In this issue of Acta Neuropsychiatrica, I have taken the opportunity to report on some of the issues that were raised at the recent Advisory and Editorial Board meeting that took place in Barcelona at the ECNP 2008. I am grateful to the colleagues that attended and the many board members that communicated comments through e-mail.

The first issue concerns membership of the Advisory and Editorial boards in relation to contributions made to the journal. It was noted that members contributed in a variety of ways, such as submitting articles, editing regular series and acting as reviewers, and that there should be some means of recognising these important contributions. At the same time, it was suggested that both boards should undergo regular revision after a period of time so as to allow new ideas and new directions to emerge. Both of these suggestions are important in relation to this issue and I welcome further comments. In particular, I am grateful to advisory board members such as Professor Lakshmi Yatham that have already proposed additional members.

The second issue that was mentioned in our discussions concerns the special sections in the journal that have been generally well received and are enjoyed by many. Points raised in relation to these include broadening the contributions to these sections and perhaps also supplanting these with other areas of interest such as history, genetics and molecular biology. Again, I believe both of these are constructive suggestions but I welcome further input before we make any definitive decisions.

Finally, the value of case reports compared with commentaries and the section for comments and critique was a topic of some debate, and it was agreed that the latter section should be expanded in preference to regular reporting of cases. This will be trailed for 6 months in the first instance and I would appreciate feedback on this and the other issues that have been mentioned with a view to providing an update next year.

Turning now to this issue, the last in this year, I am pleased to report that we have a number of interesting original articles alongside a detailed review all of which focus on aspects of mood disorders. The affective theme is also picked up by Intervention Insights and touched upon by Brain Bytes.

I conclude this issue, and indeed the 2008 volume, by thanking the many expert reviewers that make the publication process possible and the many authors that showcase their expertise through their publications in this journal. Based on formal and informal feedback, I believe that after 2 years, the journal has made considerable advances and has reestablished itself as a useful publication in the field of Neuropsychiatry.