It is a great privilege and honor for me to assume the role of Editor-In-Chief of Neuro-Oncology. It is particularly humbling to follow in the footsteps of Dr. Darrell Bigner, who founded the journal in 1999, and Dr. W. K. Alfred Yung, who has been Editor-In-Chief since 2007. Dr. Yung, Chairman of the Department of Neuro-Oncology at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, has done a remarkable job during his tenure over the past 7 years. He oversaw the transition of the journal from Duke University Press to Oxford University Press and the very successful growth from 4 issues a year to the current 12 issues annually with up to 5 supplements. During his tenure the number of articles submitted each year increased from approximately 270 in 2007 to over 800 in 2013, and the number of published articles increased from 52 to over 170. Most importantly, he has increased the quality and importance of the publications, raising its impact factor in 2012 to 6.18, making it the highest-ranking journal in the field of neuro-oncology, 10th of 192 clinical neurology journals, and 24th of 196 oncology journals. We are very grateful for his tireless efforts, leadership, and vision that have made Neuro-Oncology so successful. Throughout this process, Dr. Yung has been ably helped by the three outstanding and dedicated Executive Editors, Dr. C. David James representing the Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) from the University of California, San Francisco, Dr. Michael Weller, representing the European Association of Neuro-Oncology (EANO) from the University of Zurich, and Dr. Ryo Nishikawa, representing the Japan Society of Neuro-Oncology from Saitama University. Our field owes all of them a tremendous debt of gratitude. We will build on the strong foundation provided by Dr. Yung and his Executive Editors and continue to serve the international neuro-oncology community as a forum for rapid publication of the most important papers in all areas of neuro-oncology. I look forward to working with Dr. Kenneth Aldape from the MD Anderson Cancer Center, who will assume the role of Executive Editor representing SNO, and Dr. Riccardo Soffieti from the University of Torino, who will be the Executive Editor representing EANO. We are fortunate that Dr. Ryo Nishikawa will remain the JSNO Executive Editor, providing us with invaluable experience and counsel. Given the diverse subspecialties within neuro-oncology, we have recruited a very talented group of Associate Editors to help with the review process. These Associate editors will be Terri Armstrong from MD Anderson Cancer Center (quality of life), Karla Ballman from Mayo Clinic (statistics), Ennio Chiocca from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (neurosurgery), Frank Furnari from the Ludwig Institute of Cancer Research (basic and translational science), Monika Hegi from the University of Lausanne (basic and translational science), Mark Kieran of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children's Hospital (pediatric neuro-oncology), Minesh Mehta from the University of Maryland (radiation oncology), Whitney Pope from the University of California, Los Angeles (neuroradiology), Hideyuki Saya from Keio University (basic science), David Schiff from the University of Virginia (neuro-oncology), and Wolfgang Wick from the University of Heidelberg (neuro-oncology and translational science). Rapid and timely review and publication of papers is critical to the mission of Neuro-Oncology. The Editors, together with the Editorial Board will be working hard over the next year to reduce the time from receipt of a manuscript to a final decision to no more than 3-4 weeks. Since Dr. Yung left the journal in excellent condition, only modest changes are planned. We will have editorials in every issue to provide the context for the most interesting articles published in that issue. Given the rapid pace of new information on topics of importance to neuro-oncology, we also plan to include timely, authoritative reviews in every issue. In addition, when appropriate, abbreviated reviews that provide the scientific background for specific papers in Neuro-Oncology will be published. We encourage the readers of Neuro-Oncology to discuss potential topics of reviews with the Editors. To provide the increasingly busy reader with information about important articles relevant to neuro-oncology that may have been published elsewhere, we have instituted a new section led by Dr. Kenneth Aldape entitled “Highlights from the Literature.” This section will provide short summaries of important papers that readers may wish to examine later in more detail. In the near future the “Instructions to Authors” will be updated, including limitations on the number of words for specific articles. We encourage potential authors to visit the Neuro-Oncology website to view these changes. We hope that these refinements will improve the experience of reading Neuro-Oncology and increase its value to the readers. We welcome your feedback. Dr. Yung has done a remarkable job in making Neuro-Oncology a successful collaboration of multiple neuro-oncology subspecialities from around the world. I look forward to working with the Editors, the Editorial Board, the new Managing Editor, Dr. Elizabeth Martinson, the Society for Neuro-Oncology, and the neuro-oncology community to build on Dr. Yung's legacy. We will work to improve Neuro-Oncology, ensuring that it publishes the most important papers in the field that will significantly increase our understanding of the biology of nervous system tumors and neurologic complications of cancer, and most importantly, help us to improve outcomes and quality of life in our patients.
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Patrick Y. Wen (2013) studied this question.