EDITORIAL
A trans-Atlantic step

American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, August 2001. Volume 281 (50)

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Why do reindeer pant? The answer to this question is at the top of our list! Probably like anyone who has ever searched the American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology by author, we smiled when we discovered that Aas-Hansen et al. (1) provided the answer. No doubt, ruminating on the tachypneic ruminant is of more interest than reading about new editors. However, allow me to use this opportunity to introduce ourselves to our readership and to outline some future directions for the journal.

I am deeply honored to be selected as the successor to John Hall as Editor-in-Chief of AJP-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. With almost 900 manuscripts submitted and over 4,000 printed pages each year, the previous editorial team has done an excellent job. We will do all we can to match and, hopefully, advance this achievement.

Where will AJP-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology go from here? We hope that there will not be much concern that the journal editorship has gone from "The Old Man River" to the "Vater Rhein" (expert geographers among you please excuse the approximations: Jackson is in Mississippi, but only near the river, and Berlin lies on the river Spree). In fact, the editorial team is very international. As a Consulting Editor, the experienced sailor and Past President of the APS, Gerald DiBona, will lessen the wake of the trans-Atlantic transition. Thomas Lohmeier and Joey Granger will continue to serve as Associate Editors. Allen Cowley, William Cupples, and Jürgen Schnermann further make clear that there are strong ties to North America. On the European side, Ole Skøtt is "our man in Scandinavia," while Heimo Ehmke and Holger Scholz become Associate Editors in Germany. Harald Stauss will serve as a Special Editor for our home page and the new Forum page at the end of the journal. Special Editor for comparative physiology is John Pritchard. He will provide us with advice and help guide all matters regarding comparative physiology.

A widespread editorial team will be able to function optimally with an electronically based system for both submission and review of manuscripts. Beginning in August 2001, we will join with the other APS Journals in using APSCentral and will ask our authors to submit their manuscripts online in a PDF format. We also encourage authors to submit articles that contain supplemental material that cannot be printed to be placed online, such as video clips and large data sets (these will go through the regular peer review process along with the article). Furthermore, we will encourage submission of Letters to the Editor and will solicit point-counterpoint debates on topics of interest.

Many other journals have become increasingly specialized in fields beyond the scope of regulatory, integrative, and comparative physiology. To many of us, this development may seem like "The Malady of Molecules"; however, we feel that this is a strength of this journal, as it provides a comprehensive overview of the achievements in a large field. The AJP-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative journal will set out to maintain its leading position by publishing the manuscripts of the Starling Lecture and the featured presentations of The Young Investigator and postdoctoral fellowship awardees at the annual meeting. Furthermore, we encourage the submission of letters, commentaries, debates, point-counterpoint, and controversies. Moreover, we wish to expand the focus to include more functional work occurring in the area of physiological genomics by publishing studies addressing specific working hypotheses. In other words, the editors will encourage functionally oriented scientists using molecular biology techniques to publish their work in our journal to strengthen the platform for transgenic animal studies.

Several focus areas have developed in our journal. Much work is published on obesity and leptin. Furthermore, the classic emphasis on cardiorenal regulation and the neurogenic control of circulation has gained importance. We will highlight these areas by publishing short overviews, called "In Focus," each month. Typically, an In Focus article will be a one- or two-page outline of related papers that have appeared in the last two years in the journal. Several In Focus reviews on specific themes that are playing an important role in the journal will appear starting in 2002. The categories of the journal will also change to (alphabetical order): Appetite and Obesity; Cardiac, Renal, and Respiratory Integration; Development and Tissue Plasticity; Inflammation, Cytokines, and Temperature Regulation; Local Control of Circulation; Model Organisms and Comparative Functional Genomics; Neurohumoral Control of Circulation and Hypertension; Regulation in Genetically Modified Animals; and Thirst and Volume, Electrolyte Homeostasis.

We look forward to our stewardship of the American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology and meeting the challenge of continuing and improving on its tradition of excellence and service to its authors and readership. We are eager to receive your input on any aspect of the journal and look forward to hearing from you.

	REFERENCES

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1.   Aas-Hansen, O, Folkow LP, and Blix AS. Panting in reindeer (Rangifer tarandus). Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comparative Physiol 279: R1190-R1195, 2000[Abstract/Free Full Text].