Weeks Of Acceptance Research Articles

Reducing barriers to promote engagement and retention in adolescent substance use treatment: results from a quality improvement evaluation

IntroductionAlthough research on the development and efficacy of adolescent substance use treatment has made recent strides, many models do not translate into practice, especially when working with underserved youth who often face barriers to treatment. Meal incentives, rolling admission, and transportation assistance may be promising approaches to decrease barriers, thereby increasing treatment engagement, retention, and completion. The purpose of this evaluation was two-fold: (1) to examine treatment engagement amongst diverse, underserved youth in an intensive outpatient program for substance misuse in an urban metropolitan area, and (2) to investigate the role of meal incentives, rolling admission, and transportation assistance in youth engagement.MethodsThe intervention was 8 weeks of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and trauma-focused group intervention, combined with contingency management, meal incentives, and transportation assistance. Treatment engagement, retention, and completion was compared against selected demographic variables (i.e., race and insurance coverage) and at three phases of program implementation: cohort admissions with transportation assistance (phase 1); rolling admissions with transportation assistance (phase 2); and rolling admissions with transportation assistance and meal incentives (phase 3). Data was analyzed using two-way ANOVAs; identified interactions were probed.ResultsParticipants were 110 adolescents (ages 13–17) consecutively admitted to an intensive outpatient substance treatment program. Racial identities of participants were 40.0% Latinx, 3.6% Black, 0.9% American Indian or Alaska Native, 6.4% two or more races, and 49.1% White. A total of 67 of 110 (60.9%) youth had state-funded Medicaid or no insurance. Of the youth that engaged in treatment across all implementation phases, 68.7% were provided transportation assistance. Analyses illustrated no difference in outcomes based on selected demographic variables. The percentage of youth completing treatment was 22.7% and the average number of groups attended was 6.32 (SD = 6.49). Results showed a significant improvement in outcomes with the implementation of incentives such that engagement and retention in treatment was significantly higher for those in phase 3 compared to those in phase 1 (p < .001) and phase 2 (p = .021).DiscussionThis evaluation shows that previously documented health disparities in substance treatment engagement and retention are not found when certain barriers are addressed.

Collaboration in Facial Plastic Surgery.

The journal Facial Plastic Surgery was founded in the early 1980s by two titans of the facial plastic and reconstructive surgical world—Gene Tardy and Tony Bull. These two friends and giants of the field sought to span the Atlantic and create the first journal solely dedicated to advancing knowledge in facial plastic surgery. The journal would select leaders in the field to serve as guest editors of “themed” issues, who would then commission top surgeons to write “state-of-the-art” review or expert opinion articles within that theme. Led by editors from both sides of the Atlantic and published by Thieme Medical Publishers, the journal sought both authors and an audience international in nature. In recognition of the rapidity with which research in the field was growing, Facial Plastic Surgery began accepting free papers on topics important to the facial plastic surgery community in 2010; the journal has published original research from all continents except Antarctica. In this new model, Facial Plastic Surgery now publishes all accepted articles (commissioned and “unsolicited” papers) online as soon as possible. The editors and publisher have committed to a rapid review of all submissions and e-publication of all articles within 8 weeks of acceptance. Facial Plastic Surgery is the official journal of the European Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery, and while known to the US facial plastic surgery community, we welcome the opportunity to work more closely with members of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) and the editorial team of Facial Plastic Surgery & Aesthetic Medicine.

Zootaxa 20th Anniversary Celebration: Insect Order Thysanoptera

Although the first issue of Zootaxa appeared in 2001 it was not until two years later, in August 2003, that this aspiring and inspiring new journal issued the first paper on the insect Order Thysanoptera, in Volume 268. Moreover, it was not until February 2005 that the second paper concerning this group appeared in Zootaxa. The subsequent expansion is summarized most succinctly by the number of Thysanoptera papers that appeared in Zootaxa in each of the four five-year periods of these two decades: 5; 40; 92; 134 (see Table 1). The 270 papers concerning this group of insects that appeared in Zootaxa over the 20-year period involved more than 120 authors. These papers were submitted by workers from about 30 different countries, but most of them were from areas of high but previously unexplored species diversity, particularly Australia, Brazil, China, India, Iran, Japan and Malaysia. However, significant contributions were submitted from the far north, including Poland and Russia, as well as the far south, such as Argentina and New Zealand. One reason for the popularity of Zootaxa amongst workers on thrips is presumably the knowledge that this section is edited by two active students of these insects. The editors are pleased to have rejected no more than five papers over these two decades, but they provide much help to authors in shaping manuscripts to ensure that the submitted information is both appropriate, scientifically correct, novel and clearly expressed. Moreover, the journal ensures that manuscripts are published very quickly, usually within four weeks of acceptance by the editors. For the readers a further advantage of Zootaxa is that just over 50% of the published articles on Thysanoptera are freely available on the web, as authors have arranged for Open Access. The thrips publications issued in Zootaxa have included descriptions of 563 new species and 41 new genera of Thysanoptera. These new species represent 9% of the 6300 valid extant species currently listed in this Order, and the new genera represent 5% of the 780 currently recognized genera (ThripsWiki 2021). Many of the publications are only of one or two pages and are issued as Correspondence. Each of these deals with a single new species, or a previously unknown male of a species, or some new and particularly unusual record for a country or host plant. At the opposite extreme are the Monographs that involve revisions of all of the species in a genus, such as the 60 species recognised in the South American genus Holopothrips, or the 30 species known in the worldwide genus Mycterothrips. Others provide illustrated keys to large numbers of genera, such as the 100 genera of Phlaeothripinae that have been recorded from South East Asia. Such extensive studies provide the factual resource on which many of the Articles published in Zootaxa are based. These Articles range from taxonomic revisions of small genera, or of the species found in particular geographic areas, through studies on character state variation and homologies, to historical accounts and catalogues. The very considerable increase in information in recent years about the taxonomic and biological diversity of this group of insects (Mound & Hastenpflug-Vesmanis2021) owes much to the existence of the journal Zootaxa.

Randomized Controlled Trial of Adding Telephone Follow-Up to an Occupational Rehabilitation Program to Increase Work Participation

Purpose Transfer from on-site rehabilitation to the participant’s daily environment is considered a weak link in the rehabilitation chain. The main objective of this study is to see if adding boosted telephone follow-up directly after completing an occupational rehabilitation program effects work participation. Methods A randomized controlled study included participants with chronic pain, chronic fatigue or common mental disorders on long-term sick leave. After completing 3½ weeks of acceptance and commitment therapy based occupational rehabilitation, participants were randomized to boosted follow-up or a control group before returning to their daily environment. The intervention was delivered over 6 months by on-site RTW coordinators mainly via telephone. Primary outcome was RTW categorized as participation in competitive work ≥1 day per week on average over 8 weeks. Results There were 213 participants of mean age 42 years old. Main diagnoses of sick leave certification were mental disorders (38%) and musculoskeletal disorders (30%). One year after discharge the intervention group had 87% increased odds (OR 1.87, 95% confidence interval 1.06–3.31, p = 0.031), of (re)entry to competitive work ≥1 day per week compared with the controls, with similar positive results for sensitivity analysis of participation half time (≥2.5 days per week). The cost of boosted follow-up was 390.5 EUR per participant. Conclusion Participants receiving boosted RTW follow-up had higher (re)entry to competitive work ≥1 day per week at 1 year when compared to the control group. Adding low-cost boosted follow-up by telephone after completing an occupational rehabilitation program augmented the effect on return-to-work.

New era for Tropical Medicine and Health.

It is an honor and pleasure to be able to extend greetings as the Editor-in-Chief of Tropical Medicine and Health (TMH), a journal with a 56-year history of high-quality research and one of the most important publications in the field. When I was appointed to the position of Editor-in-Chief in 2014, I wrote in the editorial that “our greatest challenge is to continue to improve the journal in such a way as to provide essential and timely information regarding research in the field of tropical medicine and global health” [1]. To achieve this goal, we set up a target to shorten the submission/review/decision cycle to 21 days after the initial submission. I am delighted to report that this target was achieved in two consecutive years in 2014 and 2015: the average duration was 21.0 and 19.0 days, respectively. This achievement owes greatly to the efforts of our reviewers and editors. We believe that speedy publication will help to ensure that TMH papers are read and cited more often by experts in the related fields. TMH is attracting ever greater attention. The number of accesses and downloads of the papers on the journal website increased 3.9 and 2.6 times, respectively, in 2015, compared to the average in 2013. We also received 46 % more submissions to TMH in 2015 compared to 2013. While this is due in part to our promotion campaign as well as our recent decision to send e-mail announcements to society members right after a paper is published online, we are deeply indebted to all of our authors, reviewers, and readers for their enthusiastic cooperation. Now I am pleased to announce that BioMed Central is the new publisher of TMH. We have taken this opportunity to revise the aims and scope of the journal to incorporate, in addition to traditional tropical medicine, the issue of global health. Global health is health of populations in a global context which can be characterized by a “health issue that concerns many countries or is affected by transnational determinants” [2]. While traditional tropical medicine is still central to our scope, TMH welcomes clinical, epidemiological, laboratory, and policy research physically implemented in non-tropics when related to health issues in the tropics or in a global context. TMH will continue as an open-access publication as part of BioMed Central’s high-quality portfolio of open-access journals. Authors can expect accepted manuscripts to be published online in professionally copy-edited and typeset form within a few weeks of acceptance. Finally, I would like to convey my cordial request to all our contributors for their continued support of TMH. The TMH staff will continue to make their utmost efforts to achieve speedy publication and to provide essential and timely information on high-quality research in the field of tropical medicine and global health. On behalf of the Editorial Board and TMH staff, I look forward to working with you and serving the community.

Preface to the Sixtieth Volume of Periodica Polytechnica Chemical Engineering

Dear Readers, In 2016 we celebrate the publication of the 60th volume of Periodica Polytechnica Chemical Engineering, the science journal of the Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME). The journal was founded by professor Zoltan Csűros, renowned chemist and former rector of BME. Professor Csűros established a family of Periodica Polytechnica journals one for each faculty of the University. From the beginning, the journals served as a forum for disseminating to the outside world new scientific discoveries made at BME. At the same time, under the conditions prevailing in mid-20th century Hungary, the journals were intended as a currency of exchange with universities and institutions abroad. Professor Csűros’s vision has for the last six decades guided Periodica Polytechnica Chemical Engineering in its key role of providing information and resources on a wide variety of topics related to chemical engineering and to environmental and bioengineering sciences. It has been a vehicle for authors in publishing both fundamental research and application oriented papers. Professor Csűros as Editor-in-Chief devoted ten years to this task. All his successors have also been internationally recognized scientists: Janos Hollo, Ernő Pungor, Lajos Fodor, Karoly Polinszky, Gyorgy Lajos Nagy, Sandor Gal, Klara Erős-Kiss, Viktoria Vargha and the present Editor-in-Chief, Krisztina Laszlo. Each has made outstanding organizational and scientific contributions, in close collaboration with the editorial board. Ever since its inception the high scientific level of the journal has been recognized by numerous European universities, and Periodica Polytechnica Chemical Engineering can be consulted in university libraries throughout Europe. The International Editorial Board is composed of distinguished professors of universities and research institutions from many different countries. During the past decade electronic versions of scientific periodicals have become more popular, and our journal has also chosen to take this path. Currently, articles appear on the internet within three weeks of acceptance and the printed versions are published four times a year. The high reputation and increasing impact factor of our periodical are now attracting numerous submissions of manuscripts from abroad, and the rapid reviewing procedure ensures that high level papers continue to be published regularly. To guarantee the widest dissemination of recent scientific findings among chemists, chemical and biochemical engineers, Periodica Polytechnica Chemical Engineering is an open access journal. The financial support provided by the University and the Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology permits us to offer not only free-of-charge publication for authors but also open internet access for readers. The continuing development of Periodica Polytechnica Chemical Engineering and the support of our university encourage our wish that it may thrive for another 60 years as an internationally recognized, free journal of research in the fields of chemical, biochemical and environmental science.

Physical Activity of Patients With Chronic Pain Receiving Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Physical activity is positively related to various indices of quality of life and is found to reduce symptoms in individuals with chronic pain. This manuscript presents findings from a post hoc analysis investigating whether treatment-related improvements from psychological treatment for chronic pain are mediated by changes in physical activity (PA). Secondary analyses sought to determine predictor variables of PA in patients with chronic pain and to determine the relationship between objective and self-report measurements of PA. The effect of psychological treatment on physical activity was assessed using accelerometers in a sample of participants with chronic pain in a randomised controlled trial comparing 8 weeks of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Participants wore actigraph accelerometers for 7 consecutive days at baseline, post-treatment, and at 6-month follow-up. Hierarchical linear modelling analyses found that the variance in physical activity was not significantly predicted by time (b = 104.67, p = .92) or treatment modality (b = −1659.34, p = .57). Women had greater increases in physical activity than did men (b = 6804.08, p = .02). Current ‘gold standard’ psychological treatments for chronic pain were not found to significantly increase physical activity, an important outcome to target in the treatment of physical and mental health. These results suggest that tailored interventions with greater emphasis on exercise may complement psychological treatment for chronic pain. In particular, gender-tailored interventions may capitalise on physical activity differences found between men and women.

One Year of JAHA

With the February 2013 issue, the Journal of the American Heart Association ( JAHA ) begins its second year. JAHA was created as a forum for high‐quality cardiovascular and cerebrovascular science and to particularly represent the domains of the 16 Scientific Councils of the American Heart

Welcome to BioResearch Open Access

It is my pleasure to introduce the inaugural issue of the first peer-reviewed, fully open access journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The scientific community has been abuzz with enthusiasm about open access, but with some legitimate concerns about the credibility of some of those journals from less reputable publishers and the level of peer review—or lack thereof—for open access articles. We are taking a unique approach with BioResearch Open Access to address these concerns and guarantee expert review. The strength of our editorial team lies in the unique input from our highly experienced Section Editors, each of whom is the Editor of a leading journal in his or her own field and who recommend articles for publication. The Journal also welcomes unsolicited articles. BioResearch Open Access is a fully peer-reviewed journal, ensuring that the quality and integrity of articles is maintained. I am delighted to acknowledge the support and participation from the following Section Editors: Stephen C. Ekker, PhD Mayo Addiction Research Center, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota Domenico Grasso, PhD, PE, DEE The University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont Aubrey D.N.J. de Grey, PhD SENS Foundation, Cambridge, United Kingdom Stephen Higgs, PhD, FRES Biosecurity Research Institute, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas Thomas Hope, PhD Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois Peter C. Johnson, MD Scintellix, LLC, Raleigh, North Carolina Eugene Kolker, PhD Chief Data Officer, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, Washington Antonios G. Mikos, PhD Rice University, Houston, Texas Graham C. Parker, PhD Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan Carol Shoshkes Reiss, PhD New York University, New York, New York Alan J. Russell, PhD Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Ganes C. Sen, PhD Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio Bruce A. Sullenger, PhD Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina John B. West, MD, PhD University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California David L. Woodland, PhD Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology, Silverthorne, Colorado Professor Sir Ian Wilmut, OBE, FRS, FRSE MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom James M. Wilson, MD, PhD University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The Journal provides a new rapid-publication forum for a broad range of scientific topics, including, but not limited to, molecular and cellular biology, tissue engineering and biomaterials, regenerative medicine, bioengineering, stem cells, gene therapy, systems biology, genetics, biochemistry, virology, microbiology, and neuroscience. The purpose of this publication is to create a forum to bring together research from all aspects of biomedical research through open access. This first issue (Volume 1, Issue 1) has accomplished this goal by providing six research articles from internationally acclaimed research groups: Reovirus-Mediated Cytotoxicity and Enhancement of Innate Immune Responses Against Acute Myeloid Leukemia (University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom) Differentiation of Human Neural Progenitor Cells in Functionalized Hydrogel Matrices (University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany) Permeability of 3D Fibrin Constructs Corresponds to Fibrinogen and Thrombin Concentrations (University of California, Los Angeles, California) Human Skin Cells That Express Stage-Specific Embryonic Antigen 3 Associate with Dermal Tissue Regeneration (University of California, Los Angeles, California) Phylogenetic Analysis of the Earliest nef Gene from Hemophiliacs and Local Controls in Korea (University of Ulsan, Ulsan, Korea) The Effect of Biological and Synthetic Matrices on Hepatic Stem Cell Gene Expression (University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom) We would like to thank the authors who submitted their work to this new journal and hope that this collection of articles makes them pleased to be a part of the first issue. BioResearch Open Access welcomes basic science and translational research in the form of original research articles, comprehensive review articles, minireviews, rapid communications, brief reports, technology reports, hypothesis articles, perspectives, and letters to the editor. All research articles in BioResearch Open Access will be published online within 4 weeks of acceptance. Articles will be fully open access and posted on PubMedCentral, and the Journal is fully NIH-, HHMI-, and Wellcome Trust–compliant. Instructions for Authors and further information are available at www.liebertpub.com/biores We hope that this new venture will provide a stimulating forum for biomedical research and discussion, and we welcome your active participation and article submissions.

Australian Journal of Zoology: 60th anniversary

This year marks the 60th anniversary of Australian Journal of Zoology. To celebrate, we are making a few changes to the journal. We recognise that both zoological research and publishing have changed significantly since 1953, when the journalwas firstlaunched,andthatthejournalmustadapttomeet the requirements of authors and readers. As a result, Australian JournalofZoologyhasnowintroducedseveralnewarticletypes, launched an award to recognise student work, and reaffirmed its commitment to publishing high-quality research. Inadditiontooriginalresearcharticlesandcriticalreviews,we now welcome the submission of several new article types. A series of ‘opus’ reviews, invited from senior zoologists by the editors, will complement current content by providing both retrospective and prospective examinations of the authors’ own research areas. The editors will also commission ‘perspective’ articles–similartoreviews,butthatallowauthorsthefreedomto present thought-provoking ideas, develop novel hypotheses and speculate on controversial topics. Wewillalsoencouragethesubmissionofshorterpapers,such asthosedescribinginnovativezoologicalmethodsortechniques, naturalhistoryobservationsorprimernotes.Fewjournalsprovide aforumforsuchreports,yettheyareoftenimportantobservations that are worthy of wider dissemination. To recognise and celebrate the important student contribution to zoological research in Australia and worldwide, Australian Journal of Zoology has launched the Best Student Paper Award. This award is presented annually for the best original research publicationarisingfromstudentwork(Honours,MastersorPhD) in the most recent volume of the journal. A panel of editors assesseseligiblepapersontheirinternationalimpactinzoological research using Australasian animals. Our first winner is Rohan Bilney from Deakin University for his paper ‘Reversed sexual dimorphism and altered prey base: the effect on sooty owl (Tyto tenebricosa tenebricosa) diet’, from volume 59 of the journal (2011; pp. 302–311). A profile of Dr Bilney and his work will appear in the journal later this year. The journal has always endeavoured to publish high-quality research, quickly and efficiently. Last year, we adopted ScholarOne as our online manuscript handling system – we expectittoimprovethesubmissionexperience forauthorsandto streamline peer review. We strive to reduce editorial turnaround times and aim to return the first decision on most manuscripts within 21 days of submission. As soon as manuscripts are accepted, they are listed online as ‘Just Accepted’ and move straight into production; when ready, they are published Online Early before print publication. Our goal is to publish all papers online within 6 weeks of acceptance. The editorial team and journal staff hope that these changes improve authors’ and readers’ experiences with Australian JournalofZoology.Asalways,wewelcomeyourfeedbackonthe journal and its development, and we look forward to receiving your best work.

A Bright Future for JMT

In this time of endless political opinions, bad financial news, and worldwide unrest, it is sometimes difficult to feel optimistic. However, looking at the progress of JMT and our future is cause for celebration. As the new editor in chief, my mind is reeling with new ideas and possibilities for the journal, and its impact on the specialty of medical toxicology and poisoned patients will continue to grow. Rather than getting bogged down in the myriad details of the day to day activities of the journal, I really want to take this opportunity of transition to step back and look at the big picture. The editorial board is certainly the heart of the journal. As we considered our future, we realized that the composition and roles of the editorial board required some updating to match the workflow of the journal. In addition to adding five new members, there are new associate, case report, review, and veterinary editors. An ultimate goal of our board redevelopment is to produce a strategic plan for JMT that will map our future. A journal is obviously nothing without good content. After being accepted for indexing, both the quality and quantity of submissions improved and that trend continues as the journal grows. With our experienced and hard-working reviewers, we are striving to optimize the journal content. Since 2006, our turnaround time from reviewer invite to decision has gone from 67 to 16 days. Our partnership with Springer has also allowed us to publish articles online within 3–4 weeks of acceptance. We thank our authors for continuing to provide cutting-edge content. Of course, one cannot ignore the 800-lb gorilla in every plan to increase exposure–social media. Work continues on our mobile app for journal reading as well as expanding our presence on Facebook. Our initial podcast was presented to the editorial board at the meeting in DC. Having been in the audience of a recent Paul McCartney concert, I cannot help but think of the Beatles, “I get by with a little help from my friends,” because a journal can only be as great as the people who participate, from the editorial board, the publisher, the authors, and the reviewers to the readers. I am so fortunate to be surrounded by incredible talent, some new and some in new roles. I cannot thank Christian Tomaszewski enough for his mentoring in his tenure as editor in chief. As the board liaison to JMT, Lewis Nelson, the president of our organization, has been a steadfast confidante and tireless advocate for improvements. Mark Mycyk was recently named associate editor and brings a depth of expertise and a fresh look at our publication. Many of my knowledge gaps in publishing have been filled by the kindness and hard work of Michael Weston, our Springer senior editor. Michelle Ruha, first as case report editor and now as review editor, and Jeanmarie Perrone, the current case report editor, continue to advance the quality of JMT. And I have been able to count on all of the feature editors to consistently provide quality and timely material. We have an engaged and active editorial board that is my light in the night. A reviewer thank you is included in this issue; we continue to increase the strength and depth of our reviewer pool, but many of our best reviewers have been with us working hard since the journal began, and our gratitude continues. It is an honor and privilege to be entrusted with the helm of this wonderful journal. We are always looking for more member input. Please contact me directly with any suggestions or interests in participating.

Letter from Interim Editor in Chief

Letter from Interim Editor in Chief

EDITORIAL: Streamlining the FastTrack

All editors of scientific journals and all authors wish to keep to a minimum the time between submission of a paper and its publication (or rejection). At the Annals, we have worked hard to reduce the time from acceptance to publication, and we now have some exciting developments planned that will lead to more efficient processing of submitted manuscripts. The addition by my predecessor Irving Taylor of two extra issues per year greatly helped us bring down the time from acceptance to publication. In the last 9 months, I have maintained the pressure to accept only the best submitted papers, and we have revised the way accepted papers are handled by the Production Team. It now takes about 3 months from decision for an original article to appear in print. However, we make full use of our ‘FastTrack’ system which allows online publication (with a citable DOI) within 4 weeks of acceptance; all research papers now benefit from FastTrack. We have prioritised research papers for publication, while keeping the broad spread of article types; the space allocated for Technical Section, CORESS Feedback, News from NICE and Book Reviews will be carefully maintained. It is good to report that CORESS is extending beyond general surgery, and soon there will be feedback from other specialties. Online publication is now part of the mainstream, even at the Annals. Case Reports are published online only, to take advantage of the possibility of colour illustrations and to reduce the restriction on numbers of figures. Important learning points and well-illustrated educational cases are welcome in this section. We have Readers' Pages, on the College website. This is now our preferred route for submission of comments and correspondence for publication. Contributions can be posted online, and may be selected for subsequent publication. Authors will be asked to respond through this route, enabling immediate discussion of any material published in the Annals. The Annals will continue to publish online abstracts of presentations at surgical meetings. We accept abstracts from regional meetings in any surgical discipline, and this year we also publish abstracts from the Royal Society of Medicine Section of Surgery, and the ALPS meeting organised by the Association of Upper GI Surgeons. Meeting organisers who may wish to publish abstracts should contact the Editorial Office in the first instance. This month sees a truly momentous innovation for the Annals. The way in which submitted manuscripts have been handled in the Office has not changed for many years, perhaps not since the very first issue. Electronic submissions by email are handled in the same way as paper submissions were previously, with the ever-present risk that files with no incoming traffic may be ignored for long periods. If a referee fails to respond, or an author does not receive an invitation to revise a paper, months may go by before the file is reviewed. This is going to change. We are about to begin a trial of our new electronic manuscript handling system. Selected authors and referees will be asked to help us in this trial (which will be backed up by the traditional system during the trial) so that we can ensure that the new system will work efficiently when we switch over completely to electronic management in the summer. The advantages of change are clear: the editors will be able to see submitted papers immediately they are uploaded by the author, referees can be allocated and invited to review at the click of a button; importantly, inability or failure to review within 3 weeks can be flagged up to the Editor and a replacement identified; as soon as the Editor has sufficient guidance from referees, a decision can be made and communicated to the author. For authors, the service will be quicker and more reliable; for editors, the performance of referees can be monitored and selection of appropriate people for each paper will be improved; and for referees, communication will be improved by seeing the comments of others, and the Editor's decision. Referees will be able to enter or modify index terms for their own area of interest. We aim to make the system painless: a request to review will be accompanied by a link to the submitted file and the report page, but each user can set up their own password protected login to access their Annals activity at any time. If the occasion arises for you, as author or as referee, please accept our invitation to take part in our trial of the new manuscript handling system. In this way, you will contribute to a better service for all our readers. When the new system is fully functional in a few months' time, we shall be able to claim that we have streamlined the whole process from submission to first decision, and on to publication.

The beginning ofSurgical Neurology International

Surgical Neurology International (SNI) has begun publication of a free Internet journal of neurosurgery and neuroscience for the benefit of all 35,000 neurosurgeons around the world. This 21st -century publication will not only publish scientific papers from around the world, but will have a Web site with free educational content for our readers in the developing and developed world. The scientific papers will be published within 2 weeks of acceptance, making the publication time as short as possible. There will be no print versions, and therefore no delay in publishing. SNI will have papers on Translational Neuroscience for neurosurgeons, papers on new and innovative discoveries, and articles on Fundamental Neurosurgery and Neurology for our readers everywhere. The Web site will contain a series of 100 lectures on all aspects of neurosurgery from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Department of Neurosurgery, lectures from other centers across the globe, a “Neurology for the Neurosurgeon” series, a Journal Club, Resident's Corner “How I Do It” videos for those in the developing world by Atos de Sousa from Brazil, and a case feedback blog. There will also be a section called Neurosurgery 2.0, using technology of the future in educating today's neurosurgeons worldwide. A neurosurgery Worldwide Market for exchange of needed equipment and people will start with the next issue. There will be the expected popular editorials on socioeconomic, political, ethical and scientific issues, as well as invited editorials from experts in other fields of interest. Surgical Neurology International is an independent journal with no affiliation to any organization. We are open to opinions of all kinds that reflect what neurosurgeons and scientists believe worldwide. We are also open to all new ideas you may have so as to provide information to your colleagues worldwide. We are interested in controversy and the truth that gets revealed as a result of discussion of different ideas. Surgical Neurology International is apolitical and recognizes the common bond all of us have as scientists seeking scientific truth and new ideas for the patients we treat. Authors of accepted papers are charged a small fee for publication, which can be waived by the editor, if appropriate. With advertising and other revenues, we hope to offset that charge. There is no cost for downloading papers. We are looking to involve young neurosurgeons all over the world who have great ideas that need to be seen, heard and read. If you are interested in becoming involved with this 21st -century venture in information on neurosurgery, please write to us at moc.tniygoloruenlacigrus@rotide. We welcome suggestions about how we can provide content that will satisfy your needs. If you would like to have our “Table of Contents” e-mailed to you each month, simply direct your Internet browser to http://www.surgicalneurologyint.com/signup.asp and complete the online form.

A new year, new challenges, a renewed journal?

The European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases is a healthy journal, with over 600 submitted manuscripts annually. Most of these papers are in the clinical microbiology sector (59%), with manuscripts on virology (15%) and fungal infections (10%) ranking second and third. However, over 50% of this impressive input has to be rejected immediately and, among the manuscripts that are sent out for peer review, another 30–40% will, in the end, not be acceptable for publication. Primarily, this is related to the relative quality of the various submissions: some are simply better than others and our review process is aimed at selecting these top papers. On the other hand, we are faced with a continuously increasing number of submissions, an increase that is significantly larger than what we will ever be able to publish in the end. As a result, we are now facing a backlog with respect to ‘paper publication,’ although our electronic publishing system is as timely as it could ever be: within three weeks of acceptance of your manuscripts, these will be listed in PubMed and will also be directly downloadable from that resource. We explain the backlog as being the visible result of the increasing quality of the submitted manuscripts. In order to accommodate for this higher level of page consumption, Springer, our publisher, will allow a 5% increase of our page budget for 2009. Still, and because of the backlog that we are now facing, we will have to change our submission policy. In the coming year, the authors’ instructions will be changed to explain these changes in more detail. Most visibly, we will change the manuscript categories. The Letters to the Editor section will disappear, as will the Concise Article category, leaving us with Reviews, Regular Articles and Brief Reports. For the latter categories, we will introduce word count caps of around 2,500 and 750, respectively. However, Springer will facilitate the publication of Supplementary Material through their Web-based system. Simultaneously, we will try to acquire more reviews, which will be facilitated by the appointment of a review editor early this year. Finally, we will establish an advisory board, the members of which will be asked to continuously review the quality of the journal, with a clear focus on improving the journal further. We hope that this set of measures will guarantee further improvement of the journal and that you, as readers and authors, will remain as dedicated to the journal as you have been over the past years. I wish to thank all of the authors for their willingness to share their data with us, my gratitude goes to the hundreds of reviewers that help us assess the quality of the manuscripts that are submitted, and you as readers for your continued support of the journal. Last but not least, Nele Jung, who runs the Editorial Office, needs to be acknowledged for performed a smooth job in channelling all of the manuscripts that are submitted. This leaves me with nothing else than to wish you a prosperous and scientifically successful 2009. I do hope that you will be considering the European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases as a worthy forum for the publication of your best work.

Onward and Upward

Onward and Upward

Celebrating 100 years of publishing discovery in physiology 1908 – 2008

Celebrating 100 years of publishing discovery in physiology 1908 – 2008

Skull Base in 2007

As you have probably noticed, Skull Base is in the midst of significant changes and improvements. In 2005, this journal's concept was strongly reoriented toward original articles and topical reviews. This was illustrated by the series of seminal reviews on Cerebral Revascularization guest edited by Dr. John E. Wanebo. In 2006, Skull Base offered Thieme's eFirst 1 service: Online rapid publication of articles, which can, if necessary, be published within a few weeks of acceptance. Now all accepted manuscripts benefit from this service. This has led to a massive augmentation of the influx of manuscripts. Even with the significantly raised rejection rate, it has been necessary to increase the journal's annual publication schedule. In 2007, Skull Base has increased its publication frequency from 4 to 6 issues a year. This journal is also continuing its tradition of episodic topical review issues. The first issue of 2007 was on Skull Base Reconstruction, guest edited by Dr. Dan M. Fliss. Finally, and most important, starting in 2007 Skull Base will accept submissions only online. This has several advantages in manuscript-tracking and efficiency—well-known to both authors and reviewers—leading to shortened review times and accelerated publication schedules. Please note that henceforth all papers should be submitted to the following online site: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/skullbase We have striven over the past few years to make significant progress toward best serving your needs. We look forward to any comments and ideas from you. Do not hesitate to write! These are exciting times for this expanding journal and, as publishers, we thank you for your continuing support.

Instructions for authors

Instructions for authors

Critical Care – 10 years on

Critical Care – 10 years on