Editor's corner

Article Outline

• 1. Web-based submission
• 2. Special section
• 3. Clinical Corners in Sleep Medicine
• 4. Images in Sleep Medicine
• 5. Affiliation of Sleep Medicine and the World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM)
• Copyright

The year 2004 was an exciting year for Sleep Medicine not only because the journal was included in Index Medicus and PubMed but also because the journal began affiliation with the World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM), the international organization catering to the sleep clinicians and promoting sleep health throughout the world. We are envisioning and hoping for an even more successful sixth year of the journal in 2005. We have already seen a marked increase in the submission of high-quality articles to be considered for publication. I must thank a number of individuals for making the journal a success. These include the authors, readers, reviewers and the publishing staff in the journal's offices in Amsterdam and Ireland, and last but not the least Ms Sara Sowers, the editorial assistant, and Ms Priscilla Smith who has recently left the journal's editorial office.

Sleep Medicine will continue to publish the best clinical science in sleep medicine and publish articles in a variety of categories, all of which are detailed in the Guide for Authors at the back of this issue. I should like to share with you in addition some new and exciting features of Sleep Medicine.

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1. Web-based submission 

Submitting manuscripts and reviews through a web site is already routine for many scientific journals, and in order to keep pace with this modern progress, Sleep Medicine is now launching its web site for submissions and reviews of all articles. This web-based system will move articles more quickly through the publication process. Detailed instructions for authors and reviewers are included separately in this issue of the journal. For an initial period of about 6 months, until we have smoothly made the transition to the web-based submission system, we will also accept electronic or hard-copy submissions with a diskette, which should be sent to the editorial office.

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2. Special section 

In this issue of the journal, we highlight within a special section five articles derived from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Sleep Academic Award Program. The program, recommended by the National Center for Sleep Disorders Research (NCSDR), succeeded in enhancing the awareness and standard of sleep medicine amongst the sleep and general medical communities. The articles in this section are preceded by an introductory editorial by Judith Owens, MD, MPH.

The journal will continue to publish the following types of articles as part of special sections:

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3. Clinical Corners in Sleep Medicine 

Beginning with this issue a new section called ‘Clinical Corners in Sleep Medicine’ is introduced. The first article in this section is contributed by Douglas Kirsch, MD and Alon Avidan, MD, MPH. This section will deal with complex and unusual cases of sleep disorder (limited to 1000 words), and will seek comments from the readers about the cases, which, after editorial review, will be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal. Further details are provided in the introduction to the section, written by Dr Avidan, the section editor, which precedes the case description.

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4. Images in Sleep Medicine 

The first submission to this new section of the journal appears in this issue. Each submission should consist of high-resolution images (e.g. polysomnographic and actigraphic tracings, neuroimaging pictures, etc.), derived from a specific sleep-related clinical situation, and should be accompanied by a brief clinical description and significance of the finding (limited to 300 words) and figure legend.

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5. Affiliation of Sleep Medicine and the World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM) 

Following consultation with the publication committee members and the WASM governing council, and after careful evaluation of several journals, the chair of the publication committee of the WASM, Dr Birgit Högl, and the president-elect of the WASM, Dr Markku Partinen, have designated Sleep Medicine the official journal of the WASM. This affiliation should benefit both the journal and the WASM. As per agreement the journal will devote regular pages to WASM-related activities.

The success of a journal depends on you, the potential authors and readers, as well as the reviewers and the efficiency of the editorial office and the publisher. We at the editorial office will strive continually to publish the best clinical science in Sleep Medicine. We urge all sleep scientists and clinicians of the world to submit your best work to Sleep Medicine for continuing success in 2005.