Editor-in-Chief Message
April 11, 2023
Looking Back
The past year has been eventful for Dermatitis. The major event for 2022 has been the transition between publishers. Wolters Kluwer has been our publisher for the past 12 years and the journal has benefited tremendously during this time. We are grateful for our association with this publisher and all the success they have brought to the Journal. Prior to the expiration of this contract, ACDS, the journal, the publication committee and an external consultant analyzed competing proposals. We determined that the proposal offered by the publishing house, Mary Ann Liebert, was advantageous to the journal, and we therefore made a major decision to change publishers. Thus, the calendar year 2022 was busy, as we prepared for the transition to our new publisher, which was finalized on January 1, 2023. This change necessitated a new website and manuscript submission platform, which is now Scholar One. This transition has been successful, thanks to the substantial efforts by the editorial office (especially Jo Urquhart), our new publisher (special thanks to our lead publisher, Sophie Reisz, and her colleagues), the ACDS (special thanks to Executive Director, Ginger Czajkowski), our Editorial Board and our reviewers and authors who submit manuscripts for publishing consideration. The transition to Liebert has resulted in a more liberal page allocation, resulting in a significant reduction in our backlog of accepted, unpublished manuscripts. This reduction in backlog is a major "win" for the journal, since an unhealthy backlog of manuscripts is a threat to the continued growth of the journal.
As we prepared for our transition to our new publisher, we also published a special, theme-focused issue on Atopic Dermatitis. Additionally, we also expanded the number of domains of interest for the journal. We now have a “Fifth domain”, that of Environmental Dermatitis, and we are fortunate that the renowned Dr. Jean Kruttman, Professor and Chair, Environmental Medicine, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany, has agreed to be an Associate Editor for the new domain. Below is our working definition of this area of interest.
Environmental dermatitis is defined by allergic and irritant skin reactions to aeroallergens (house dust mite, molds, pollen, plants animal and insect dander), foods and protein contact dermatitis. It also includes dermatitis resulting from compromised skin barrier function. Main areas covered include basic biological mechanisms, diagnostic methods, experimental investigations and clinical aspects, including therapy.
The role of exposomal factors (indoors or outdoors) in inducing or modifying the course of such dermatitis is of interest. This includes dust, smoke, pollutants, microbes, chemicals, ultraviolet radiation, climatic and nutritional factors. It also includes reactions to dermatitis induced by bites, stings and envenomation from insects, reptiles, and animals.
We encourage the submission of research or review articles on environmental dermatitis, and will consider studies, letters, Pearls & Zebras, and Images. We also encourage submission of papers that have been published in conference proceedings, with the requirement that the authors have made significant extensions as compared to the already published version of the study.
Looking Forward
As we move into the second quarter of 2023, we look forward to receiving submissions related to all areas of interest of the journal: Contact, Atopic, Occupational, Drug and Environmental Dermatitis. We received a record number of submissions in 2022 (a total of 327 submissions across all domains), and we are on pace to surpass this number in 2023. We are working with our new publisher and a sponsor (University of California Irvine School of Medicine) to reconstitute Continuing Medical Education category 1 credit (1 hour) for our reviewers who complete reviews of new manuscripts. We will also offer 1 hour of Continuing Medical Education Category 1 credit (1 hour) for completing the self-assessment quiz associated with each issue. Watch for more information once these initiatives have been activated.
We thank the members of the ACDS for their continued support of the journal and all of the growing team who work behind the scenes to assure the continued successes and growth of Dermatitis. As always, the editorial office remains available to all to communicate ideas, recommendations, and overall feedback to continue improvements to the journal.
Anthony Gaspari, MD
Dermatitis Editor-in-Chief
Now published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. and led by Anthony Gaspari, MD, Dermatitis® is the leading peer-reviewed scientific journal in contact dermatitis, and the only journal in its field that publishes leading research in atopic, contact, occupational, environmental, and drug dermatitis.
The journal is an essential resource for dermatologists, allergists, immunologists, and toxicologists and is now available only from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. - make sure you and your colleagues don't miss an issue!
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