Editor’s corner

Article Outline

• 1. Affiliation of the International Pediatric Sleep Association (IPSA)
• 2. The WASM Second Congress in Bangkok
• 3. WASM Elsevier Scientific Awards
• 4. WASM membership
• 5. Sleep, Science and Serenity
• 6. Editorial board
• Copyright

I open this editorial by expressing my gratitude and thanks to all of you, the contributors, readers, reviewers, the Elsevier publishing staff, and Ms. Sara Sowers, the editorial assistant at the Edison, New Jersey office, for continuing to make Sleep Medicine a first-rate international journal. We are all proud of the journal’s impact factor of 2.711. It is indeed a pleasant surprise. I am absolutely certain that with all of your excellent work we will continue to move up and up. The year 2006 was a very successful year for the journal not only because of the impact factor but also because of the increased number of issues per year from six to eight, which contain some excellent articles. I would like to share with you some other important news which, I believe, will enhance the stature of the journal.

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1. Affiliation of the International Pediatric Sleep Association (IPSA) 

Beginning January 2007, the newly founded IPSA is affiliating with Sleep Medicine, now the official journal of the IPSA, which was the brainchild of the late André Kahn. This affiliation should stimulate submission and publication of articles dealing with children’s sleep and sleep disorders which have been neglected for a long time. The mission of the IPSA is to promote education and research (basic and clinical) involving all aspects of sleep in infants and children, and provide a forum for the exchange of information pertaining to pediatric sleep. The IPSA Board is composed of President Oliviero Bruni from Italy, Vice President Christian Guilleminault from the USA, Secretary Patricia Franco from Belgium and seven Directors from the USA, Asia, Australia, and South America. The IPSA is encouraging membership from those of you interested in pediatric sleep medicine. The journal is now affiliated with two premier world sleep medicine organizations – the World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM) and the IPSA.

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2. The WASM Second Congress in Bangkok 

After the successful completion of the first congress in Berlin in October, 2005, the WASM is now poised for an even more exciting second congress in Bangkok, Thailand on February 4–8, 2007, preceded by educational courses on February 3 and 4. We invite and encourage you to attend the congress, which is shaping up to be another successful event for WASM.

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3. WASM Elsevier Scientific Awards 

Under the auspices of the World Association of Sleep Medicine, Elsevier has established two scientific awards for best original research papers published in Sleep Medicine by young investigators within 5 years or less of post-training at the time of submission. These awards will be given every 2 years during the WASM biennial congress. The committee has selected two awardees for this year, who will be given the prizes at the inauguration of the congress in Bangkok on February 4, 2007. We encourage young researchers to submit articles to Sleep Medicine for consideration for the awards again, which will be given during the third WASM congress in Sao Paolo, Brazil, on November 1–6, 2009.

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4. WASM membership 

Readers and potential authors are encouraged to apply for membership in the World Association of Sleep Medicine, devoted to advancing sleep health worldwide (www.wasmonline.org). Members are entitled to a variety of benefits including discounts on WASM organized meetings and courses and a subscription to the journal Sleep Medicine (both the print and online versions) at considerable cost savings (see Announcements under WASM News in this issue).

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5. Sleep, Science and Serenity 

I would like to remind you of a new section of the journal, called “Sleep, Science and Serenity,” for which I encourage you to submit poetry or prose dealing with humanities, reflections on ourselves and our patients, and the sublime world of sleep, dreams, awareness and awakening. With this section, the journal hopes to provide a platform for all of us to reflect so that we can find meaning through the background noise of science.

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6. Editorial board 

We have added two distinguished neuroscientists to the editorial board of Sleep Medicine: Michel Billiard and Phyllis Zee. These individuals will bring additional depth and breadth to an already high-caliber editorial board. We have also appointed Oliviero Bruni as a Field Editor responsible for pediatric sleep medicine. He will complement four other Field Editors, Richard Allen, Christian Guilleminault, Patrick Levy, and Luigi Ferini-Strambi, who have been performing in an admirable manner. I am grateful to them for their excellent service.

I conclude this editorial by inviting you to submit your best science in sleep research to the journal to be considered for publication under one of several topics in sleep medicine. The journal is ready to promote sleep medicine worldwide, and your encouragement and contribution are vital for the growth and development of sleep medicine throughout the globe.