It is part of the art of medicine that, despite its origins in organ based pathological anatomy, the concept of 'disease' is constantly adjusted by evolving societal concepts of what does and does not constitute illness.

摘要

We do not publish the names of those who review papers for Brain; but they are many and distinguished by their diligence, attention to detail and generosity in spending time making this critical contribution to production of the journal. The reviewers' imprimatur ensures that every paper published in Brain is considered by one of our associate editors and at least two experts in the field to make a significant and new contribution to one of the many topics in clinical neuroscience that we cover. A high proportion of authors express gratitude to the reviewers for the constructive criticisms offered on their work. To spell out the numbers involved: in 2008, we received 1674 new submissions and 544 revised papers, 2218 manuscripts in total (20% more than in 2007 and representing an 80% increase since the present editorial team assumed office in 2004). Of these, 493 (or 30% of new submissions) were judged to be unsuitable or unlikely to compete for space, and these were returned to the authors soon after arrival. A further 778 (or 47%) were rejected following expert review; and 6% of revised manuscripts were also not accepted-making an overall acceptance rate of 21 % for 2008, slightly higher than in recent years. Each of 1726 newly submitted or revised papers put into review was seen by at least two experts. Allowing for those who review for us several times each year, this represents a contribution from around 2500 individual reviewers. Your dedication and generosity in making the wheels of this journal go round are deeply appreciated and here acknowledged.