The Fundació Catalana Síndrome de Down's interest in editing a medical journal began at a time when the scientific study on Down Syndrome produced a constant flow of increasingly intense information and required the appropriate means to make it available to all potentially interested people.
During December 1986 the Fundació edited its first four monthly version in Catalan of the journal “Papers and abstracts for professionals”, a bulletin which the Down Syndrome Centre of the University of Maryland in Baltimore, USA, had been editing since 1978, and in which were published scientific reviews, references, comments and news items. The Catalan version which was called “Síndrome de Down, treballs i resums científics per a professionals”, began slowly to increase its content and contributions from Catalan authors, and edited its first version in the Spanish language in 1988 entitled “Síndrome de Down, artículos y resúmenes científicos” (Down Syndrome, articles and scientific abstracts).
Its main objective was that the bulletin would be a further stimulus to foster the growing interest in the Down syndrome and an appropriate platform for the publication of studies on this subject by Spanish scientists, as well as a vehicle of communication for the Foundation and its environment.
Our journal was given greater self-government in 1997 when it was produced under a new format with the title “SD Revista Mèdica Internacional sobre la Síndrome de Down”, (“SD International Medical Journal on Down Syndrome”). The goal was to convert it into a tool for the acquisition and dissemination of advances in knowledge on Down syndrome, from recording in the field of basic sciences such as molecular biology and genetics to daily clinical practice, diagnostics, therapy and healthcare services.
As a result, this journal follows the steps of its predecessor, is targeted at medical professionals and broadcasts the Fundació’s project, based on a complete vision of the person, and therefore the person with any type of disability. Its contents therefore include counselling relating to the medical field, due to its importance in improving the quality of life of the person with Down syndrome and because we are convinced that we should approach research and medical practice in humanistic terms i.e. not merely view the person from a biological and pathological viewpoint but also take into consideration their skills, in order that full identity may be achieved.
In 2010, the publishing services of Elsevier-Doyma España took over the publication of the journal, with its goal to achieve better presentation, dissemination, indexation and impact for the journal.
Over these 31 years, this journal –which has been the only strictly medical one of its kind – has provided a stimulus for the scientific community thanks to the major undertaking of the professionals who have directed it, and most particularly its Director, Dr. Josep Maria Corretger, and the authors who have endorsed our platform over these years.
At present, thanks to society's awareness and the medical environment, there are an increasing amount of studies and articles on the Down syndrome which are published in the major specialised journals of each area. Having achieved our aim, and not wishing to lose contact with our faithful readers, from 2018 onwards we will be working on a new format based on special editions. In addition to the exposure of medical advances, issues concerning the rest of psycho-pedagogic and social areas will be covered, including the care of people with Down syndrome.