Psychiatric Journals in China

Fourteen journals of psychiatry are published in China. The oldest, the Shanghai Archives of Psychiatry, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009. The newest, the Chinese edition of The American Journal of Psychiatry, is now 3 years old. The illustration shows the green covers of both journals, superimposed on the garden at the Shanghai Mental Health Center. Chinese editors and authors met in Shanghai in June 2009 for a 3-day seminar on editing and scientific writing, organized by Ze Ping Xiao, M.D., President of Shanghai Mental Health Center, and Norman Sartorius, M.D., former Director of Mental Health for the World Health Organization (WHO). Other participants included Michael Phillips, M.D., Director of WHO's Beijing Suicide Research and Prevention Center, Sophia Frangou, M.D., Editor of European Psychiatry, Kua Ee Heok, M.D., Editor of the Asia-Pacific Psychiatry Journal, and Robert Freedman, M.D., Editor of The American Journal of Psychiatry. Young Chinese psychiatrists worked with this faculty on preparing their papers on diagnosis, genetics, brain imaging, psychopharmacology, and psychotherapy for publication. Editorial colleagues from the three continents—Asia, Europe, and North America—shared perspectives on ethical standards for journals and the selection of papers for scientific impact and clinical relevance.