Message from the Editors: Consolidation

A year ago, we expressed the opinion that the disciplines and representative bodies with interest in neuroscience of the gastrointestinal tract should unite to enhance opportunities for the future. We observed, with great satisfaction, that leaders of the American, European, and International societies have started this process of consolidation. We believe that there have been other areas of consolidation that are worthy of mention and further effort. The front cover of this issue shows the logo of the Functional Brain group. Neurogastroenterology and Motility is now the official journal of the group and as previously stated, we welcome the opportunity to review manuscripts in enteric neuroscience that span the spectrum from genetic and molecular to population and behavioral science in relation to the gastrointestinal tract. With this issue, readers will also notice that the number of pages in each issue is being increased by about 50%. During 2003, we noted that the number of manuscripts submitted for publication increased by 50%; as the journal forms more formal ties with the entire community of neurogastroenterology, the journal management committee approved a request for an increase in the number of pages, and the publishers have been supportive. As the journal submissions increase, we also wanted to ensure we continued to provide timely publication; in fact, as from the second quarter of 2004, the journal will place articles first on-line as soon as the scientific and administrative reviews have been completed. We are exploring ways to complete all the submissions electronically, to avoid the need to send a disc with the manuscript after the entire review process has been conducted on-line! This will require authors to pay particular attention to the recommendations on figure quality, during the original submission, but we perceive that this additional effort will be worthwhile as we bring the papers to our readership expeditiously. When published first on-line, we would indicate the approximate date of the issue in which the article will appear in the paper and electronic form of the journal. We anticipate bringing to the readership a broad spectrum of papers and have plans to publish single topic supplements in 2004, including the proceedings of the Enteric Neuroscience meeting held in Banff, Canada in the summer of 2003. We anticipate that there will be a positive effect on the impact factor of the journal as we diversify the portfolio of publications and include scholarly reviews, clinical pharmacology and trials, in addition to the traditional strengths of the journal in basic science and applied physiology in health and disease. With Stephen M. Collins as reviews editor, we are confident that the invited editorials will focus on the translation of basic science to the clinical arena. Successful editorial content needs to be backed up with a vigorous attempt to place the journal on sound financial footing. These are key to consolidation of the journal for the long term. While the opportunities for advertising in the journal have seemed limited to date, we believe that those opportunities will increase as the journal is embraced by all the societies with interest in basic, applied and population enteric neuroscience. We anticipate increased submissions and a revenue stream from reprints and our goal is ultimately to have sufficient editorial material to bring this journal to monthly publication. The journal will not be charging for pages published in black and white, through the standard charge for colour pages will be continued. We acknowledge the importance of the investigators who choose to support this journal because of their allegiance to the field. We have secured, through the kind generosity of the publishers, a small monetary prize of $300 for the most cited article published in 2001. This has been the article, ‘‘Do gap junctions couple interstitial cells of Cajal pacing and neurotransmission to gastrointestinal smooth muscle?’’ by E. E. Daniel, J. Thomas, M. Ramnarain, T. J. Bowes, J. Jury. In 2004, we will award the most cited article from 2002 issues. As we finished off our message last year, we are proud to have been selected to participate in this process as editors. The success of the journal, however, depends on the interest of the authors and readers and their support and consolidation of the journal. The societies have responded to the call to organize; the readership has been broadened by strategic agreements among the societies. Vince Lombardi, the legendary American football coach, noted that the only place where ‘‘success’’ comes before ‘‘work’’ is in the dictionary! We are calling on those interested in the breadth of enteric neuroscience to provide us the work so that we can all make this a consolidated success!

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.