I am very honored to be the new Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, JINS, beginning in January 2005. It is a daunting task to follow in Dr. Grant's footsteps. He has done a stellar job of developing this journal from its conception to its current status, and the statistics that he presents tell only part of the story. He appropriately recognizes all of the help he has received, but JINS' success is largely due to his vision, organization, innovation, and leadership. In order to concretely recognize that vision and its continuing influence on JINS, Dr. Grant's name will be listed on the cover of JINS as its Founding Editor. He had the vision to develop a journal that “fits” the INS from the standpoint of its breadth, multidisciplinary contributions, and scientific rigor. He selected and has led an impressive group of senior editors with expertise in a variety of areas, and these editors have provided a level of editorial expertise that would not be possible with a single Editor-in-Chief. Dr. Grant has also brought electronic submission and review to JINS. Web-based submission began August 1. Even though electronic submission and review should facilitate logistics, the quality of JINS will still be most dependent on high quality peer review provided by the Editorial Board and a large group of dedicated reviewers.

As one of the first official acts as Editor-in-Chief, I want to thank all of the previous editors and reviewers for the role they have played in making JINS such an excellent journal, and I want to announce the new Senior Editors who will be working with me to bring JINS to the next level. The 2005 Associate Editors are: Jennifer Manly, Kimford Meador, Stephen Rao, Yaakov Stern, Gerry Taylor, and Eli Vakil The 2005 Department Editors are: Ida Sue Baron, Book Review Editor; Bruce Crosson, Critical Reviews/Dialogues Editor; and Mieke Verfaellie, Symposium Editor. I am looking forward to working with all of these very talented individuals, as well as the larger Editorial Board and reviewers.

My major message to the INS membership is that JINS is in excellent shape, and, as the old saying goes, “if it ain't broke, don't fix it.” At this point, I do not plan to make major changes in the goals or structure of the journal. I will maintain the emphasis on investigator-initiated empirical research, which is the backbone of JINS. The breadth of topics represented in JINS and the dual focus on theoretical as well as clinical implications will also not change.

However, JINS will have a new cover in January and a new feature, Neuropsychology Grand Rounds, which will emphasize the importance of innovative case studies. The Grand Rounds feature will include an introduction or discussion of each Grand Rounds by an expert in that area in order to put the case in a larger perspective.

I would also like to see more papers in cognitive neuroscience, including functional imaging studies in normals and brain damaged patients and behavioral studies that are hypothesis driven and apply innovative cognitive paradigms to identify the mechanisms of deficits in different types of patients, especially those with well defined lesions. Centainly, I do not see these areas taking over the bread and butter neurobehavioral studies that are directly relevant to clinicians and of paramount interest to most INS members and readers of JINS. However, I want to emphasize how important cognitive neuroscience research is because it has the potential for extending our thinking about the neurobehavioral deficits we see clinically and visa versa. Just as functional imaging studies can test hypotheses derived from findings in brain damaged patients, behavioral studies in brain damaged patients can be influenced by functional imaging studies, and I believe that all of these studies belong in JINS.

I am very interested in what the INS membership thinks about JINS. I hope that most of you completed the JINS Survey, which was announced last month. This survey will help me assess your opinions about JINS in order to determine if changes should be considered. I am also interested in increasing the number of qualified reviewers for JINS. So, please send a CV and your specific areas of expertise to [email protected] if you are interested in serving as a reviewer.

As we begin the second decade of JINS, you can be proud of its excellence under Igor's leadership, and I am eager to continue in that tradition. I look forward to working for you and with you as the Editor-in-Chief of JINS.