Having served as Editor-in-Chief of The European Journal of Psychiatry for almost twenty years, my term comes to an end. I would like to take this opportunity to briefly reflect on the development of the Journal over the past years and to thank all the people who contributed to its success. The Eur J Psychiatry was founded in 1986 by Professor Antonio Seva. He had a distinct knack for predicting the development of the journal and ran a professional yet personable operation, with the support of the Zaragoza University (Spain). When I took over from the founding editor, after his premature death in 2004, the journal was already established.
The overriding criteria for publication were from its inception originality, a high scientific quality and interest to a wide audience of those concerned with all aspects of mental illness. Throughout these dynamic times, with the crucial contribution of the Associate Editors, including the North American and Asian-Pacific Associate Editors, we strived to maintain the journal focused on its core mission. I feel satisfied with the results. An important factor was the help of our past and present Advisory Board, a pool of highly qualified, diligent scientists, many of them from outside the European countries, who have first-hand experience in their respective field. I am extremely grateful to all of them.
The editorial work relied heavily on the peer review process that, based on a large pool of expert reviewers, strived to be fast, fair, and to provide supportive feedback to the authors to help them improve their papers. I want to specifically thank all our selfless reviewers for their work which certainly deserves more credit than they usually get.
We all have to celebrate the spectacular progress in the field of psychiatry during the last 20 years. In this background, I am pleased to see that the journal has further consolidated and expanded its position among general psychiatric journals. The European name of the journal was not an obstacle to accept contributions from all over the world, and in fact, we received submissions from many-non European countries. The Eur J Psychiatry has a modest impact factor, but it was doubled the last year. The number of submissions has increased considerably, even in the past two difficult years of the Covid pandemic, the vast majority of the articles describing original research. We expect to have around 400 papers submitted this year 2023, and the limited space has prevented our including many good papers, the acceptance rate being around 10%. We therefore extend our sincere thanks to the growing number of authors who sent us some of their best manuscripts.
The editing, reviewing, and publishing would not be possible without the continuous and diligent work behind-the-scenes of the publishers, initially INO Reproducciones, a small (for today's standards, at least) and independent publishing Company and then Elsevier, starting the electronic version in 2016, helping to assure that our valuable research gets broadly disseminated. Their professional staff deserves our highest appreciation.
The Asociación Universitaria de Zaragoza para el Progreso de la Psiquiatría y la Salud Mental (ZARAPSAM), current owner of the Eur J Psychiatry, was founded with the main aim of supporting the journal, and the Zaragoza University has also provided continued support since its inception. I am extremely greatful to all the colleagues in the Association and to the University authorities in all these years. I feel privileged for having shared this journey. Now the journal initiates a new era, since it has been bequeathed to the Spanish Psychiatric Association (Sociedad Española de Psiquiatría y Salud Mental, SEPSM). This is quite an important decision, since we all in the current Editorial Board are convinced that the SEPSM has the power and the determination to give a vital impulse to the Journal. Looking into the future and this next chapter, I would like to welcome Prof. Guillermo Lahera (University of Alcalá, Madrid), who has been appointed the incoming Editor-in-Chief. Because of his long-standing experience and the sponsorship of the SEPSM, a successful development of the Journal can be anticipated. I encourage all the members of the national and international community to continue supporting the Eur J Psychiatry under the new leadership.