A transition in the leadership of Epilepsia Open ®: A journal update, thank you to the outgoing and introduction of the incoming Editors‐in Chief

Abstract

Recognizing the importance of communicating research data that have the potential of not only providing novel information but also of clarifying the scientific and translational value of existing observations, Epilepsia Open® has been also accepting submissions of high quality research articles that report negative or confirmatory or preliminary studies, provided that these follow the rigorous and transparent reporting practices. A special thank you to our associate editors and editorial board is also most deserving for guarding the quality of the journal through a rigorous peer review process and for offering their suggestions on new thematic content for the journal. Professor Zhou has had significant editorial experience in many journals, numerous publications on clinical aspects of epilepsies including neural networks, treatments, and comorbidities but also on more basic research on animal models and molecular mechanisms of epilepsies and drug resistance.

Epilepsia Open® was launched in September 2016 as the official open access International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) journal with the main goal of providing a publishing opportunity for high quality and rigorous basic, translational or clinical research and reviews in epilepsy. Recognizing the importance of communicating research data that have the potential of not only providing novel information but also of clarifying the scientific and translational value of existing observations, Epilepsia Open® has been also accepting submissions of high quality research articles that report negative or confirmatory or preliminary studies, provided that these follow the rigorous and transparent reporting practices.

Despite its young course in the publishing field, Epilepsia Open® has made strides in getting established as a reputable journal in epilepsy research. We have seen a steady increase in visitors to our site and submissions, both direct submissions to our journal (currently comprising 65% of our submissions) but also articles transferred from Epilepsia that have been pre‐selected by the editors for their potential to contribute in epilepsy research and care. Our quarterly regular issues have reported on a variety of topics on clinical care, basic, translational and clinical research, critical reviews, case reports, special reports from ILAE committees and Task Forces which have undergone a meticulous peer review from our editorial board and invited expert‐reviewers. To recognize the young investigators publishing high quality articles in Epilepsia Open®, in 2018 we instituted for the first time the annual Prizes for best Clinical Research and Basic Science Research written by young investigators and epileptologists.

In 2018, we are also highly anticipating two special issues that are cover key issues in epilepsy. The first special issue is planned on preclinical common data elements (CDEs) and is edited by Drs Galanopoulou, Scharfman, French, Harte‐Hargrove, Pitkänen and Whittemore. These CDEs have been developed for preclinical epilepsy researchers by the TASK3 group of the ILAE/American Epilepsy Society (AES) Joint Translational Task Force and will be offered for community feedback, in an effort to offer tools that could facilitate collaborations and data inclusions in big databases. The second special issue, edited by Drs Mazarati and Moshé, is on epilepsy therapies, honoring Dr Raman Sankar, and will include a broad collection of clinical and preclinical epilepsy research and care articles written by authorities in the field presenting critical updates on biomarkers, therapy development, mechanisms, and treatments.

Our published articles have drawn a growing interest by our readership, as evidenced by the doubling of the numbers of monthly article downloads, currently estimated at 4,000 downloads per month, and an increasing number of citations. As for all young journals, Epilepsia Open® does not yet have an Impact Factor; this process requires the acceptance of the journal for indexing in the Science Citation Index Expanded, part of the Web of Science Core Collection, and can take several years. But the journal runs in a very successful course, having already passed the quality criteria for inclusion in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and PubMed Central (PMC) and, as of 2018, all published articles are deposited in PMC with citations sent to PubMed. Additional applications for indexing databases are being prepared.

In reflecting the ongoing growth of the journal and successful course in the highly competitive publishing world, it is important to acknowledge the essential contributions of the Editors‐in‐Chief who have helped steer the journal's course forward. I had the pleasure of working closely since the launching of the journal with Professor Dieter Schmidt, sharing most of the editorial decisions and tasks. Dieter has served as Professor and Chairman of the Neurology Department, Free University of Berlin, Germany, has been a prolific author, clinician, and investigator with special interest in epilepsy therapy development and clinical care, with numerous and well respected publications, critical commentaries and reviews, and books which shaped the way we approach epilepsy therapy. The unique opportunities to discuss the course and future of the journal, exchange insights about potential changes and contents for our journal has been invaluable and surely has elevated the quality of the Epilepsia Open® publications. Professor Xuefeng Wang, Department of Neurology and Vice Director, at the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University in China and co‐Editor‐in‐Chief at Epilepsia Open®, has lent a valuable insight into the expectations of Chinese authors from scientific journals and has played essential role in advocating for our journal to authors from Asian countries. A special thank you to our associate editors and editorial board is also most deserving for guarding the quality of the journal through a rigorous peer review process and for offering their suggestions on new thematic content for the journal.

Looking forward, I would like to welcome my new co‐Editor‐in‐Chief at Epilepsia Open®, Professor Dong Zhou, who is Professor and Director of the Department of Neurology and Epilepsy Center, at West China Hospital, Sichuan, China. Professor Zhou has had significant editorial experience in many journals, numerous publications on clinical aspects of epilepsies including neural networks, treatments, and comorbidities but also on more basic research on animal models and molecular mechanisms of epilepsies and drug resistance. Professor Zhou is co‐chairing the medical therapies commission of the ILAE and has been active in the psychogenic non‐epileptic seizures Task Force of the Neuropsychiatry Commission of the ILAE. With our new editorial board, we will strive to continue the successful course of our journal and ensure a balanced, high quality content in all aspects of epilepsy care and research.