Editorial: 2013 in Review

Abstract

For the last several years, the number of papers submitted to the Journal has continued to increase steadily. During 2012, about 770 papers were submitted; during 2013, the final number of submissions is projected to be approximately 840. Both the staff in the Journal office and the Associate Editors and I work diligently to ensure the quality of materials submitted. This often means that papers are returned to authors for revision to conform to Journal guidelines before they undergo peer review. As in the past, we aim for a maximum 2-month time frame in which to inform authors of a decision. Occasionally, the initial reviews require a longer lead time, and, sometimes, the Associate Editors and I reject papers that will clearly not survive the peer-review process; with the increase in submission and the potential for ‘‘reviewer fatigue’’, we likely will do this more frequently in the coming year. The double blind review process has worked reasonably well, and it has been a pleasure to see that both the quantity and quality of submissions have increased. As the number of submissions increases, the rejection rate must also climb. Of the papers submitted during 2013, JADD’s acceptance rate hovers around 22 %. Although this percentage reflects the increasing stringency of the review process, the overall submission rate is a testament to the activity and productivity in the field. As always, I’m deeply grateful to the Associate Editors: Tony Charman, PhD; Joshua Diehl, MD; Sandra Harris, PhD; Christopher McDougle, PhD; Nancy Minshew, MD; Jeremy M. Veenstra-Vanderweele, MD. Each has generously and diligently supported the work of the Journal, even in the face of the growing number of submissions. Tony has been an Associate Editor for many years and is now leaving this role. At the same time we welcome two new Associate Editors—Ann S. Le Couteur, BSc, MBBS, FRCPsych, FRCPCH of the University of New Castle on Tyne and James McPartland, PhD here at Yale. We also acknowledge the hard work of our book editor Brian Reichow, PhD at the University of Connecticut. In the Journal office Lori Klein and Emily Hau who work diligently to be sure papers conform to editorial standards even before they enter the peer review process. We also thank Judy Jones at Springer and the individuals involved in the production of the Journal—Garth Haller, Arun Sundar, and Bhanuprakash Sherla. This year, Springer published the five-volume Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders in both print and online editions. We hope that this comprehensive scholarly reference work—with its thousands of peer-reviewed entries, including links to the Journal and other resources in the electronic edition—further serves the information needs of our readers. We welcome the following new members to the board: Michael Alessandri, University of Miami Nicholas Chown, Sheffield Hallam University Ira Cohen, NYS Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities Blyth Corbett, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Stephen Deutsch, Eastern Virginia Medical School Craig Erickson, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Deborah Fein, University of Connecticut Michael Fitzgerald, Trinity College Brooke Ingersoll, Michigan State University Patricia Jarvis, Illinois State University Brandon Keehn, Boston’s Children’s Hospital Robert Koegel, University of California, Santa Barbara F. R. Volkmar (&) Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, USA e-mail: fred.vokmar@yale.edu