Yet another year has flown by and the Journal continues to go from strength to strength. The steady increase in flow of manuscripts since the beginning of 2006 has continued throughout 2007 and we have had an increase of around 50% between 2005 and 2007. We have once again exceeded our page budget and Elsevier have agreed a further increase in the page budget for 2008 to ensure rapid publication of accepted papers.
The various new sections, we introduced last year have gradually taken root and I am particularly keen to see regular short commentaries (around 250 words) for our “What the Journals say…”, in order to provide a regular forum for keeping our readers updated on developments on the therapeutic front in neuromuscular disorders published in other journals.
To ensure a high scientific level, we have maintained our stringent, yet I believe fair, peer review process, and continued our editorial policy of accepting papers commended by our expert reviewers or needing minor revision, and to reject those needing major revision, and to suggest where appropriate a new manuscript in response to the comments of the referees. While understandably disappointing to the authors, this approach is probably in the best interests in the long term of both the Journal and the authors, and frequently results in a much-improved manuscript, and a high acceptance rate second time round. If any of our readers are interested in reviewing manuscripts for the journal they should write to the editor with details of their area of expertise.
The Journal is indebted to our dedicated and committed associate editors and editorial board, as well as to the international panel of expert reviewers we have consulted over the year, who have helped to maintain the high standard of the journal and whose diligent efforts and commentaries have often drawn words of appreciation from the authors, and frequently also enhanced the quality of the paper. The names of these reviewers are listed at the end of this report. We have also tried to maintain a rapid reviewing process and come to an early decision. All manuscripts are sent to at least two reviewers and additional reviewers are often consulted when there is conflict of opinion.
Contributions for any of the special sections should be sent to the London editorial office via the website if possible (http://ees.elsevier.com/nmd) and clearly earmarked for a particular section, and will be forwarded to the relevant editor for peer review. Details of all submissions can be found in the “Instructions to authors” in each issue of the Journal and on the journal website.
One of our most active special sections has been the Reviews, under the editorship of Anders Oldfors. All review articles, invited as well as offered, can be sent direct to him, or electronically only to the London editorial office and from there they will be directed to him. Another longstanding and active section has been the gene tables under the editorship of Jean-Claude Kaplan. Although the tables are readily available on line through an open-access site (www.musclegenetable.org), I am still keen to publish an annual update in the January issue of the Journal each year. If anyone has any new genetic data they wish to add to our gene table they should contact Jean-Claude Kaplan direct.
I have endeavoured each year to have a small turnover in our editorial board, taking account of areas of scientific growth in the field and the consistent efforts of some of our reviewers, and also their participation in the annual congresses of WMS, where we have the annual meeting of our editorial board. This year I would like to welcome the following new members who have already contributed actively to peer review of manuscripts over the years: Feza Deymeer, Alessandra Ferlini, Mike Hanna, Lars-Eric Thornell, John Wokke and Mariz Vainzof. I would also like to add a word of appreciation to the following members who are retiring from the board, for all their support and helpful contribution to the journal over the years: Philip Chance, Thomas Crawford, Peter de Jonghe, and Karin Jurkat-Rott.
A special word of appreciation also goes to our authors for their excellent contributions and continued support of the Journal. Could I once again remind our authors of my strong aversion to unrecognisable abbreviations, which many authors seem to generate de novo, and the need for plain and unadulterated or truncated English, which must be readily intelligible to our multidisciplinary readership, and also the editor. They should also be aware that with the increasing automation of the whole publishing process over recent years, and the introduction of on-line and paperless proofs of articles, the onus has now fallen even more on the authors to check very carefully their proofs for any major or minor errors that may be present, and particularly also for such obvious pitfalls as the matching of the legends with the figures, and the correct orientation of the figures.
In addition to the regular scientific papers, and the special sections of the Journal, we also welcome Letters to the Editor, commenting on papers published in the Journal or on any topics of general interest. We are also happy to consider commentaries in the format of an Editorial or Annotation, covering new developments in a particular area of neuromuscular disorders. The Book Review section continues to thrive, as a vital and important activity of the journal, and any readers who enjoy reviewing books, or wish to suggest books for review, should contact David Hilton-Jones direct. We also welcome contributions of muscle interest in relation to academic and social activities for our news section Muscle News from Around the World, which should be sent to Jane Miller at the Editorial Office.
The journal also continues to publish the proceedings of the very fruitful multidisciplinary workshops on individual neuromuscular diseases and on therapeutic endeavours in the neuromuscular disorders, organised by the European Neuromuscular Centre (ENMC). The Journal is also prepared to consider publication of other workshop or symposium meetings with new data of interest to the readership.
Although the Journal was founded some five years ahead of the World Muscle Society, the fortunes of the two have been very closely intertwined. As a quid pro quo for the 600 or more dedicated readers the Society now provides for the journal, the publishers have established an annual royalty for the Society from the income of the Journal. This has been deposited into a special Education Fund, dedicated primarily to establishing fellowships of 500 Euros each for young persons participating in the annual congress and decided in competition on the quality of the submitted abstracts. This is in addition to the annual prizes generously provided by Elsevier for the best oral and the best poster presentations by a young scientist at the annual congresses since 2000. This year the number of prizes has been increased from 2 to 4. In addition Elsevier has also provided to the 12 runners up (equivalent to the number of years of the Society) a one year’s additional subscription to the World Muscle Society.
A complete list of paid-up WMS members for 2007 is included in the WMS pages at the end of this issue of the Journal, so please check you are there, and if not, consult the Secretary of WMS. An application form for membership and notice of the forthcoming congress will be found at the rear of each issue of the journal, and on the website of the Society, (www.worldmusclesociety.org), which is regularly updated by the secretary.
The 12th Congress of the Society was held in the idyllic environs of Taormina in Sicily from Wednesday 17th to Saturday 20th October, 2007. Full details of the scientific program were included in the congress issue of the Journal (17:9, 10). A report on some of the social and academic activities of the congress will be found in the WMS pages at the end of this issue. This congress broke two records for WMS. Firstly, there were over 600 participants, an increase of almost 50% on our steady state of around 400–450 in recent years. There was also a commensurate rise in the number of submitted abstracts, which passed the 400 mark shortly after the closing date, and compared to our steady state of around 250. As A result we had to start a waiting list and soon filled up all the available rooms in our two overflow hotels. The problem of housing so many posters and providing space for concurrent sessions was unexpectedly resolved by hiring a recently built industrial exhibition pavilion adjacent to our congress hotel.
The 13th WMS Congress will be held in Newcastle, which also has a history going back to Roman times. The selected topics are: new insights into the pathogenesis of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, myotonic dystrophy and other dominant muscular dystropies; advances in the understanding and treatment of myasthenic disorders; therapeutic advances in neuromuscular disorders; and advances across the neuromuscular field including treatment and management. For full congress details see the WMS website (www.worldmusclesociety.org), or the dedicated congress website (www.wms2008.com) or the WMS pages at the back of the Journal. There will once again also be a one-day, pre-congress, Basic Course.
Whilst regularly publishing the abstracts for the WMS Congresses each year, Neuromuscular Disorders is also happy to publish the abstracts of any national or international neuromuscular meetings of interest to its readership. Any requests should in the first place be addressed to the Editor. In addition, in line with established policy, we will also publish selected, peer-reviewed proceedings of special meetings, either within an issue of the journal itself, if considered of sufficient general interest, and space allowing, or as a separate supplement if of a more specialised nature.
Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to the people who make everything possible and help to keep the Journal on the road. A very special thanks to my hyper-energetic, indefatigable Editorial Assistant, Jane Miller, for her continued devotion to the journal, coupled with her cheerful personality and sense of humour as she holds onto the reins, co-ordinating the activities of the authors, the referees and the editor.
I am also greatly indebted to Susan Power who took up the onerous reins of Production Editor of the journal at Shannon and brought her longstanding experience and expertise in the field. And finally a special word of appreciation and gratitude to our longstanding Senior Publishing Editor, Peter Bakker at Elsevier in Amsterdam, for his personal interest in and commitment to the Journal as well as the World Muscle Society, and to his right-hand person, Annemieke Es.
I look forward enthusiastically to another active and exciting year for the journal and also for the neuromuscular world.
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| M. Haddaway | |
| M.G. Hanna | |
| D. Hantai | |
| N. Hart | |
| Y. Hayashi | |
| H. Hayes | |
| G. Hengstman | |
| J. Hewitt | |
| I. Higuchi | |
| D. Hilton-Jones | |
| M. Hirano | |
| F. Hisama | |
| A. Hoey | |
| E.P. Hoffman | |
| E. Holme | |
| J. Holton | |
| H. Houlden | |
| J. McC Howell | |
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| S. Iannaccone | |
| J. Ignatius | |
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| C. Ioos | |
| R.H. Jones | |
| H. Jungbluth | |
| K. Jurkat-Rott | |
| L. Kalaydijeva | |
| J.C. Kaplan | |
| J. Katz | |
| T. Khurana | |
| M. Kinali | |
| J. Kissel | |
| A. Kochanski | |
| R. Koltzenburg | |
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| R. Korinthenberg | |
| W. Kress | |
| G. Kuhlenbaumer | |
| T.Kuntzer | |
| P. Laforet | |
| N.G. Laing | |
| P. Lamont | |
| R. Lane | |
| J. Laporte | |
| G. Lauria | |
| S. Laval | |
| S. Lecker | |
| F. Lehmann-Horn | |
| F. Leturcq | |
| N. Levy | |
| C. Lindberg | |
| G.P. Littarru | |
| H. Lochmüller | |
| A. Lombes | |
| A. Lopez de Munain | |
| M. Lunn | |
| P. Lunt | |
| G. Lynch | |
| G. MacGowan | |
| L. Machuca-Tzili | |
| P. Maddison | |
| M. Main | |
| K. Majamaa | |
| R. Mantegazza | |
| L.W. Markham | |
| S. Marston | |
| M.A. Martin | |
| F. Martinuik | |
| J. Massey | |
| F. Mastaglia | |
| K. Matiasek | |
| J.-P. Mattei | |
| N. Maurits | |
| U. Mayer | |
| K. McCormick | |
| M. McEntagart | |
| R. McFarland | |
| M.D. McGavin | |
| L.K. McLoon | |
| P. Melacini | |
| J. Melki | |
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| L. Mendler | |
| G. Meola | |
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| S. Messina | |
| C. Meune | |
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| S. Mijamoto | |
| B. Midgren | |
| D. Millis | |
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| M. Mirabella | |
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| J. Müller | |
| F. Muntoni | |
| A. Musaro | |
| E. Nelis | |
| Y. Nevo | |
| G. Nigro | |
| I. Nishino | |
| S. Noguchi | |
| I. Nonaka | |
| K. North | |
| N. Notermans | |
| G. Novelli | |
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| A. Oldfors | |
| M. Olive | |
| D. O’Regan | |
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| M. Osawa | |
| R. Ouvrier | |
| E. Ozawa | |
| O. Paciello | |
| G. Padberg | |
| L. Padua | |
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| D. Paulin | |
| C. Pearson | |
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| I. Pénisson-Besnier | |
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| L. Politano | |
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| M. Pope | |
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| J. Poulton | |
| T. Prior | |
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| Rahemtulla | |
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| L. Ranum | |
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| M. Reilly | |
| I. Richard | |
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| R. Roberts | |
| L. Roche | |
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| H. Roper | |
| M. Rose | |
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| M.M. Ryan | |
| P. Sabatelli | |
| G. Said | |
| F. Salvi | |
| F. Santorelli | |
| B. Schoser | |
| J.M. Schröder | |
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| M. Schroth | |
| Marianne Schwartz | |
| Martin Schwartz | |
| P. Scrivani | |
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| L.-E. Thornell | |
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| P. van den Bergh | |
| S.M. van der Maarel | |
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| B. van Lunteren | |
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| D. Watt | |
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| R. Wilson | |
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| B. Wong | |
| H. Worman | |
| E. Wraith | |
| M. Zatz | |
| K. Zerres | |
| M. Zeviani | |
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