Editor's corner: the future is now.(Journal of Studies on Alcohol)(Editorial)

JANUARY 2007 WILL MARK a host of changes for the Journal of Studies on Alcohol. Each of these steps forward reflects our efforts to keep the Journal as timely and informative as possible, while supplying our authors and readers with optimal access to the best journal in our field.

First, beginning with the January 2007 issue, the Journal will be available online. While we will maintain a print version as well, the electronic format broadens access and enhances ease of use for both subscribers and those who don't regularly receive the Journal. Subscribers will have direct access to the full-text .pdfs of the Journal going back to January 1995, and we have plans to place articles back to 1990 on the site soon--and even older articles in the future. Nonsubscribers, of course, will now be able to pay for access to individual articles.

Second, we will have fully updated our Web site. Here, all visitors to the site will be able to search the entire site and view all our online tables of contents and abstracts. We will provide the new URL for this site in the January 2007 issue as well as when readers renew their subscriptions for 2007. Of course, our Web site will continue to host all the features we currently offer, such as downloadable reviewer forms, information for contributors, and instructions on how to submit to the Journal.

The third major change reflects how the Journal has changed with the times. Beginning with our next issue, we will be known as the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs (JSAD). In recent years we have published increasing numbers of papers focusing on nicotine and illicit drugs, both in the context of alcohol and as the subject of study on their own. This broadening of our focus reflects the facts that many people who use one substance are also likely to have had experience with another, some risk factors and contributory causes to heavy drinking and alcohol problems overlap with those factors related to use patterns for nicotine and illicit substances, and treatment approaches for alcohol and other drugs have many similarities. We encourage readers who have interesting papers dealing with drugs other than alcohol to submit to us.

Fourth, to celebrate these transitions, the cover of the Journal will have a new look. While we maintain the clean lines and simplicity of the presentation for the Journal, the cover will now be colored gray and red. The banner on the cover will feature a picture of the Alcohol Studies building at Rutgers University, highlighting the fact that we are a product of the independent and interdisciplinary Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies and that we offer our readers information that cuts across a host of professional fields.

These changes have been long in the making and have required a great deal of thought and effort from our entire group. This includes the staff at the Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies, the managing editor's office, the editor, and associate editors. The alterations, especially the move to electronic publishing, have also involved substantial costs. The Journal ...