A new era of open access publishing in eating disorders

Background We would like to welcome you to the first edition of the Journal of Eating Disorders. We are sure that the first questions you may wish to ask would be why a new journal of eating disorders and why an open access one? There can be no doubt that the field of eating disorders is experiencing a phase of major growth. We have strong international eating disorders organisations such as the Academy of Eating Disorders and the Eating Disorders Research Society and many national societies throughout the world. These societies not only provide local networks for their members but arrange annual conferences to ensure that important new developments in our field are rapidly disseminated. To meet the growing demand for the ever increasing research and reviews of developments in our field, the International Journal of Eating Disorders came into being in 1981. Under the excellent stewardship of the founding editor Craig Johnson and later Michael Strober the International Journal not only met the need for a home for publications in eating disorders but stimulated further interest that has exceeded every expectation. Despite the explosion of knowledge emanating out of years of high calibre research in eating disorders, there remain many gaps. Whilst there is now sufficient scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of cognitive behaviour therapy for the treatment of bulimia nervosa [1], further research needs to be undertaken to refine existing treatments to make them even more potent and cost-effective. Furthermore we know that such treatment protocols do not work for all such patients and there is an urgent need to develop-new ones or adapt existing protocols for those unable to respond and test treatments for other eating disorders. We have made significant progress in treating adolescents who have been ill for less than 3.5 years and Maudsley family-based