Scandinavian Journal of Pain: A networking and publishing tool for pain researchers and pain clinicians in the Nordic countries

Article Outline

• Copyright

The Scandinavian Association for the Study of Pain (SASP), originally founded in Stockholm in December 1976 by a group of enthusiastic founding members of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), has been immensely important and stimulating for pain researchers and pain clinicians in the five Nordic countries. The initiative came from Professor, now emeritus, Ulf Lindblom, Professor, now emeritus, Björn Meyerson, and Associate Professor Staffan Arnér, all fondly called the “Karolinska Troika” of neurology-, neurosurgery-, and anaesthesiology-pain researchers and clinicians. Amongst the others present were, Professor Zotterman Professor of Neurophysiology Sven Andersson, and about 10 other Swedish scientists and clinicians interested in pain. The youngest and only non-Swede present was Harald Breivik, at that time Professor and chairman of the Department of Anaesthesiology at the University Hospital in Trondheim, Norway.

The original SASP held annual, high quality, scientific meetings circulating among the 5 Nordic countries. We had joint meetings with the “Intractable (!) Pain Society of UK and Ireland” (now The British Pain Society) in Oslo and in Edinburgh. Gradually, and with accelerating pace, the pain-research and pain clinical activities increased in all the Nordic countries, national pain societies were founded, with their own annual meetings. Since SASP was the IASP-chapter covering the Nordic countries, the national pain societies could not become IASP-chapters. The general assembly at the SASP-meeting in Turku, May 2008, therefore decided to dissolve the original SASP, to make room for the national pain societies to become individual members as IASP-chapters. At the same general assembly, a decision was made to re-establish a Nordic pain-researcher organization with the main goal of facilitating communication and collaboration between pain scientists in the Nordic countries. An interim task force prepared bylaws and articles of incorporation for a “newSASP”. These were from Norway: Professor Ulf Kongsgaard (chair, and last President of the original SASP) and Professor Harald Brevik; together with, Professor Torsten Gordh from Sweden; Professor Troels S. Jensen and Associate Professor Lona L. Christrup from Denmark; Professor Eija Kalso and Professor Satu Jääskeläinen from Finland; and Eirikur Lindal from Iceland.

The mandate was to bring all the best traditions from the original SASP into the newSASP and create a newSASP with even more research-promoting activities and stimulation than the original SASP. New-SASP was formally founded on May 30, 2009 in Copenhagen. Professor Torsten Gordh was elected the first president of the newSASP, with two board members from each of the five Nordic countries. Bylaws and activities for newSASP will be available soon on the home page www.sasp.org.

One important goal of the newSASP is to promote collaboration and exchange of information between pain researchers and clinicians in the Nordic countries. The annual scientific meetings will continue, the first one being arranged in Oslo on April 8–10, 2010, with Audun Stubhaug as the chair of the meeting in collaboration with Torsten Gordh and his board.

In collaboration with Elsevier the Scandinavian Journal of Pain has been launched, with the first supplement issue published for the founding meeting in Copenhagen, May 2009. The journal is now up and running as a modern hybrid journal with its first issue of the 2010 volume available in December 2009. The printed version will contain an extended abstract (500 words) of each of the original papers and an editorial comment to each paper. The editorials together with the full papers will be available to subscribers electronically at www.scandinavianjournalpain.com. This makes production of the journal faster and more economical than the traditional, old fashion way of publishing scientific information. There will initially be four issues each year. Members of the newSASP as well as members of the national pain societies of the Nordic countries are offered, through their societies, subscription at only 15€ for 2010, thereafter 20€ for 2011 and 22€ for 2012.

The aim of the Scandinavian Journal of Pain is to publish high quality reports on original experimental and clinical pain research, observational studies, and educational case reports. Importantly, we will bring the readership of Scand J Pain up to date with focused reviews of appropriate topics of interest for clinicians and pain researchers. The journal will also publish abstracts of invited lectures and free presentations at the scientific meetings of newSASP. Letters to the editor commenting on published papers and editorial comment papers are very welcome. The journal will include announcements and comments on important pain meetings, educational activities, and research projects related to pain in the Nordic countries. Current and forthcoming content can be viewed on www.scandinavianjournalpain.com.

Already we have a good flow of papers coming into the electronic editorial system of Elsevier at http://ees.elsevier.com/sjpain.

We are highly impressed by the efficiency and high quality professional help the editorial board members are receiving from Elsevier. Manuscript handling times will be fast, mostly dependent on the willingness of our board of highly qualified associate editors.