Message from the Editors-in-Chief

Dear Colleagues, Dear Readers,

We would like to update you about several innovations and changes related to Neuropediatrics.

As you may have seen from the masthead, Thieme, as the owner of Neuropediatrics, and the Gesellschaft für Neuropädiatrie have agreed to restructure the editorial board of the journal which now means that the journal is managed by three editors-in-chief, supported by a team of associate editors. This new assembly allows an improved overview on the overall workflow and more flexible distribution of the workload. All editorial work remains honorary.

As of June 2012, Dr. Carsten Bönnemann (Bethesda, Maryland, United States) is leaving Neuropediatrics as an associate editor as he is facing new challenges at the National Institutes of Health. We would like to thank him for his support over many years. We are pleased to welcome two new associate editors who have kindly accepted our invitation to join us: Dr. Nicole I. Wolf (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), and Dr. Robert A. Avery (Washington, District of Columbia, United States). We look forward to their support and input. Dr. Akira Oka (Tokyo, Japan) and Dr. Akihisa Okamura (Tokyo, Japan) kindly continue to work as associate editors, as do Dr. Florian Heinen (Munich, Germany) and Dr. Martin Staudt (Vogtareuth, Germany).

We are aiming to publish commissioned review articles on a regular basis on relevant topics in pediatric neurology and related fields. In the first 2012 issue, we started with a review article on “Arterial ischemic pediatric stroke,” followed by reviews on “Neurodegeneration in ataxia telangiectasia,” “Psychological aspects of pediatric multiple sclerosis,” and “Congenital myasthenic syndromes.” We look forward to learn about your ideas for topics or authors (self-nominations allowed).

We are introducing editorial comments on selected articles. In addition, occasional book reviews will be published.

During 2011, a timely publication of the journal issues has been reached, as a result of joined efforts from the editors and the publisher, and we are confident that we will stick to a regular publication schedule

The flow of manuscripts is steady and constant. The rejection rate in 2011 was 40%. We are very grateful to our reviewers who contribute with their time and expertise to the standard of the journal.

There is also relevant news from the publisher's side. Because of organizational changes within Thieme, the publishing team caring for Neuropediatrics has changed - new “faces” - new locations and the team work is shared in a network by staff working at Stuttgart, New York, and New Delhi. The editors-in-chief and the new publishing team have well adapted to this new situation.

We would like to thank those who contribute to the successful continuation of Neuropediatrics: authors, reviewers, associate editors, readers, and last but not least the publishing team.