The privilege of editing a scientific journal.

In his invitation letter (invitation e-mail) the editor of Epidemiologia e Psichiatria Sociale, Professor Michele Tansella used the phrase: "...with the focus on the main problems to face in running a psychiatric journal". The present author should like to underline that he disagrees with Professor Michele Tansella in this attitude to the editor function. Running a journal is not, and should never be "focusing main problems". Instead it is a privilege , and an ungoing feast: being in the centre of the scientific community, being in contact with research centres and colleagues who have the scientific attitude to psychiatry is a tremendous experience. By running a journal, especially as an editor you are entering directly into a worldwide inspiring, progressive, academic scientific milieu with a high level of quality selection. To the other side you get inspiration by being close to the publishing companies. As a person with more than 30 years of public health service experiences it has been as opening a door to a new world to learn from the persons I collaborate with in the publishing company. To be taught from practical collaboration in management principles , financial management, and marketing is extremely helpful for members of the public service establishment. When the present author was recruited to the chair as editor of Ada Psychiatrica Scandinavica he was given the message: your responsibility is to give the contents of Declaration of Interest: Povl Munk-J0rgensen scientific and teaching activities have during 2001 and 2002 been supported financially by various non-restricted grants from private and public sources. the Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica the highest possible scientific quality. The rest: printing, layout, circulation, dissemination, management, advertisement, you name it, will be taken care of in the publishing company. A clear, wonderful and self-evident message to get. Of course, the better the editor and the publisher communicate, understand and respect each others work, the better result for the journal. Let us look a bit deeper into this question. From an overall point of view there are two areas in which electronics are relevant in scientific publishing: To make the journal and to circulate the journal. We will start from behind. When I visit my younger colleagues in their offices in the Department of Psychiatric Demography, where I work, I find it conspicuous that: There are no journals on their desks, but the computer is wide open. These young colleagues are highly skilled …