View from a Former Editor
The Schizophrenia Bulletin had its first experimental issue as the brainchild of Loren Mosher in 1969. Beginning modestly, as a vehicle to disseminate research from the National Institute of Mental Health—who knew at that point that governmental dissemination of funded research would become controversial 35 years later. The Bulletin grew under Loren's leadership and the editorial management of Sherry Buchsbaum and later Barbara Bruner to be one of the top five journals in behavioral science in impact factor rating. The first 14 issues were considered "experimental," but by 1975 the Bulletin went to four issues each year and developed a subscriber base through the government printing office. In the early 1980s, I became editor of the Bulletin followed in 1993 by David Shore and in 1999 by John Hsiao. There were many constants and many innovations presented in the Bulletin over the years. Among the constants that were readily visible and separated the Bulletin from many journals were the cover art by patients and the first-person accounts by patients and families describing the impact of the illness on their lives. Throughout the history of the Bulletin the innovative editorial philosophy had been to give enough space to present significant findings in sufficient detail to fully inform the field. To address controversial topics—and there were a number of them—leading figures from many viewpoints were invited to comment. Some of the most significant figures in our field played major roles in shaping the thinking that went into the pages of the Bulletin: Manfred Bleuler, Gerry Klerman, John Romano, John Strauss, Will Carpenter, Tom McGlashan, Norman Garmezy, Irv Gottesman, John Gunderson, Seymour Kety, Richard Wyatt, Norman Sartorius, Lyman Wynne, John Kane, Nina Schooler and Jeffrey Lieberman to mention but a few who made major contributions to the content of the journal.
The highlights of these 35 years are too numerous to give justice to more than just a few. The Boston Psychotherapy for Schizophrenia Study, the Report on Psychiatric Suppression of Dissent in the Soviet Union, the Israeli High Risk Study, the many special reports, the elucidation of the development of DSM IV, the presentation of the thinking of Strauss, Carpenter, and Bartko on the diagnosis of schizophrenia, the presentation of the National Plan for Schizophrenia Research, and more recently the full delineation of the NIMH-CATIE Project are illustrative of the range of topics covered in the pages of this journal.
Fairness, objectivity, and depth of coverage were constants in the Bulletin. Readers often commented to me that when they read it in the Bulletin, they knew it was true. When NIMH reached its decision to discontinue the Bulletin, I must say I was a bit dismayed. Over and over people from all over the world would come up to me and ask, "What were they thinking?" Space and propriety will not permit giving my response to them. Suffice it to say, the entire field of schizophrenia research is relieve to discover that the Bulletin will continue, and not just limp along, but under the distinguished leadership of Will Carpenter and the backing of one of the world's most prominent publishers, Oxford University Press. I wish them well, and find considerable relief that one of the good things in science will continue. On behalf of all the former editors, let me extend our best wishes to the future of Schizophrenia Bulletin and to all the scientists working to relieve the suffering of people with this illness.
Schizophrenia Bulletin, Milton Rosenbaum Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology, Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, New Mexico USA
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