Editorial

In the last issue, Christian Gold announced that he is stepping down as co-Editor-in-Chief and that Rune Rolvsjord is stepping down as Managing Editor. Both Christian and Rune have dedicated many years of service to this journal and, therefore, I would like to dedicate this issue and editorial to them. Christian took over the position of Editor-in-Chief from Brynjulf Stige in 2006. At that time, the journal produced two issues per year. In 2011, the number of issues was expanded to three per year. An additional increase in issues took place in 2015 (4 issues). Because of a growing number of manuscript submissions to the journal and, as a consequence, an increasingly large backlog of manuscripts waiting to go to print, we decided to increase the number of issues yet again in 2017 to 5 issues per year. This growth was accompanied by an equally impressive growth in the journal’s impact factor. Although Christian would be the first to caution against placing too much importance on metrics such as the impact factor, it is an important consideration for authors when deciding where to submit their manuscript. The journal became indexed in 2009. As Christian reported in his last editorial (Gold, 2019), the journal’s impact factor has grown to 2.355, placing the journal at the top of our field.

Besides these impressive growth numbers, I want to highlight some of the things I valued most in Christian as an Editor. First, he is a master at putting things into perspective. His ability to consider an issue from multiple angles was invaluable in his role as Editor-in-Chief. Christian was also always available to offer guidance and wisdom gained from his many years of experience as an editor. As a new Associate Editor, I frequently consulted with him regarding challenges with manuscripts, especially when conflicting peer review decisions were received, or when a manuscript was “on the edge” in terms of meeting the journal’s mission. As co-Editor-in-Chief in recent years, I appreciated being able to learn the ropes of leading a journal alongside him. I cannot imagine stepping into an Editor-in-Chief position without such a transition period – although until recently, I did not know this would become a transition period. Finally, Christian never accepted the status quo. He always questioned things but, at the same time, was ever mindful not to unnecessarily complicate things.

We are also really sad to see Rune Rolvsjord go as Managing Editor. Rune served our journal in this role since 1998. At that time the journal was known as the Nordisk Tidsskrift for Musikkterapi. As Managing Editor, Rune was responsible for making sure manuscripts have a “smooth” journey from submission to publication. Manuscripts are pre-screened by the Managing Editor to check that they meet the Instructions for Authors Guidelines and the mission of the journal. Once manuscripts pass this screen, they are assigned to an Associate Editor and the peer review journey can begin. After a manuscript has been accepted for publication, the Managing Editor is responsible for applying a pre-production checklist before it can be sent to the copy editor and type setter. Rune was also responsible for assisting authors, peer reviewers and Associate Editors with any issues experienced in ScholarOne, the publication platform used by our journal. Because of his many years of experience with the system, Rune knew the answer/solution for (almost) everything. It was very reassuring to have him on our editorial team, knowing that no issue would be too much or too challenging for him.

Christian and Rune, we will sure miss you on our editorial team! It is hard to imagine the journal without your guidance, wisdom and experience. I thank you for the endless time and effort (well, maybe not quite endless) you have dedicated to this journal and for helping make this journal what it is today: the leading international music therapy journal.