To the CRJ community:
Creativity has never mattered more than it does now. Though long admired, creativity has historically been pushed to the periphery in the relative valuation of human mental capacities. Now, as artificial intelligence increasingly out-remembers and out-thinks our evolved OS, the circle around what makes the human brain special has creativity at its center. Creativity is already frequently assessed as the most valuable capability in the innovation economy (Florida, Citation2014), and workforce projections indicate that growth in creative sectors will continue to accelerate in the coming decades, even as perhaps half of current jobs become obsolete (Frey & Osborne, Citation2017). It has thus never been more important to understand how creativity works, how creativity can best be measured, how neurocognitive mechanisms of creativity can be leveraged to support creative thinking, how creativity can be fostered – or impeded – in education, industry, and the arts, and how creativity impacts – and is impacted by – the social dynamics and cultural embeddings in which real-world creativity happens.
In this context, it essential to ensure that the science of creativity is equal to the moment. As a leading journal in the science of creativity for 34 years, CRJ has a role to play. As I sit down in the Editor’s chair at CRJ, I feel animated and obligated in equal measure by the timely possibilities of a rapidly growing science of creativity, and by the importance of getting it right. Ensuring that our field meets the moment requires advancing the quality, transparency, theoretical richness, translational value, and vitality of creativity scholarship. These are the goals that will guide what CRJ publishes, and how we operate as a journal, in the years ahead.
A notable event on the horizon is that CRJ will become the official journal of the Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity (SfNC) in 2023. I am extremely excited about this partnership and about the ways in which association with SfNC will expand CRJ’s reach. I am likewise mindful that this association might be mistaken as a signal that CRJ is limiting its focus to neuroscience. Since its founding, CRJ has published research from all areas of creativity scholarship. This is essential to CRJ’s central place in the field, and CRJ will continue to represent the considerable breadth and diversity that our field encompasses. Association with SfNC does not limit the scope of the journal; indeed, SfNC’s scope includes research in all areas of creativity. CRJ will reflect the exciting growth of creativity neuroscience, but likewise will reflect the best work and the best thought emerging across the broad multiplex of creativity scholarship. The expertise of our editorial board spans many domains and methods of inquiry, and the board continues to grow in multiple directions. If your work is related to creativity, and if it is of the highest quality, then you should send it to CRJ!
Ultimately, of course, a journal operates only as one partner in a collaboration of authors, reviewers, readers, and practitioners. With the emerging prioritization of creativity within and beyond academia, the work you do as the originators, consumers, and translators-to-practice of creativity scholarship has never been more impactful. Thank you for your many contributions to the journal and to advancing our field. I look forward to sustaining and growing our collaboration.
With kind regards,
References
- Florida, R. (2014). The creative class and economic development. Economic Development Quarterly, 28(3), 196–205. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/0891242414541693
- Frey, C. B., & Osborne, M. A. (2017). The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation? Technoogicall Forecasting and Social Change, 114(C), 254–280. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2016.08.019