Presentation Information
[SY-23-03]Transcultural Psychiatry: A journal’s past, present and future
*George Eric Jarvis (McGill University(Canada))
Keywords:
Transcultural Psychiatry,Journal,Past,Present,Future
Background: Transcultural Psychiatry was founded in 1956 and was initially a newsletter before becoming the Transcultural Psychiatric Research Review until 1997, when it adopted its current name. Editors-in-chief have included Eric D. Wittkower (1956-1981), Raymond Prince (1981-1991), Laurence J. Kirmayer (1991-2023), and G. Eric Jarvis (from 2023). Transcultural Psychiatry is the journal of the WACP.
Objectives: This presentation will review the journal’s founding and history, the problems it faces today, and its future priorities.
Methods: Data will be drawn from the Journal’s website, archived issues, published accounts, and oral history. Examples of current dilemmas will be taken from submissions, editorial decisions, and anonymized email messages. Future priorities will stem from anticipated publishing and editing trends.
Results: Transcultural Psychiatry was founded during the refugee crisis following WWII and the decolonization of old-world empires. Wittkower was a refugee, having fled Nazi Germany in 1933, and this lent a personal aspect to the journal and its focus. Despite influence by anthropology, the Journal has always retained a focus on clinical concerns. In 1997, under the leadership of Laurence J. Kirmayer, the Journal was revitalized, modernized, and given a new name and publisher. The Journal resists a purely open access model, which would excluded authors from less resourced countries. Going forward, the journal will need to streamline its procedures and incorporate AI into its operations, while maintaining its mission to readers from the Global South.
Conclusions: Transcultural Psychiatry is the first journal of its kind. As a bridge between clinical psychiatry and the social sciences, it occupies a unique niche in the publishing world. Its outreach to the Global South and reputation as a champion of diversity ensures that it will flourish in the years to come.
Objectives: This presentation will review the journal’s founding and history, the problems it faces today, and its future priorities.
Methods: Data will be drawn from the Journal’s website, archived issues, published accounts, and oral history. Examples of current dilemmas will be taken from submissions, editorial decisions, and anonymized email messages. Future priorities will stem from anticipated publishing and editing trends.
Results: Transcultural Psychiatry was founded during the refugee crisis following WWII and the decolonization of old-world empires. Wittkower was a refugee, having fled Nazi Germany in 1933, and this lent a personal aspect to the journal and its focus. Despite influence by anthropology, the Journal has always retained a focus on clinical concerns. In 1997, under the leadership of Laurence J. Kirmayer, the Journal was revitalized, modernized, and given a new name and publisher. The Journal resists a purely open access model, which would excluded authors from less resourced countries. Going forward, the journal will need to streamline its procedures and incorporate AI into its operations, while maintaining its mission to readers from the Global South.
Conclusions: Transcultural Psychiatry is the first journal of its kind. As a bridge between clinical psychiatry and the social sciences, it occupies a unique niche in the publishing world. Its outreach to the Global South and reputation as a champion of diversity ensures that it will flourish in the years to come.