Editorial

By the end of 2002, when I undertook my activities as Director-Publisher of the Revista Colombiana de Psiquiatría (RCP), I intended, together with the Publishing Committee, place the magazines as a scientific communication entity for the Colombian Association of Psychiatry (ACP, Spanish Acronym) and make of it one of the best medical publications in Latin America. After these achievements, now that our goals have been attained, we can deliver Dr. Carlos Palacio Acosta, our brilliant colleague, a model to be emulated by many publications in our country.

I would like to mention some of the most relevant facts in this period of almost ten years, testimony of the management and achievements of the magazine:

• Under this direction, the RCP was the first scientific-professional magazine to be granted the A1 category by Publindex. Such classification has been continuously maintained through the years, also ratified in the last report (first quarter 2012.)
• 48 issues were uninterruptedly published, including the RCP Supplement issues (the first of which was published in 2003) very well received by the readers.
• The number of articles per journal increased from three or four to an average of 14 articles, among which is not uncommon to find two or three international articles.
• There are six regular sections: Editorial; Original Articles, Reviewing/ Updating Articles; Epistemology; Mind Philosophy and Bioethics; Research Methodology and Critical Reading of Studies, and Case Reports.
• Three committees were created: Publishing Committee, National Scientific Committee and International Scientific Committee.
• Publishing regulations were established, thus providing the RCP with a framework intended to keep the Technical Committees' Quality as well as the journal's quality itself. Among other issues, the Regulations establish the criteria to select each of the members and define the Director's period, and regular evaluations for each member of the journal. Regarding this, I would like to highlight the collaboration and leadership of Dr. Gerardo Campo Cabal.
• The RCP is now indexed in different national and international indexes and data bases: PsycINFO, Redalyc, SciELO, DOAJ, EBSCO, Periodica, LILACS, Latindex, Imbiomed, and BIBLOS. Furthermore, everything is ready to achieve indexations in Medline and Scopus as well as to take the pathway to the ISI.
• Negotiations were undertaken with Elsevier, an issue the Board of Directors must deliberate upon, so as to start working with this firm on the edition and future indexations (for example, in Scopus). This negotiation is also aimed at obtaining a software program to manage the Journal online, together with a web site and other considerations introduced to the Board, issues we expect to be attained by Dr. Carlos Palacio.
• A better way to sell RCP's advertising has been established with the arrival of Dr. Mario Danilo Parra and Dr. Alex Sandro Mindiola to ACP's management. Thanks to their joint efforts, the advertising sales figure overcome the 2011's and shows substantial increase expectation regarding profits.
• Currently, the RCP is the Colombian journal mostly checked in SciELO (55 issues). We are about to enter into a contract to register issues from 2000 backwards.
• The RCP has approved the ISO 9001 and Publindex high-quality audits which grant credit for the seriousness and suitability of its processes.

I would also like to highlight some issues of the other publications that, as Publishing Director, I have coordinated together with other colleagues:

Cuadernos de Enlace

• The printed format was changed for an electronic publication on the ACP's web site.
• In order to have a better quality publication, the number of yearly issues was reduced from four to three.
• The new Director, Dr. Carlos Cardeño, was appointed after a call, replacing Dr. Hernán Rincón, who collaborated for years positioning Cuadernos de Enlace. I am grateful to him for his unfagging dedication.
• Regulations were established for this publication, thus providing the observance of technical criteria for the selection of members of its committees.

Web site

• Dr. Rafael Vásquez was appointed Editor. He has performed his functions in an intelligent and pertinent manner.
• The ACP'S web site has undergone great changes: providing ever more informative contents and enhancing possibilities for users. The favorable upturn contributed by Dr. Vásquez has ostensibly improved the possibility of keeping well informed all the associates as well as all those regularly visiting our site.
• The number of visits to the general ACP's site and to the RCP's site has particularly increased. Currently, we presently have a great number of visitors from Colombia and abroad.

Noosfera Publishing Seal

• The ACP's 50-year Commemorative Book was published in 2011 under this seal.
• It was suggested that books published must render profits to the ACP or great benefits to the associates.
• The possibility to write e-books is to be studied since it is much cheaper and versatile, both for the ACP as well as for the associates.

I would also like to thank the members of the RCP's Publishing Committee for their friendship, solidarity, collaboration and high technical level since such qualities have greatly helped to carve a niche for our Journal. Thanks as well to Gustavo Patiño Díaz, our copy editor, for his devotion, publishingcare and friendship; to the directors of Cuadernos de Enlace and the web site for their continuous and high quality work; to the ACP's presidents as well as to he members of the different Boards of Directors from 2002 onwards for their collaboration with the PublishingCommittee. Thanks, also to Dr. Beatriz Helena Caamaño, Dr. Mario Danilo Parra and Dr. Alex Sandro Mindiola, with whom we have formed a great team for the benefit of each of the associates. Undoubtedly, this team shall continue reaping success with the new President, Dr. Juan Carlos Rojas.

Finally, I am sure that the direction of Dr. Carlos Palacio Acosta, will provide the RCP and the Publishing Committee new ideas and experiences for the steady progress of the main ACP's publishing project, started in 1964 by Dr. Ricardo Azuero and sustained by doctors Humberto Rosselli, Alejandro Pinto, Rafael Salamanca, Roberto Chaskel and Carlos Arteaga.

Carlos Gómez Restrepo
Director- Publisher
cgomez_restrepo@yahoo.com