Editorial: 2015 in Review

Abstract

Continuing a trend of more than 8 years, the number of papers submitted to the Journal continues to increase steadily, from 740 submissions in 2012, to 822 in 2013, to 940 in 2014 and nearly 900 this past year; the slightly smaller number this year reflects the fact that we’re now redirecting review papers to the Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Of the papers submitted last about 28 % were ultimately accepted, though, in most cases, with one or more revisions. During the past year, the number of Associate Editors and Editorial Board members has been increased to manage the burgeoning paper volume more effectively and ensure that JADD maintains the highest quality for articles that are ultimately published. The Journal also continues to strive to maintain an efficient turnaround time. During 2015, the average review time for the majority of papers—between first submission and initial decision—was about 40 days. Not surprisingly, given the increased volume of papers, the rejection rate continues to rise. We hope that the feedback provided to authors is helpful as they consider submission elsewhere. In addition, to conserve valuable Journal space, authors are encouraged to use digital resources to publish extra supplementary, but still valuable, materials that can reasonably be included in online appendices. We are grateful to the production staff at Springer for helping move submissions through the publication process so that now papers, once accepted, are published online in relatively short order (i.e., typically less than 2 weeks). As always, I’m deeply grateful to the Associate Editors: Joshua Diehl, MD.; Christopher McDougle, Ph.D.; Carla Mazefsky, Ph.D.; Ann S. Le Couteur, B.Sc., MBBS, FRCPsych, FRCPCH; James McPartland, Ph.D.; Nancy Minshew, MD; Brian Reichow, Ph.D.; and Jeremy M. Veenstra-Vanderweele, MD. Each has generously and indefatigably supported the work of the Journal, especially as the number of submissions continues to climb. During the past year, we have also welcomed the following new Associate Editor, Alice Carter, Ph.D., as we bid farewell to Sandra Harris, Ph.D., who served with great diligence as an associate editor for many years. In the Journal office, Lori Klein, Editorial Manager, and our new Editorial Assistant, Logan Hart, work meticulously to ensure that papers conform to Journal standards before they enter the submission system, thereby enabling the Editor, Associate Editors, and Reviewers to more efficiently conduct the peer-review process.We alsowish to thank Isaac Smith for his service this past year as the Editorial Assistant and wish him well in graduate school. And thanks to Judy Jones and the rest of the individuals at Springer who are involved in the production of the Journal, includingMichelle Tam, Suganya Manikandan, and Koyal Bhattarcharjee. We welcome the following new members to the Editorial Board, all very worthy having submitted several reviews this past year: Benjamin Yerys, Ph.D., from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Connor Kerns, Ph.D., from Drexel University. We also want to acknowledge the ‘‘Top 10’’ reviewers (i.e., those individuals who provided the greatest number of comprehensive, thorough, timely reviews) for the Journal this year: