The Journal of Addictive Diseases (JAD), originally entitled Advances in Alcohol and Substance Abuse, was founded by Dr. Barry Stimmel in 1982 who continued to edit the journal until his death on November 24, 2014. During his long and esteemed stewardship (see the dedication to Dr. Stimmel in Issue 2/3 of Volume 34), the journal published 1,172 articles across 136 issues and became an influential substance abuse journals recognized across the world. Dr. Stimmel welcomed a broad array of submissions, but particularly valued reports examining causes, complications, treatment, and prevention of opiate addiction; interventions with substance impaired physicians; and didactic issues in physician education vis-à-vis substance misuse. The journal benefitted enormously from Dr Stimmel's considerable professional experience, gained through more than 30-years as executive director of a leading New York City methadone maintenance treatment center and prominent role as a medical educator (formerly Dean of Graduate Medical Education) at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine. As the new Editor and Associate Editor of JAD, we hope to continue this excellent work and maintain the journal's focus on these vital issues, retaining JAD's key strengths of diversity and a broad scope to inform our readers of the latest developments and help to further enhance clinical practice and research in the addiction field.
A look back at the articles published in JAD since its inception provides a telling account of key developments in the field over a generation. The first decade of the journal (1982 to 1992) witnessed the global emergence of the HIV/AIDs epidemic; growing concerns about a cocaine epidemic in the United States; early findings regarding fetal alcohol- and drug-related effects; increased attention to the treatment needs of “special populations,” such as women, the elderly, adolescents, and children of alcoholics; and greater interest in the cost-effectiveness of prevention and treatment interventions. This period also saw significant growth in neuroimagining and genetic studies of substance misusers, enhanced attention to cardiovascular and other medical consequences of alcohol and drug abuse, debates about the comparative effectiveness of inpatient and outpatient treatment, and important studies of the abuse liability of psychoactive agents.
Between 1993 and 2003, JAD articles reflected increased attention to the issues of workplace drug screening; medical marijuana; Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among intravenous (IV) drug users; homelessness; behavioral addictions, such as pathological gambling and binge eating; smoking cessation interventions; psychiatric comorbidity; and treatments, such as rapid opioid detoxification, acupuncture, office-based pharmacotherapy of opioid addiction with buprenorphine, motivational interventions, Matrix Model treatment of stimulant dependence, and integrated psychological and pharmacological treatments.
Turning to the most recent decade, exigent concerns about Oxycontin addiction and an emergent prescription opioid and heroin misuse epidemic in the United States are evident along with treatment of HIV/HCV co-infection; sex addiction; overdose prevention; Hispanic substance misuser treatment needs; treatment of veterans with substance use disorders; and mounting concerns around ecstasy (MDMA), desmorphine, synthetic cannabinoid, hypnotic, propofol, anabolic steroid, prescription stimulant, and tramadol misuse.
For more than one-third of a century, JAD has played a vital role in communicating key clinical and research findings to practitioners and scientists working in the ever changing substance abuse area. Scores of luminaries in the field, including former Directors of the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and National Institute on Drug Abuse and a former Director and Associate Director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, have published influential reports and commentaries in JAD.
In taking on responsibility for the continued success of the journal, we hope to enhance its contribution to the addictions field via a number of initiatives that aim to streamline the submission, review, and publication process and enhance the quality of research we publish.
We are committed to an expedited review process that ensures each investigator submitting a manuscript receives timely and quality review of their work and aim to provide an explicit decision on all submissions within six weeks of receipt. To achieve this, we will add world leading scientists and clinical practitioners to our editorial board to provide additional expertise, particularly in newly emerging areas in this addiction field. We will also seek out exceptional individuals from around the world to broaden the expertise our reviewer pool. Our intent is to maintain rigor while improving the timeliness of the review process such that JAD is an attractive option to researchers looking to publish the latest research, helping it to become an even more influential journal in the addiction field.
JAD will continue to welcome diverse research, employing a range of methodologies. We are especially interested in publishing results of randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and surveys with large, representative samples employing validated measures. We also recognize the value of qualitative methods, which can help to develop our understanding behind quantitative findings and give direction and reason to new approaches to treatment and prevention. The journal's scope will continue to take in reports with an etiological, epidemiological, treatment, or prevention focus as well as those pertaining to alcohol, other illicit drugs and behavioral addictions. Research with immediate or near-term treatment and prevention implications will be particularly welcomed and prioritized for early publication where possible.
We will be publishing a new set of Instructions to Authors shortly that will give greater direction to those looking to submit to the journal. We hope these instructions will help to give more structure to the manuscripts that we publish to make them easier to read and enhance their quality. These new instructions, along with a streamlined review process and a preference for studies of rigorous design with important clinical and prevention implications, should help us to increase the standing of the journal and, consequentially, the impact of research articles published within. The 2014 Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Report lists JAD as 11th of 35 journals in the substance use field, with an impact factor 2.1. While this is already impressive, our goal is to make JAD among the most influential substance abuse specialty journals in the world, responding to the ever changing nature of this field and helping to enhance practice and research in all areas of addictive diseases.
JAD is the official organ of the American Osteopathic Academy of Addiction Medicine, an organization dedicated to improving the health of individuals and families suffering from addiction. We believe JAD effectively promotes the Academy's efforts to prevent and treat addictive disorders and are grateful for their continued support.