Welcome to eNeurologicalSci (eNS)

Neurology is now well beyond being just a great specialty with a logical approach to a varied spectrum of interesting disorders. Gratifyingly, decades of nihilism in neurologic care have been replaced with a sense of buoyancy, as rapidly emerging data foster improved understanding of pathophysiology and resolve longstanding clinical equipoise surrounding many therapeutic interventions. Also, technological progress in media communication has grown in leaps and bounds thereby allowing quicker dissemination and broader discussion of seminal research findings. Indeed, even greater new discoveries and further technological advances likely lie ahead. However, these encouraging scientific advances, clinical care enhancements, and media highlights, have primarily been led by researchers in high income countries (HIC) largely to the benefit of citizens of these countries, even though the global burden of neurological disease disproportionately afflicts citizens in low- or middle- income countries (LMIC).1 For instance, data from sub-Saharan Africa show a rising stroke epidemic,2,3 while in many HIC over the last two decades, there has been an impressive decline in stroke incidence and mortality.4–7 Moreover, many LMIC lack the neuroscience workforce required to better understand and address the toll of neurological disease. Perhaps it is also not surprising that there is only a modest contribution from LMIC to the frontiers of research in neuroscience, as evidenced by the relative paucity of publications from these countries in neurology/neuroscience journals.8 It is with all of the aforementioned issues in mind, that Elsevier has launched on behalf of the World Federation of Neurology (WFN) a new Open Access online-only journal, called eNeurologicalSci (eNS). eNS aspires to be at the global forefront of exciting research initiatives, functioning as a leading forum for the promotion of novel concepts as they pertain to discovery, diagnosis, treatment, and training in neurology and neuroscience. This resource aims to rapidly publish high-quality articles depicting new knowledge as it accrues across a broad research spectrum, with the potential for grasping mechanisms and informing management of diseases of the human nervous system. The journal especially serves as a venue for papers related to the fundamental mission of the WFN, accepting contributions from basic laboratory research all the way through to community studies in neurology-related fields of interest. eNS serves as a companion journal to the flagship journal of WFN, Journal of the Neurological Sciences (JNS), and through a seamless online manuscript management system also considers high quality articles, which JNS is unable to publish. Furthermore, eNS welcomes papers of major relevance to neurologic education and welcomes submissions from trainees in neurology and neuroscience (e.g. residents, fellows, post-doctorate scholars, and medical students). Types of manuscripts for consideration include: original research papers, short communications, reviews, study protocols, editorials, perspective pieces, clinical pathologic conference summaries, unique neuroimaging photographs, society conference proceedings (full articles or abstracts), expert-consensus clinical practice guidelines, and letters to the Editor. Examples of neurology-related fields of interest include: neuromuscular diseases, demyelination, atrophies, dementia, neoplasms, infections, epilepsies, disturbances of consciousness, stroke and cerebral circulation, growth and development, plasticity and intermediary metabolism. While colleagues from Neuroscience-related disciplines are encouraged to submit their best work, eNS will also accommodate submissions of a multidisciplinary nature from any field of medicine or basic science that facilitates greater insight into the management of patients with neurological conditions. In accord with the mission of WFN, as well as in recognition of the already noted high burden of neurological illness in LMIC and dearth of published neuroscience work from these countries, eNS put out a recent call for submission of papers to a Special Issue which will report on research, education, and patient care pertaining to neurology and neuroscience in Africa: http://www.ens-journal.com/pb/assets/raw/Health%20Advance/journals/ensci/ENS_CALL_FOR_PAPERS.pdf. Another Special Issue focused on manuscripts covering neurology and neuroscience in South America is currently in development. eNS editors and editorial board members comprise academicians with varied and distinguished expertise, firmly committed to the advancement of knowledge in neurological therapeutics on a global scale. On top of publishing ingenious discoveries and plugging educational gaps, eNS takes advantage of its online milieu by facilitating enhanced use of audiovisual technology and social media tools, thereby enriching the experience of readers, broadening the exposure of articles, and providing opportunities to better engage with our published scientists. eNS introduces several innovative publishing features, including the Elsevier Your-Paper-Your-Way programme, Article-Based-Publishing and others. Similar to all Elsevier publications, eNS offers authors usage of its sophisticated online submission and peer review facility, which is systematic, and provides step-by-step instructions on how to submit articles. Once published, all eNS papers are listed in Science Direct, and indexed in Scopus. Indexing in PubMed Central will be applied for as soon as possible. Science Direct enjoys unparalleled international readership and article dissemination, with 10 million active users monthly from over 120 countries. Accepted articles in eNS will be expeditiously published in an “Issue in Progress” without waiting for a full issue to be compiled. Advantages of this approach include reducing time-to-publication by an average of 7 weeks. Coupled with an Open Access model, the article-based publishing workflow ensures that the work of our authors is available to their peers as promptly as possible. For authors publishing in eNS and other Elsevier titles, agreements have already been made with the several major funding bodies, such as NIH, Wellcome Trust and others. These agreements ensure authors are in full compliance with funding body open access policies. Of note, some funding bodies may reimburse their funded authors for open access publication fees. Authors submitting their paper for publication in eNS will be offered various options for user licenses. During the first year of eNS’ existence we are extending a launch discount of 30% on article processing charges for all accepted manuscripts. At this stage, eNS is delighted to announce the publication of its first four articles which reflect its goal of reporting unique incremental contributions to the field: Identification of a novel missense mutation in the gene of a Japanese family with leukoencephalopathy presenting as adult-onset cognitive impairment. While the symptom profile of these family members largely matches previously published cases in the literature, the pattern in these individuals was distinguished by a relatively late-onset and a long disease duration. Investigation of gene-on-gene interactions and their attendant cumulative risk in Parkinson’s disease (PD). This study of Chinese patients with PD (and corresponding healthy controls) showed that genetic determinants of PD influenced each other in a manner that conferred higher risk of PD, and that PD risk rose cumulatively with increasing number of variants. Systematic review to identify the most widely used assessment tools of executive dysfunction for patients with stroke, and their psychometric properties. The review found that despite the frequency of executive dysfunction after a stroke, there is a paucity of tools to reliably measure this disorder and especially a significant need to develop appropriate tools for developing countries. Importance of evaluating pre-morbid socio-demographic and language proficiency in bilingual subjects with post-stroke aphasia. Without such an assessment, such patients may erroneously be interpreted as being less proficient in their second language, when in fact they might be aphasic almost exclusively in that second language. I hereby warmly welcome our new readers and strongly encourage prospective authors to submit your best research to eNS, so you can share your science in a speedy and widely visible manner. I would also like to publicly acknowledge our peer reviewers, an elite group of scientists and educators, who volunteer their time to improve the quality of the papers we publish. Finally, my heartfelt gratitude to all our editors and editorial board members for contributing their precious time and immense expertise towards making eNS a success.