief will need to guide The CJP into an electronic era when all articles will eventually be online only. As a first step, the cyberCJP was launched in 2012, providing CPA members with electronic access to the full issue, cover to cover. In 201 3, subscribers will also be given access. The print version will continue to be published, but readers have the option of receiving the cyberCJP alone.The CJP could not function without the devoted work of Virginia St-Denis (Director, Scientific Publications), and I am fortunate to have worked with Virginia for most of my mandate. A special thanks goes to the dedicated staff: Sylvia L Pollard (Senior Copy Editor), Candace Taylor (Copy Editor), Smita Hamzeh (Advertising and Production Manager), and Elizabeth Payne (Desktop Publisher). As I do every year, I would like to thank all of our peer reviewers, as well as our hard-working Editorial Board. Special thanks go to Deputy Editor Dr Roger Bland and Associate Editors Dr Paul Grof (Book Review Section), Dr Alain Lesage (French Submissions), Dr Glenda MacQueen, Dr Scott B Patten, and Dr David L Streiner (Statistical Consultant). …