The launch of a new journal: Clinical Neuroimaging

"There is magic in the old and magic in the new; the trick is to successfully combine the two." ― A.D. Posey The American Society of Neuroimaging (ASN) was founded in 1977 to promote the highest standards of education, practice, and research in neuroimaging. ASN inaugurated its publishing portfolio with the launch of the Journal of Neuroimaging in 1991. Under the leadership of the current Editor-in-Chief, Rohit Bakshi, and in close collaboration with our publisher Wiley, the Journal of Neuroimaging has shown tremendous growth over the last 9 years 1. The number of submissions received per year has more than doubled since 2015 and the Impact Factor has risen from 1.6 to 2.4, a 50% increase2. During this time, the Journal of Neuroimaging has shifted its emphasis to translational and experimental research, state-of-the-art reviews, high-risk/high-return concepts, pilot studies, and technology updates. As a result, a need was felt to find a publication home for highly clinically oriented reports such as interesting images, case reports, case series, educational reviews, and clinical guidelines/controversies. As ASN and Wiley assessed the current status of the Journal of Neuroimaging and the overall neuroimaging publishing landscape, it became obvious that the time was right to spin off a new, open-access publication with a strong clinical and educational focus, to complement the research focus of the Journal of Neuroimaging. We now stand at the dawn of a new era with ASN and Wiley expanding their partnership in the launch of the new journal Clinical Neuroimaging. As inaugural editors of a brand new journal, the first priority of the editorial leadership is to delineate a unique identity of the journal. In an era of medical journalism, where new open-access journals are being born plenty, how will a clinically-oriented open-access journal in neuroimaging serve the health care professionals from the neuroimaging community?2 The clinical practice of neuroimaging is evolving faster than ever before. The advent of free open-access medicine education on social media and the disruptive integration of AI has created a demand in the community for faster, more relevant information on the latest clinical standards and the changing landscape of neuroimaging in daily practice. While foundations of some imaging education in central nervous system imaging are timeless, knowledge about emerging/trending topics in imaging science needs to be accessible to readers in a clinically relevant format. Such articles need to assist at the bedside as clinicians appreciate the direction in which the science of neuroimaging is headed. Clinical Neuroimaging builds upon the success of the Journal of Neuroimaging and addresses this evolving landscape. Clinical Neuroimaging encompasses brain, spine, head, and neck imaging, along with non-interpretive material related to wellness and the business aspects of neuroimaging. Our mission is to engage readers by publishing high-quality, peer-reviewed material that improves patient-centered care outcomes, emphasizing quality, safety, patient satisfaction, and customer service. We actively welcome submissions of original research, case series, case reports, interesting images, and reviews, promoting excellence in patient care, professional development, and lifelong learning. Clinical Neuroimaging features practice-focused articles of clinical interest to subspecialists like neurologists, neuroradiologists, radiologists, neurosurgeons, students, and other healthcare professionals with the common thread of focus on neuroimaging. We are excited to be a part of how the teaching, practice, and research of neuroimaging evolves over the next few years and this journal is proud to target several different types of readers with different needs and expectations with the following focus. First, we seek to engage the emerging clinician who is learning to appreciate the nuances of scientific discourse in integrating neuroimaging into their practice. Case reports and case series have fallen back into the abyss of evidence-based medicine. However, for many trainees and clinicians, these remain their first experiences in scientific writing. We will engage trainees and junior faculty in our publishing pipeline to promote critical thinking and scientific discourse, with a neuroimaging focus that will make it meaningful both for them and for our readers. Second, we seek work from educators in neuroimaging who have developed "off the grid" methods to reduce neurophobia around neuroimaging and contributed to novel educational models. To this end, we will encourage articles on educational frameworks, infographics and visual aids in a format that engages creativity to teach neuroimaging. We will work to ensure this journal encompasses the full landscape of neuroimaging education, especially as it applies to practicing neurology and radiology professionals. Third, disruptive innovations are a hallmark of neuroimaging. With the recent introduction of artificial intelligence (AI), imaging is seeing a shifting paradigm in clinical practice. Education and research are increasingly relying upon automated image analysis and AI-assisted interpretation. Machine learning and the nuances of image analysis are seeping into daily practice, but unfortunately, many physicians lack clinically oriented frameworks to understand this literature and its implications for their daily practice. To this effect, we will publish exploratory science using AI methodology with a particular focus on increasing our readers' comfort and knowledge in the integration of AI methodologies in scientific work and the practice of neuroimaging. As we embark on this new endeavor, we are excited to collaborate with Wiley, leveraging their expertise in scholarly publishing to help advance neuroimaging education and practice on a global scale. This partnership at Clinical Neuroimaging will help foster innovation, support emerging clinicians, and disseminate cutting-edge clinical research. We look forward to this new era, characterized by rapid technological advancements and evolving clinical standards—an era where Clinical Neuroimaging stands poised to be a beacon of excellence, enriching the neuroimaging community, and shaping the future of neuroscience. To reduce the burden of submission on authors, the Journal of Neuroimaging and Clinical Neuroimaging have a transfer relationship in place and the Editors-in-Chief collaborate to match the scope of submitted papers to the proper journal. This allows authors (with author agreement) to have their manuscripts considered for publication in the other journal without the need for reformatting or resubmission along with the transfer of any review comments. If authors choose to pursue this option, their submission along with the peer-reviewed reports will be transferred to the other journal. Eckhart Tolle said, "The power for creating a better future is contained in the present moment: You create a good future by creating a good present". We sincerely hope that you will consider submitting your neuroimaging work to the ASN family of journals. We hope the content published in Clinical Neuroimaging serves your clinical and educational needs related to the art, science, and practice of neuroimaging in the present and the future. The authors have nothing to report.