Abstract
It is with great pleasure and gratitude that I introduce this issue of Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment (SAJRT) and announce several exciting developments. Although I became Editor officially in January 2010, the many, high-quality articles printed between then and December 2011 were the result of the hard work of Dr. Howard E. Barbaree and the Associate Editors under him. Howard’s leadership produced many advancements, including qualifying SAJRT to become included in the Thomson Reuters impact factor system. I am grateful for SAJRT’s strong position, which I inherit from him and his efforts.
SAJRT continues to do grow. We now receive nearly 100 manuscripts per year plus submissions for special issues. SAJRT continues to grow: We now receive nearly 100 manuscripts annually, plus submissions for special issues. To handle the increasing demand, it is my sincere pleasure to announce that SAJRT is increasing from four issues per year to six, beginning with this issue. This increases our annual page budget from 480 to 600 journal pages, allowing for a reduction in the wait times between manuscript acceptance to print copy, while maintaining our very high editorial standards for manuscript acceptance.
As a part of staying on the forefront of information exchange, SAJRT now has an official blog (or “web log”) at http://sajrt.blogspot.com, available for reading and leaving comments. I am very pleased to appoint Dr. Robin Wilson as the first SAJRT blogger. Robin is very well known in the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) and also serves as Editor of The ATSA Forum. His comments are keen and insightful, and I would encourage any reader to follow the blog for updates on issues too emergent for inclusion in SAJRT.
The next Internet-based development is the new SAJRT podcast. Podcasts are recordings, like episodes of a radio show or newscast, that listeners can download or hear on demand. (Go to http://sax.sagepub.com/ and click on any of the podcast links.) The podcasts contain interviews with authors of SAJRT articles, introducing the topic to readers and to the public. The discussions are ideal for students, for people expanding their knowledge to new portions of our field, and for getting to know the scientists behind the science.
Currently staffed by SAGE, SAJRT has also arrived on Twitter. Twitter is an extremely popular messaging system, used for distributing short headlines and links to the readers who subscribe to them. Thus, twitter users may now subscribe to SAJRT to receive the notices and announcements. (In Twitterspeak: people may “
With the present change in SAJRT editorship also comes the departures of some very long-term members of the editorial board and the arrivals of new board members. R. Karl Hanson and Ray Blanchard have served SAJRT as Associate Editors, deftly handling the review and publication of many years of manuscripts. Our whole field has been enriched by their participation. I am very pleased to welcome the two new Associate Editors, Michael C. Seto and Michael H. Miner. Michael Seto began his tenure in January 2010, and Michael Miner in January 2011. It is a privilege to work with them. Rotating off the editorial board are Gene G. Abel, John M. W. Bradford, Rebecca Dempster, Philip Firestone, William L. Marshall, and Vernon L. Quinsey. The collective experience of these talented individuals cannot be overestimated. I am nonetheless delighted to welcome onto the board several new contributors who show that our field can expect just as bright a future: Theresa A. Gannon, Don Grubin, Grant T. Harris, Drew Kingston, Ruth Mann, Kevin L. Nunes, and Robin J. Wilson.
Finally, I would also like to acknowledge people who work primarily behind the scenes and carry out the smooth production and printing of articles, taking them from accepted manuscripts to the final printing. Thomas Mankowski (the Editor for social science journals at SAGE) ably handles the business end of SAJRT, permitting me to focus on journal content. Meredith Pond (our Production Editor at SAGE) is consistently reliable for keeping us on deadline and keeping the backstage organized. Maia Christopher, in addition to her role as Executive Director of ATSA, serves as the Managing Editor for SAJRT. I could not do without her input, experience, and wisdom—not only in running the journal, but also in navigating the many complex issues that come with representing the best science of our field.
Most of all, I am grateful to the scientists, clinicians, educators, policy makers, and many others who have made SAJRT a success. My greatest pleasure continues to be the opportunity to meet and work with each of you.