Integrating policy and research into addiction practice, AMERSA abstracts, and an appreciation to our reviewers

Publication of high-quality biomedical and health services research has an important role to play in informing and shaping health policy. Not only does research assist in examining issues and finding solutions to vexing problems, but published research provides a means to educate stakeholders who influence legislation, regulation, and policy decisions.^1,2 Certainly, health services research can guide the provision of care in many domains: (1) access, (2) organization, (3) financing, (4) reimbursement, (5) costs, (6) quality, (7) special populations, and (8) ethical and legal issues.¹ Increasingly, research is focused on examining the clinical and public health aspects of certain policies. In the addiction field, this could apply to such topics as the impact of the Parity Laws and Affordable Care Act on access to and quality of addiction treatment^3–6 and the impact of buprenorphine regulations and policies.^7–10 For lack of a better term, research that directly examines the influence of policy or regulations on clinical care can be defined as applied regulation and policy examination and research (ARPER). Along with research that informs stakeholders about the current evidence-based approaches to addiction-related care or public health, ARPER has an important role to play in addiction-related care and public health.

Scholars who examine addiction-related ARPER are sorely needed. Like translational, health services, and implementation research before it, addiction-related ARPER is a new field. At Substance Abuse journal we are actively seeking to publish more ARPER.¹¹ We believe it is essential to examine contemplated, ongoing, or completed policies and regulations that influence addiction treatment in order to truly impact patient care. We are also committed to publishing this work quickly, after sound peer review, so that this research can inform current or future policy debates.

The Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse (AMERSA; www.amersa.org) is an organization with a mission to “improve health and well-being through interdisciplinary leadership in substance use education, research, clinical care, and policy.” One of AMERSA's stated goals is to “provide an active forum and community for discussion and debate of health policy topics related to substance use.” ARPER and policy advocacy are essential parts of the mission and goals. In that vein, in November 2015, AMERSA's 39th annual meeting in Washington, DC, focused on the theme “Integrating Policy and Research Into Teaching and Practice.” Conference Chairs, Paula J. Lum, MD, MPH, and Gerald Cochran, PhD, MSW, offered a wealth of addiction policy-related content via plenary discussions on such topics as (1) drug policies implication on the rights, health, and well-being of pregnant women and their children; (2) policy and implementation issues of naloxone rescue kits to confront opioid overdoses; and (3) a debate regarding substance use confidentiality laws. Additionally, the journal contributed to this policy theme during the distribution of annual awards at the AMERSA conference. We recognized Christian Hopfer's, MD, article, “Implications of Marijuana Legalization for Adolescent Substance Use,” as Substance Abuse journal's 2015 Most Downloaded Manuscript and selected Jessica J. Black's, MD, article, “Mechanisms of Change in Adolescent Substance Use Treatment: How Does Treatment Work?,” for Substance Abuse journal's Best Manuscript of 2015.^12,13

Many of the scientific posters, presentations, and workshops at the AMERSA conference could influence policy decisions and were directly ARPER-related work (see Supplemental Material). For example, Sion Kim Harris, PhD, and colleagues presented work regarding medical marijuana diversion in two clinical populations of youth and the early trends in this use after legalization, and Daniel P. Alford, MD, MPH, and colleagues presented an assessment of an opioid risk evaluation and medication strategy continuing education program aimed at improving provider opioid prescribing practices. We at the journal advocate for more attention at future AMERSA conferences regarding research that may influence policy and ARPER.

Finally, the quality and impact of ARPER and more traditional forms of research rely substantially on the contributions of peer reviewers. As always, we are grateful for the 285 peer reviewers who voluntarily provided over 350 external reviews for our journal in calendar year 2015. Why should anyone do a peer review? We certainly hope that reviewers believe they are contributing to the advancement of science, that their input makes their peers' work better, and that reviewing other scholars' work makes their own work stronger. Interestingly, a perception that finding external peer reviewers for a particular article is difficult has not come to fruition during my tenure as an Editor-in-Chief. Perhaps we in the addiction field, as opposed to scholars in other fields, are more willing to advance the field as a whole through critical evaluation of each other's research. Below, we list all the peer reviewers who reviewed for the journal in 2015. All of them contributed sound, thoughtful reviews. For the last two years, Substance Abuse journal has awarded its “Best Peer Review” of the year, and the 2015 award was presented to Jeffrey Baxter, MD, from the University of Massachusetts. This award has become more competitive as the quality of external peer review has risen each year. The journal is deeply indebted to these external peer reviewers for their ongoing scholarship and contribution to the addiction field.

In sum, Substance Abuse journal is pleased to further the mission of AMERSA via support of each step of the research process, beginning with solicitation of articles in underrepresented areas of research, such as ARPER, to publication of abstracts reporting emerging findings, to thorough peer review of full articles, and finally, the publication and promotion of high-quality work in order to improve patient care and inform addiction policy.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE ASSOCIATE EDITORS 2015

 

Ingrid A. Binswanger

Lauren Matukaitis Broyles

Alan A. Cavaiola

Babalola Faseru

Deborah S. Finnell

Marianne Pugtach

SUBSTANCE ABUSE PEER REVIEWERS 2015

 

Aase, Darrin M.

Acosta, Joie D.

Acquavita, Shauna P.

Albizu-Garcia, Carmen E.

Andrade, André Luiz Monezi

Asadi, Soraya

Ashrafioun, Lisham

Bajaj, Vikrant

Bakken, Nicholas

Balan, Yener A.

Bamberger, Joshua D.

Banta-Green, Caleb

Barros, Víviam

Barry, Adam E.

Barry, Declan T.

Barth, Kelly S.

Baxter, Jeffrey

Beatty, Jessica R.

Becker, Sara J.

Bennett, Alex S.

Berends, Lynda

BigFoot, Dolores Subia

Bird, Sheila

Blosnich, John

Borsari, Brian

Bramoweth, Adam

Bray, James

Bride, Brian

Broderick, Kerry

Bronars, Carrie

Browne, Teri

Burge, Sandra K.

Buscemi, Joanna

Buxton, Jane

Buykx, Penny

Cacciola, John

Capron, Daniel

Carlson, Robert G.

Castellanos, Daniel

Castro, Yessenia

Cernovsky, Zack

Childers, Julie

Choi, Seung Hee

Christopher, Melissa

Clemence, A. Jill

Coffin, Phillip O.

Collins, Susan E.

Copeland, Jan

Cottencin, Olivier

Coulton, Simon

Coviello, Donna M.

Crandall, Cameron

Croff, Julie

Daigre, Constanza

Darke, Shane

Dauria, Emily

Davies, Susan

Davis, Alan K.

Davis, Corey

Dawes, Michael Anthony

de Dios, Marcel

Dekker, Anthony H.

DeLay, Dawn

Deutsch, Arielle R.

DiNardo, Monica

DiNitto, Diana M.

Dole, Ernest

Doorley, Sara L.

Earleywine, Mitch

Eckstrand, Kristen

Edens, Ellen

El-Setouhy, Maged

Enterman, John

Erdem, Gizem

Escribano, Abel Baquero

Espelt, Albert

Evren, Cuneyt

Famili, Pouran

Farsalinos, Konstantinos E.

Feingold, Daniel

Feinstein, Anthony

Feldman, Jonathan

Fiellin, David A.

Fingerhood, Michael

Fischer, Gabriele

Fogger, Susanne

Ford, James H., II

Ford, Jason A.

Fox, Aaron D.

Frank, Joseph W.

Gandhi, Devang

Garnick, Deborah W.

Gassman, Ruth

Gates, Peter

Gaume, Jacques

Gjersing, Linn

Goodwin, Andrew

Gordon, Joanne M.

Grande, Lucinda

Grassi, Maria Caterina

Green, Traci

Gunderson, Erik

Hache, Guillaume

Hagger-Johnson, Gareth

Hahm, Hyeouk “Chris”

Harris, Kari

Harrison, Craig

Hausmann, Leslie R. M.

Hawkins, Eric

Hayashi, Kanna

Hennessy, Grace

Hohman, Melinda

Holdsworth, Emma

Holttum, Jessica

Hopfer, Christian

Hyatt-Burkhart, Debra

Isenhart, Carl

Jansen, Karl

Jason, Leonard A.

Jefee-Bahloul, Hussam

Johnson, J. Aaron

Johnson, Julie

Johnson, Matthew W.

Jones, Hendrée E.

Jones, Jermaine

Joordens, Chantele

Kaltenbach, Karol

Kalu, Nnenna

Kaucher, Kevin A.

Keast, Shellie L.

Kelly, Len

Kinahan, James

Kingsbury, Mila

Koester, Stephen

Komaromy, Miriam

Korthuis, Todd

Kotlyar, Michael

Kowalchuk, Alicia Ann

Kraemer, Kevin L.

Kranzler, Henry R.

Krull, Ivy

Krupitsky, Evgeny

Kulchak Rahm, Alanna

Lackner, Nina

Larner, A. J.

Lasebikan, Victor Olufolahan

Le Boisselier, Reynald

Lee, Joshua

Leglise, Yves

Lembke, Anna

Lewis, Eleanor T.

Logemann, H. N. Alexander

Loscalzo, Emily

Luis, Margarita

Macgowan, Mark

Magidson, Jessica F.

Majer, John M.

Malouff, John M.

Mannelli, Paolo

Marcus, Marianne T.

Martel, Marc O.

Mason, W. Alex

Matheson, Catriona

Maxwell, Jane C.

McGinnis, Kathleen A.

McHugh, R. Kathryn

McLeish, Alison C.

McNicholas, Laura

Merlo, Lisa J.

Merrill, Joseph O.

Metcalf, Mary P.

Miller, Bryan Lee

Milloy, M.-J.

Mitchell, Ann

Mitchell, Mack

Mitchell, Michael

Morasco, Benjamin

Moreno, Megan

Naegle, Madeline A.

Nahvi, Shadi

Nelson, Tobin

Neumann, Anne M.

Newsom, Andrew

Nielsen, Suzanne

Nordmann, Sandra

Nosyk, Bohdan

Novick, David M.

O'Brien, Charles

O'Connor, Richard J.

O'Conor, Katie J.

Oliva, Elizabeth

Ondersma, Steven J.

Osborne, Victoria

Ostacher, Michael J.

Padhy, Susanta

Padwa, Howard

Palamar, Joseph J.

Park, Tae Woo

Pavarin, Raimondo Maria

Pick, Chagi

Pinto, Rogério M.

Plebani, Jennifer

Preston, Kenzie

Quaglio, Gianluca

Quinn, Catherine

Quraishi, Rizwana

Radfar, Seyed Ramin

Ramaswamy, Megha

Ray, Bradley

Ren, Yanfang

Renner, John

Robinson, Jason D.

Robinson-Papp, Jessica

Rogers, Ralph

Rogowska, Aleksandra

Roose, Robert

Rose, Gail L.

Rotrosen, John

Saba, Shaddy K.

Samuel, Edith

Sanchez, Michael

Santaella, Julian

Sara, Grant

Sargento, Paulo

Sasson, Nicholas J.

Satre, Derek

Satterfield, Jason M.

Savage, Christine

Schrager, Justin

Schram, Patricia Cintra Franco

Schreiner, Amy

Schwartz, Robert P.

Schwinn, Traci M.

Scott, Denise

Shahrir, Shahida

Shariat, Ardalan

Sharp, Daryl

Shiffman, Saul

Shin, Sonya S.

Shrier, Lydia A.

Smith, Douglas

Sox-Harris, Alex

Starrels, Joanna

Stein, Bradley

Stein, Michael

Steinhardt, Sarah J.

Stephenson, Rolena

Sterling, Stacy

Stern, Marc F.

Streltzer, Jon

Strobbe, Stephen

Suffoletto, Brian

Svikis, Dace S.

Swiggart, William

Teruya, Cheryl

Thomas, Janet

Thompson, Megan E.

Tofighi, Babak

Trigg, Bruce G.

Tzilos, Golfo

Urada, Darren

Usdan, Stuart L.

Vertino, Kathleen A.

Wakeman, Sarah

Wallace, Lorraine

Walsh, Sharon L.

Walton, Maureen

Watkins, Katherine

Webster, Lynn

Welle-Strand, Gabrielle K.

Whitley, Susan

Wilder, Christine M.

Williams, Ronald D., Jr.

Witbrodt, Jane

Wolff, Nancy

Wood, Camille

Wood, D. M.

Wooten, Nikki R.

Wray, Laura O.

Yellowlees, Peter M.

Yong, Hua-Hie

Zacny, James P.

Zhai, Zu Wei

Zhou, Wenhua

Supplemental material

This article contains supplemental material that can be accessed on the publisher's website.

Acknowledgments

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the University of Pittsburgh, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the United States government. The author declares that he has no conflicts of interest.