Introducing thematic clusters of articles

T he European Journal of Psychotraumatogy (EJPT) is becoming an important repository of knowledge for the field of psychotraumatology. Since its launch in December 2010 (see Olff, 2010, Olff & Bindslev, 2011) new ideas and initiatives have developed to further increase visibility and easy access to papers published in the Journal. Most scientific journals include in their editorial strategies the publication of special issues*invited or proposed*where a group of clustered papers delineate the state-of-the-art of a theme of topical interest for the scientific community. The EJPT Editorial Board has now also decided to launch a series of special issues*or Thematic Clusters of papers as we prefer to call them*presenting new research or clinical practice papers to the benefit of both experienced researchers and those who are new to the field. Since EJPT is an open access journal and all content is thus freely available online, such thematic clusters will in a crucial way contribute to fostering the ongoing debate of specific ‘‘hot’’ topics and facilitate a shared understanding of clinical and empirical findings. Thematic clusters of papers are open to all interested scholars who wish to contribute with original research results or with a systematized review of current trends in a specific area of knowledge. All papers will be peerreviewed and edited in the same way as all other submissions to the journal. Both researchers and clinicians are encouraged to propose themes for such collections of articles as this process is thought to facilitate a shared understanding of treatment and empirical findings. We will also from time to time invite Guest Editors for the thematic clusters. Furthermore, we particularly encourage proposals from countries where there is a need for advocacy, policy development and establishment or expansion of scientific publications. A steady stream of information about trauma and PTSD issues in those countries would also contribute to a greater international and multicultural understanding of trauma and its consequences. Again, EJPT being an open access journal, thematic clusters could contribute immensely to the wide exchange of such important knowledge. In planning for thematic clusters of articles, the Editorial Board has agreed to accept as many articles as possible for each cluster*after due peer review and within a set time-frame. This is possible since EJPT is not restricted by a printed edition with a limited number of pages. A dedicated space will be created on the online publication platform (OJS), and articles pertaining to a certain thematic cluster will appear under a special heading, either as they become ready or all together at the same time. Also, we encourage submission of comments on the thematic clusters in the form of Letters-tothe-Editor or Commentaries to further enhance the debate initiated by the cluster; these comments will also be published under the special heading, together with the themed articles. The first thematic cluster to be published by EJPT focuses on the role of trauma and PTSD in criminal behaviour, ‘‘Offending behaviour: The role of trauma and PTSD’’, and is edited by Vittoria Ardino (see Ardino, 2012; Foy, Ritchie, & Conway, 2012; Miller & Najavits, 2012). More clusters are coming up soon, e.g., on ‘‘Trauma in the military: Special considerations’’ with Guest editors Rachel Yehuda, Eric Vermetten, and Sandy McFarlane, and ‘‘Posttraumatic stress symptom trajectories: Methodology and recent findings’’, guest edited by Rens van de Schoot and Marit Sijbrandij. You are welcome to suggest other themes.