Our Goals, Our Challenges

As we begin our respective terms as coeditors of Neuropsychopharmacology, we want to share with our readership our thoughts about the Journal, and in particular our goals. As the official Journal of the College, Neuropsychopharmacology enjoys a singular status among scientific journals, reflecting the stature of the College and its membership. Much of this we owe directly to Chris Gillin and the standards he set. The Journal is what it is today in large part because of Chris. As we look to the future, it is easy to articulate our goals. We want the Journal to be the best in the three fields it represents: psychiatric research, neuropharmacology, and psychopharmacology. We want the outstanding people in the field to think first of Neuropsychopharmacology when they are preparing their very best work for publication, and for their students to dream of seeing their names in our pages. No one begins a new task by celebrating mediocrity or laying a clear path to the middle. How do we propose to accomplish our goals? We think we have two major tasks: to convince the very best people to send us their best work when they could send it anywhere they choose and to make certain there are no impediments to publishing their work. Attracting the best scientists is a circular process; it is achieved by having the best scientists publish in our Journal, so that others who do not know us become attracted. It is a bit like priming the pump, and we are fortunate in that the College is a rich source of priming material. The College membership embodies the very best in our fields: simply put, if you publish your best work in Neuropsychopharmacology, then the Journal's success is guaranteed. Thus we are actively soliciting each of you to send us your best work; we are asking you to think of us first. From there, it is a short distance to the next step, attracting outstanding scientists from outside the College to send us their work. To begin this process, we have increased the membership of the Editorial Board and have secured commitments from each of them to send us one or two of their best papers yearly. They have agreed enthusiastically, and if we can achieve the same commitment from each of you, the next problem we face will be the need to expand our page numbers. We are looking forward to facing that problem. Rapid review, response, and publication are important in science and, in our fast-moving held, particularly important. We recognize that without fast turnaround, top scientists will not publish in Neuropsychopharmacology. Continuing a process started by Chris, we will assign reviewers to each manuscript the day it arrives in our offices, fax the title page and abstract to prospective reviewers and obtain commitments from them within 24 to 48 hours. We will follow up with them to ensure that reviews are received back within 2 weeks. Our goal is to publish accepted papers within 4 months of their submission. But these are mechanics: in themselves, they do nothing to elevate quality. Quality comes from you. Both of us are honored to be holding our positions and committed to achieving success. But we need your help: specifically, we need your best papers. We want the members of the College to take button-popping pride in their Journal. To borrow from Abraham Lincoln: without your support, we cannot succeed, with it we cannot fail.