Disability and Health Journal 7 (2014) 1 www.disabilityandhealthjnl.com

Editorial

Moving the research and science agenda forward This issue marks the beginning of the 7th volume of Disability and Health Journal (DHJO). This 7th volume also brings with it a special issue that captures the conceptualizations of aging with a disability versus aging into disability as presented in an invited meeting ‘‘Aging with Disability’’ held in Washington D.C. in May 2012. Our quarterly journal has transformed from a few good articles to many excellent and citable articles, and some journal issues contain article groupings of interesting and leading edge concepts (see articles in this issue related to disability and chronic disease1e4). We expect these pioneering and innovative articles will continue to increase our Impact Factor, which is currently 1.446. At press time, the 136 manuscripts submitted to DHJO in 2013 represent our highest number of submissions to date, and we are hopeful the number will continue to grow in years to come. We have reviewed topics in nearly every field of disability and health, and manuscripts were submitted by authors from more than 30 countries. Thank you to all authors for submitting manuscripts to DHJO and for entrusting us with the opportunity to evaluate your work for publication. Our Editorial Board is also changing. We thank the members who have provided years of service in reviewing key manuscripts and offering guidance on publications in this relatively new field. We welcome our new members, from whom we anticipate continued review activity, editorial support, and new perspectives. Because the journal has been able to begin to fill the gap in the science of disability and health to a significant degree, we the Editors are interested in fostering new conceptualizations about health and disability through Commentaries and Viewpoints. Topics for these manuscripts are invited or approved before submission (see Guide for Authors, http://www.disabilityandhealthjnl.com/ authorinfo). We view Commentaries as opportunities to promote new or modified explanations, interpretations, or constructs of disability and health, including notes related to articles within our Journal. These usually require some level of citation to support a new conceptualization. The new section called Viewpoints, on the other hand, will be opinions and judgments, often less referenced, but grounded in theory or trends. We hope both Commentaries and Viewpoints will stimulate further research, including intervention studies, about disability and health.

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In the spirit of promoting rigorous science in disability and rehabilitation research, the Editors and Editorial Board are considering supporting a call for the use of reporting guidelines in our Journal articles. These reporting guidelines assist authors in documenting research methods and findings to elevate the quality of reported results and to provide as high a level of evidence as possible. Should we move forward with this ambitious plan, all authors and readers will receive background information and specific instructions about the requirements; implementation will likely be over the course of a year. In this issue of DHJO, we are publishing, with our sincere thanks, the names of all peer reviewers who completed manuscript reviews in 2013. These peer reviewers include disability researchers, physicians, nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech and language therapists, social workers, rehabilitation engineers, psychologists, epidemiologists, health economists, and numerous other professions. In addition, our reviewers reflect the expertise and scope of our articles and geographic areas around the world where disability issues are approached through surveillance, rigorous research, and evaluation of existing programs. We extend our appreciation to all peer reviewers for providing their scientific, community, and clinical experience and methodological expertise. Although peer review is sometimes considered a relatively unsung academic responsibility, we hope that by publishing the names of all DHJO peer reviewers we will encourage people to submit this list in their tenure and promotion files and to otherwise receive the recognition they greatly deserve. Suzanne McDermott, Ph.D. Margaret A. Turk, M.D. Editors-in-Chief References 1. Drum CE. The dynamics of disability and chronic conditions. Disabil Health J. 2014;7(1):2e5. 2. Reichard A, Nary D, Simpson J. Chronic conditions and disability: Research contributions and implications. Disabil Health J. 2014;7(1): 6e12. 3. Krahn G, Reyes M, Fox M. Chronic conditions and disability: Toward a conceptual model for national policy and practice considerations. Disabil Health J. 2014;7(1):13e18. 4. Traci M, Seekins T. Integration of chronic disease and disability and health state programs in Montana. Disabil Health J. 2014;7(1):19e25.

Moving the research and science agenda forward.

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