It is with excitement and optimism that we write this foreword as we begin our tenure as Co-Editors-in-Chief for Seminars in Speech and Language (SSL). The purpose of this foreword is to introduce ourselves as well as apprise readers of forthcoming changes to the journal. Before that, we want to extend a special thanks to the outgoing editors, Stacy Wagovich and Heather Harris Wright, who have been generous and kind with their time as we transition editorship. We also want to thank the editorial team at Thieme Publishers for their assistance with this transition while also seeing to transitions in the leadership at the publication office. We have special thanks for Kate Chaloux at Thieme Publishers who is the Executive Editor of SSL and has made this transition a team experience. We would like to acknowledge and extend thanks to the Editorial Board (http://www.thieme.com//edboards/SSL_Editorial_Board.html), some of who are continuing in their role while others have recently joined.
Who are the New Editors-in-Chief of Seminars in Speech and Language?
Anthony D. Koutsoftas, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology in the School of Health and Medical Sciences at Seton Hall University in New Jersey. He is also the Director of the Reading, Oral Language, and Writing Laboratory housed within his same department. His research has focused on language and literacy development, assessment, and interventions for school-age children with and without language disorders. He has published his own work in a variety of journals and has also served as a peer-reviewer for journals in the field of speech-language pathology, education, linguistics, and psychology. He has served on the editorial board of three different journals and brings this experience to this role as Co-Editor-in-Chief for SSL. Anthony is excited to serve in this role so that he can help authors who contribute to the journal share their ideas with professionals in the field.
Kaitlin Lansford, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication Science and Disorders and the Director of the Motor Speech Disorders Laboratory at Florida State University. Broadly, her work aims to remediate intelligibility deficits in dysarthria by leveraging the adaptability of the listener's speech perception system to improve their understanding of speakers with dysarthria through perceptual training. Although translational at this point, she aims to move this work into the clinical realm, offering a listener-based intervention approach to caregivers, family members, friends, and community partners of people with dysarthria. Prior to assuming this role as Co-Editor-in-Chief, she served as associate or handling editor for three journals, including SSL. Additionally, she has served as an editorial board member for several journals in the communication science and disorders discipline. She is excited to be part of this editorial team, which is dedicated to advancing SSL as a leading journal for research dissemination and a trusted resource to clinicians.
What are Some of the Changes to the Journal?
We are taking over the editorship of SSL at a time of rapid evolution within the scholarly publishing landscape. This change has been largely driven by the global Open Access movement, which calls for accessibility, equity, and transparency within the scientific research community. We see this as an opportunity to make changes at the journal level to meet the expectation of authors and funders in a publishing landscape that is fundamentally different from what it was just a few years ago. Moving forward, we are focusing on a rapid publication experience as we know authors increasingly value speed to publication. Our Editorial Board is committed to turning around reviews in a timely manner. We are also utilizing Thieme's eFirst workflow, which allows for articles to be available online in their final form, fully copyedited and typeset with a DOI for citation within a matter of weeks post-acceptance.
Over the past 3 years, nearly 85% of SSL's articles have come from the United States, with a fair amount of those coming from federally funded agencies and institutions. Though a relatively small number of articles have been published Open Access in SSL, this is significant given the recent Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Memorandum on Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research. As all federal grant-making agencies have been directed to develop policies that require free public release of articles upon publication, we want to position SSL as a journal where authors can easily submit their research and be compliant with their funder mandates.
Historically, SSL published five issues per year, four of which were topical and one that included unsolicited, data-based manuscripts. For topical issues, a guest editor was invited to curate the issue, which centered on a topic relevant to speech-language pathologists. Each topic-driven issue included invited manuscripts from leading experts in the field. The final issue of each year included any unsolicited data-based articles that were submitted and accepted for publication during that year.
Thus, to keep pace with the changing landscape in publishing and to deliver our readership with the latest advances in speech-language pathology, we are pleased to announce that beginning in 2023 SSL will now publish unsolicited article types (heretofore “articles”) throughout all five issues. Within any given issue there may be a topic-based forum curated by an invited guest editor alongside article types accepted for publication. In this way, we can bring to the readership of SSL topic-based forums alongside scientific studies that advance the field. In keeping with the theme of SSL, we envision each published article as a seminar, rather than the issue serving as a seminar. This will afford readers the opportunity to learn novel and clinically relevant information to shape their practice with each article they read.
Beginning in 2023, SSL will accept a variety of different article types throughout the year; each is introduced in detail below. All articles must include relevant citations and provide clinical implications for the readership of the journal. As always, articles will be peer-reviewed for scientific rigor, relevance, and suitability for the journal.
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Research article. These articles present original translational and applied research, placing the research within a clinical context that is relevant to speech-language pathologists. SSL welcomes experimental, quasi-experimental, descriptive, and qualitative research articles. Research articles must include an abstract, introduction, methods, results, and discussion sections. We welcome preliminary studies, including pilot and feasibility data, as well as surveys of the profession or clients served by professionals.
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Review article. Review articles provide readers with an overview of a specific clinical topic relevant to speech-language pathologists. Review articles include systematic reviews (with or without meta-analysis), scoping reviews, and historical reviews on a body of research.
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Clinical seminar. These articles are of clinical interest to speech-language pathologists but, generally, do not follow a traditional research format. Clinical seminars may include descriptions of case studies, clinical programs, or conceptual/theoretical frameworks that guide clinical practice. Additionally, clinical seminars may provide a tutorial or educational exposition on a clinical topic. These articles should be empirically informed and include references to current research.
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Invited articles. Issues of SSL may include a topic-centered forum that is guest edited by leading researchers in that area. Guest editors are invited by the Co-Editors-in-Chief to curate a forum that is clinically relevant to speech-language pathologists. The guest editor is responsible for inviting and coordinating the peer review of these articles relevant to the selected topic. A clinical forum should include a minimum of three invited articles on the selected topic. Researchers interested in curating a topic-centered forum are encouraged to contact the editors to discuss.
Finally, this year marks a major transition regarding formatting guidelines for authors who contribute to SSL, as we shift to publishing content following the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA; 7th edition). This issue will mark the last issue where all articles are formatted according to the American Medical Association (AMA) formatting standards. The next issue will include articles that are formatted to either AMA or APA guidelines and by the third issue of this year, we expect all articles to be formatted following APA guidelines. We have updated the Author Submission Guidelines in accordance with these changes (https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/sisl).
One thing that remains constant is our mission to publish high-quality content that can drive clinical practice and guide future research in the field of speech-language pathology. We look forward to working with contributors, readers, reviewers, editors, and editorial board members to make SSL a primary source to inform practice in the field.
