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Editorial                                                                                                                               Open Access

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## Open Access, Peer-reviewed, Fast Track Processing, and High Quality Articles on all Topics related to Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology

Ole Jakob Storebø and Sven Bölte

The Scandinavian Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology (SJCAPP) is a new international  scientific  journal  of  research  and  practice covering a broad scope of high value articles in the field  of  child  and  adolescent  psychiatry  and  psychology. The  journal  publishes quantitative  and qualitative  research  on:  diagnosis,  assessment,  psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological treatments,  behaviour,  cognition,  epidemiology,  development, training, cross cultural issues, neuroscience and  genetic  aspects  related  to  mental  disorders  in children, adolescents and families. The journal also welcomes interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary submissions  if  relevant  for  childhood  psychopathology. The Journal publishes short and full length original  papers,  systematic  and  narrative  reviews, case studies, letters, and theoretical articles including perspectives and debate, and book reviews.

The  idea  of  launching  this  Journal  was  born  in the  beautiful,  majestic  and  wild  mountains  and fjords in 'Nærøyfjorden' in Norway. This is one of the most marvellous areas in Norway, showing the strength  of  the  Scandinavian  nature,  and  like  the Swedish forests and the Danish beaches, shows the best  of  Scandinavia.  It  is  our  hope  that  this  new journal will develop to be a marker of Scandinavian quality.

There is a great need for a Scandinavian journal in  child  and  adolescent  psychiatry  and  psychology. The research in the area is in high growth in Scandinavia  and  worldwide.  Scandinavian  research  in different  topics  of  child  and  adolescent  psychiatry and psychology is of high quality and there is clearly a lack of Scandinavian journals in the area. The need for this journal was also underlined by the positive response to our initiative. All the section editors are among the best researchers in this field in Scandina- via,  as  the  editorial  board  members  are  among  the best internationally.

The  concept  of  the  journal  has  been  prompted by  several  thoughts.  First  of  all,  empirical  research has driven the progress in child and adolescent psychiatry  and  child  psychology  during  the  past  decades.  To  continue  this  progress,  the  area  between basic  science  and  clinical  research  is  important. Complex  and  sophisticated  models  of  childhoodonset psychiatric disorders have been accomplished by  interdisciplinary  cooperation  between  basic  scientists and clinicians, and shown in findings in the gene-environment research. Another important area is the area between clinical research and implementation  of  evidence  based  interventions  in  clinical practice. Other important areas are, e.g. research in genetics  of  neurodevelopmental  disorders,  longitudinal studies of child psychopathology, twin studies of child psychiatric disorders, neuroimaging studies of childhood onset psychiatric disorders, and studies of newly defined DSM-5 disorders.

A lot of new research in basic and clinical neurosciences  has  documented  that  the  most  common psychiatric  disorders  in  adolescence  and  adulthood have their onset in the first periods of life and are thus  connected  to  development.  This  is  another reason  why  we  wanted  this  journal  to  be  both grounded in psychiatric research as well as research and  clinical  reports  from  the  area  of  psychology. Furthermore, we wanted the journal to be a journal for both clinicians and researchers. It is a challenge turning basic research findings into clinically useful applications,  but  it  is  important  to  work  on  this. The  journal  will  be  an  open  access  because  it  is important  that  the  articles  will  be  accessible  for everyone.  We  have  no  publication  fee.  Many  journals  have  large  publication  fees  which  can  make  it difficult especially for the clinicians to publish their work.

Child  and  Adolescent  Psychiatry  is  in  rapid  development.  Many  families  suffer  largely  and  the research  in  the  above  mentioned  areas  is  very  important both for improving the assessments and the treatment of families and their children. We are very pleased  to  introduce  our  new  open  access  journal, and our hope is that this new publication will support child and adolescent psychiatry, both in Scandinavia and internationally.

## Acknowledgments

We have looked forward to this moment when we could  present  a  new  open  access  scientific  journal on child  and  adolescent  psychiatry  and  psychology to the public. We are grateful to the State and University  Library  in  Århus  making  this  possible.  We furthermore  thank  Psychiatric  Research  Unit  in Region Zealand for the strong support. We are also indebted  to  Dr.  Angela  Reiersen  at  Washington University  in  St.  Louis,  Professor  Ørjan  Martinsen at Oslo University for their invaluable support and help.  We  also  wish  to  thank  the  advisory  board members  and  the  section  editors  for  their  advice and willingness to support the journal.