It has been ten years since the birth of the International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion but the mission it set out for itself is still relevant. In countries of the west – Europe and the United States of America, – the last century saw the growth of a community of scientists and technocrats who systematically studied various aspects of injury control and safety promotion. However, the same cannot be said of countries of the east.
The first editorial team of the journal did outstanding work in focusing on the work done in this field. But after a decade, the journal must reflect the changes in the changing world by the new editorial team. The journal must now reflect the growing number of scientists and technical people studying injury control and safety promotion and exploring new avenues, particularly in countries of south and central America, Africa, and Asia.
The effort of the new editorial team will hinge on encouraging young scientists and researchers working in the field of injury control and safety promotion all over the world. What is urgently needed, of course, is to build bridges from theory to practice. The multi-disciplinary scientific knowledge and insights generated in our journal must be shared with policy and decision-makers for appropriate implementation. New and suitable findings in our pages must find application in the field without losing scientific rigour. For this transition to take place successfully, the contents of our journal must be accessible to policy makers and practitioners. The journal should be reader-friendly without any diminution in technical precision.
While original research articles will remain as the mainstay of the journal, each issue would carry a section on statistical notes. An understanding of how the discipline of statistics, and specifically, some of the principles and concepts of that discipline, plays an integral part in our scientific endeavors is an essential requirement for researchers. We hope that this series of short, non-random (but may be accidental!) notes will help in such understanding. In addition, short research reports and occasional book reviews will make their appearance in issues of the journal from time to time. Readers may also look forward to special thematic issues once a year or so, guest-edited by experts via special invitation in specific areas in our ambit of discourse. We would also like to occasionally include articles that interlink the field of injury control with the other disciplines such as urban and transport planning, ergonomics, and public health. In this issue, Hermann Knoflacher's article titled, ‘From myth to science in urban and transport planning: From uncontrolled to controlled and responsible urban development in transport planning’ is a short thought piece questioning the process of urban and transport planning which have a major affect on traffic safety.
We look forward to suggestions and comments from all our readers.