Dear colleagues,
Entering the year 2018, we commenced the second stage of the transformation of the Adiktologie journal, which we initiated some two years ago and which is a logical outcome of almost 20 years of the existence and development of the journal. It is no haphazard activity, nor academic vanity. On the contrary, we have worked for many years to improve the quality of the journal, seeking to advance it from a national to an international level. The first step was the launching of a bilingual version. Initially, papers were published in both Czech and English. In the course of time, English articles grew in number. While rather scarce in the past, submissions from abroad are also increasing. For some time, it was not clear, however, what approach should be adopted: where to look for a compromise between the interests of various target audiences, requirements for the development and focus of the periodical, and the vision of the sustainable development of this key communication platform in our field. The developments seen in the past few years made these choices somewhat easier to make: the journal became repeatedly faced with difficult controversies highlighting the tension between the research-and-development and educational focus of the journal on the one hand and its clinical and implementational orientation on the other hand. Moreover, this process reflected challenges arising at all levels of every field of study, i.e. the growing divide between research and
practice and issues of the transfer of evidence into practice and facilitation of a dialogue between research and practice. Finally, the rapid development of science places a growing demand on the technical and scientometri parameters of each periodical.
Initially, it was not so easy to recognise all the important aspects of the process described above. The assessment of Adiktologie as part of the process of striving for MEDLINE indexation was, however, the symbolic drop that made the cup run over, making it clear that it was time to make a fundamental decision. Our dilemma as to what the focus of the journal should be to satisfy both lines of argument was
finally solved by an original compromise which should be credited to the entire team of executive editors and the editorial board, which finally endorsed and adopted the decision at its session in the autumn of 2017. This step involved the establishment of an affiliated periodical, Addictology in Prevention and Treatment Practice, which will maintain the original framework of the national journal in the Czech language, while the original Adiktologie (established in 2001) will continue to pursue its goal of being a scholarly journal with the ambition of assuming the position of an international multidisciplinary periodical reflecting the dynamic development of addictology in terms of research, education, and clinical practice.
Starting from January 2018, the original Adiktologie will be published in English only and operate as a standard
international open access journal. We have invited leading international experts representing cutting-edge international institutions, as well as regional agencies, to join the board of editors. The journal has thus taken another
step towards the international addiction science community, where we aspire to assume the position of a leading periodical addressing primarily education, universities, training, clinical studies, and evaluation. Its previous broader area of interest should, however, be maintained. It was only necessary to spell out the thematic priorities and main focus of the journal. The process reflects the atmosphere surrounding the development of the university curriculum for addiction professionals, which has been the subject of a dynamic discussion, facilitated by the establishment of the International Consortium of Universities for Drug Demand Reduction (ICUDDR). At its third annual conference in San Diego (California, USA), it was repeatedly pointed out that the lack of evaluation projects and relevant research was among the major problems of the current university education in this area. While the mapping of universities is already under way, there is limited information about different models of university education and the use of graduates with addiction-specific qualifications in practice. In 2018 the ICUDDR finally became registered as an independent organisation and established what is historically its first board (Photograph). Let this editorial thus be also an invitation and appeal to (not only) all our colleagues from various universities and various types of addiction-specific study programmes. We would also like to open the journal for PhD students and provide opportunities for our younger colleagues who are setting out on their professional careers as addiction specialists, whether in clinical practice, prevention, or research. An early career forum should become an important part of the journal. We intend to work intensively with the emerging ICUDDR (www.icuddr.com) structure in this respect, as it is our close partner by nature. This year’s third ICUDDR conference also showed the enormous potential ensuing from the development of higher education addiction curricula on practically all continents. Our colleagues from Asia, Africa, and Latin and South America demonstrated the incredible power of building and linking up the professional community dedicated to the training of addiction professionals and the pace at which the entire area can move forward. More information about the ICUDDR event and the topics covered will be provided in the next issue of the journal.
We will be very pleased if you find the possibilities offered by the transformation of the Adiktologie journal appealing and consider using this emerging interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary platform for your publication efforts. Our
ambition is to build an attractive, modern, and high-profile international journal which will be open to innovative
ideas in the field. At the same time, however, our goal is to preserve its not-for-profit character and maintain the fees
for papers at the minimum level required to cover the operating costs. This is to eliminate economic barriers and
provide publication opportunities for our colleagues from virtually the whole world, as well as showing an alternative way in the increasingly commercialised world of science and publishing.
Prague 21 May 2018
Prof. Tomáš Zima, M.D., DSc., MBA, Editor-in-Chief
Prof. Michal Miovský, PhD., Deputy Editor-in-Chief
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