Chief Editor's Welcome Message

Editor-in-Chief Welcome Message

It has been six years since I was given the privilege to serve as the Chief Editor of the ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry. It is a great pleasure for me to humbly shoulder this duty despite it being a constantly demanding task. The 14th ASEAN Federation of Psychiatry and Mental Health (AFPMH) meeting which was held in Cebu, The Philippines in November 2014 had achieved fruitful outcomes. We would like to thank The Philippines Psychiatric Association (PPA) for hosting this meeting, especially to Dr Pureza Trinidad Onate and Dr. Edgardo Juan L.Tolentino. Recognizing the challenges posed by the 2-yearly rotation of editorial board, it was decided during the last AFPMH committee meeting that Malaysia should host the editorship for another two years. A constant editorial board is also important for stability of the journal. Again, I have been chosen to resume the honourable duty to head the board, a responsibility I accepted as a great honour.

Over the past two years, the journal has not undergone major change. However, regular and timely publication has been ensured which is important for its continuing growth. On a positive note, there has been a steady increase of articles received for publication indicating a growing interest among researchers to publish their work in this journal. The journal has published an average of 14 articles of topics of mixed variety per issue, from authors of various countries including Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.

The board has taken an initiative in the direction of indexing the journal. The journal has been selected by the WPA Publication Task Force to receive technical guide on the process of indexation. A few recommendations were made to increase its chance for a successful indexation.

We hope to be able to bring about gradual changes in the near future for a successful indexation and more importantly, for further progress of the journal. I would like to express my gratitude to those who have supported me during the last two years and to those who are going to be with me in our journey to the journal to the a higher level.

I would like to thank, Dr. Danardi Sosrosumihardjo, Senior Psychiatrist Consultant, Department of Psychiatry, University of Indonesia (UI) Medical School, Jakarta, Indonesia as our new AFPMH President, for his support as well.

We hope the members shall meet again and that the next meeting of 15th AFPMH which will be held in Semarang Indonesia in August 2016 will also be fruitful and successful.

 

Thank you.

Hatta Sidi
MBBS, MMed (Psych), DipSHC (Australia)
Editor-in-Chief, ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry (2014 - 2016)

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