Neuro-oncology: past milestones and the journey ahead.

Neuro-Oncology will soon reach a new milestone, as Dr. Patrick Wen, Director of the Center for Neuro-Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, assumes the role of editor-in-chief in January 2014. As the journal enters this new era, I find myself reflecting on the milestones it has already reached. The journal has experienced impressive growth and success during its relatively short history, much of which is due to the ambitious vision with which it was founded and the support of numerous individuals and professional societies that are committed to the science and practice of neuro-oncology. In 1996, the newly formed Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO), headed by its first president, Dr. Victor A. Levin, Director of the Brain Tumor Center at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, decided to create a journal dedicated to publishing high-quality, multidisciplinary, international neuro-oncology research. Dr. Darell D. Bigner at Duke University Medical Center graciously agreed to be its first editor-in-chief. Neuro-Oncology was launched, as a quarterly journal, with a 3-year grant of $246,384 from the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation in January of 1999. SNO provided a loan of $20,000 a year for 3 years; the two other major international neuro-oncology societies, European Association of Neuro-Oncology (EANO) and Japan Society of Neuro-Oncology (JSNO), also supported the journal. Duke University Publishing was chosen as the journal's publisher. From the beginning, Dr. Bigner placed great value on giving readers access to information as soon as possible and allowing authors to publish as quickly as possible; thus, all articles were published on the Internet. In addition, in further support of the neuro-oncology community, the journal has long published the abstracts of papers presented at major neuro-oncology conferences around the world, including the annual meeting of SNO, the annual meeting of EANO, the International Conference on Brain Tumor Research and Therapy (the Asilomar Conference), and the International Symposium on Pediatric Neuro-Oncology. In 2007, I became the journal's second editor-in-chief. To provide more balanced representation from each of the three major societies, the journal was restructured, with three executive editors: Dr. C. David James (University of California San Francisco), representing SNO; Dr. Michael Weller (University Hospital Zurich), representing EANO; and Dr. Ryo Nishikawa (Saitama Medical University), representing JSNO. The journal was expanded to a bimonthly publication the following year. In 2010, Neuro-Oncology was further expanded to a monthly publication schedule while simultaneously transitioning to a new publisher, Oxford University Press. This history-setting move further broadened its international scope, as Oxford University Press has offices throughout Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, and North and South America and initiatives that grant developing countries access to publications at a very low cost or for free. In addition, EANO decided to provide the journal electronically to its members as part of their membership, further improving its reach. More importantly, the journal has not grown in volume and reach at the expense of its value and influence. Its impact factor has steadily increased each year, from 2.717 in 2002 (the first year it was calculated) to 5.723 in 2011 and 6.180 in 2012. Neuro-Oncology currently ranks 10th of 192 clinical neurology journals and 24th of 196 oncology journals. Submissions have also increased, almost doubling over the past 4 years to a projected 997 for 2013; we accept approximately 20% of submissions, allowing us to select only the highest quality research for publication. In fact, as described in the October 2013 editorial, the journal's success has inspired the creation of a new clinical practice journal, Neuro-Oncology Practice. I am proud to have served as editor in chief of Neuro-Oncology. It has been a wonderful journey with my executive editors and the distinguished editorial board over the last seven years. I would also like to thank our editorial staff, reviewers, authors, and readers for making this publication such a success. I look forward to seeing the journal excel in the coming years under Dr. Wen's leadership.