The end of the beginning

This is my last issue as Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Pain and with it ends a period of close association with the journal which started at the very beginning of this enterprise. From January 2005, the journal will be edited by Hermann Handwerker from the University of Erlangen-Nüremberg. Hermann has been a close friend for many years and I am sure that the journal will benefit enormously from his vast experience as a pain scientist and from his special interest in the mechanisms of human pain. Nine years ago I received a letter (remember when we still received letters?) from Ulf Lindblom asking me to join the editorial team of a new journal. The journal in question was the European Journal of Pain, a publication of the newly formed European Federation of Chapters of IASP (EFIC). Ulf, who was the founder Editor-in-Chief, was recruiting members for the Editorial Board and needed someone to help him with the basic science papers. Thus began my period of association with this journal, first as Ulf's Deputy Editor and from the year 2000 as Editor-in-Chief. Our first task was to put together a first class Editorial Board made up of scientists and clinicians from all over the world. We were very keen that the journal should not be seen as parochial or perceived as divisive. Funnily enough I have never liked the name of the journal, as journals with a country or regional association look old fashioned. Also, I do not have any taste for nationalisms, little or large. But the name of the journal had already been decided and my attempts at alternatives were not successful. The first few years were, by far, the more exciting. Starting a new journal in the era of the all mighty Impact Factor is always difficult and we had to work quite hard to cajole our colleagues into sending papers to a still unknown journal. We also suffered the consequences of upheavals in the publishing industry; our first publishing contract was passed from publishing house to publishing house as they were bought by one another without us having much to say in the process. In the relatively short period of nine years we have had three publishers although, fortunately, we have ended up with the largest scientific publishing house in the world, which ought to guarantee a quieter period ahead. When the journal started we did not even have an Editorial Office and were managed by a string of part-time teleworkers who were constantly changing and whom we never met face to face. One of them succeeded single handedly in paralyzing the journal, an event that required an emergency meeting in London to sort out what was going on. A new assistant was appointed and we were reassured by our publishers of the day that things will definitely improve. Yet, within a few weeks, the Manager in charge of the journal left for another job and a few months later the publishers were bought by another company. A whole new team was appointed to deal with the journal and we were back to square one. Interesting times indeed. Thankfully, the journal survived these upheavals and we ended up with a highly respected publication in pain research and management. Working closely with Ulf Lindblom gave me the opportunity of a direct association with an extraordinary human being. He was a very senior figure; a Professor at the Karolinska, former President of IASP, founder of the Scandinavian Pain Society and of EFIC. I soon discovered that inside this reserved Swede there was a strong character, with a very short fuse ready to blow when incompetence or malice crossed his path. He just did not suffer fools at all. While I agreed with him on most aspects of the running of the journal I often found myself trying to persuade him to consider more subtle alternatives to the simpler and perfectly understandable reaction of telling someone to get lost. We have often laughed at this role reversal of our respective stereotypes: a diplomatic Spaniard having to persuade a fiery Swede to make compromises. As founding Editor, Ulf set the main policy lines of the journal, a blueprint that I also followed when I became Editor. The first — and foremost — is that the quality of a paper should be the only reason for having any material published in the journal. The second is that we should endeavor to increase the number of high quality clinical papers to maintain the true spirit of IASP; an association of scientists and clinicians trying to help each other in the understanding of pain. The third, and perhaps the most difficult, is that we should give the European Journal of Pain a distinct character, a personality of its own that will make people recognize it as an attractive publishing venture in its own right. I believe that throughout these nine years we have established the basis for such a publication and, although there is still a lot of work to be done, we can be reasonably pleased with what has been produced so far. When the journal was first published there were not many other publications in the pain field but in the intervening years several other journals have appeared. This illustrates the relevance of our field but also shows that there is stiff competition for the top positions. I am sure that the European Journal of Pain will remain among the most important publications in pain research and management. The number and quality of submissions have been increasing steadily over the years and so has the Impact Factor of our journal. We have a good mixture of basic science and clinical submissions, not only from Europe but from all over the world, including countries that have their own pain journals. We have also become a prime vehicle for the publication of special issues on timely aspects of pain research and therapy. The journal is in good shape, scientifically and financially; ready to contend for the top positions in this very competitive field. During my time as Editor I have received the help and support of many people. First and foremost, I am grateful to Ulf Lindblom for having offered me the chance of being part of this project from the beginning, for his support to become Editor-in-Chief when he gave up the Editorship and for his lasting friendship which remains the best gift of the whole enterprise. I am also grateful to David Niv and Harald Breivik, the two EFIC Presidents under which I have served as Editor of the journal. Their support for this publication has contributed greatly to its success and Harald's help as Deputy Editor has been decisive. I have also had a lot of help from Marshall Devor and Beverly Collett, the two Chairs of the EFIC Publication Committee during my term of office. They have always had the interests of the journal in mind and have taken critical decisions in our relations with the various publishing houses. The success of the scientific side of this publication is largely due to our Editorial Board and I am grateful to all its members for their help, especially when called to review difficult papers at very short notice. I am particularly indebted to the Section Editors: Eija Kalso, Chris Main and Rolf-Detlef Treede who have done an unbelievable amount of work for no other reason than trying to help the progress of this publication. I am also grateful to all the reviewers of the papers submitted to the journal; they are truly the back bone of any scientific publication and the guardians of the quality of the journal. They do a difficult and anonymous job without any visible reward. The considerable publishing expertise of our journal manager, Koos Admiraal, and his team at Elsevier is also much appreciated. Last, but by no means least, I am especially grateful to my Editorial Assistant, Marcela Toro, for her constant help throughout these four long years. She has been a great asset to the journal and has done a very complex and demanding job while always keeping a smile on her face. The last two years, when I moved to Canada and she kept the office in Madrid, were especially complicated as the distance meant a big extra effort for the Editorial Office. Without Marcela it would have been impossible to keep this operation running smoothly. I owe a special debt of gratitude to her, even more so as the Editorial Office will now move to Germany and her association with the journal will also come to an end. As a physiologist, I know that the health of our bodies depends critically on the renewal of our cells and tissues. We are continuously producing new cells that take the place of old ones. They bring new impetus to our lives and are the source of our health, the guarantee of our survival and the basis of our development. Ulf and I started this journal knowing very well that it would be for others to take it to greater heights. Today marks only the end of the beginning. The outgoing (left) and the incoming (right) Editors of the European Journal of Pain, having a jolly time. The youthful appearance of both gentlemen betrays the fact that this picture is quite old, taken at a time when neither of them could even guess that they would end up as partners in this publishing venture. The picture was taken in 1990 at a Symposium held in Edinburgh to mark the retirement of Ainsley Iggo.

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