Trends and success stories in research on occupational and environmental health

Refers to the following texts of the Journal: 2016;42(3):181-191 2015;41(5):491-503 2015;41(2):153-163 2015;41(2):164-174 2015;41(1):54-64 2014;40(2):109-132 2014;40(1):5-18 2014;40(2):195-202 2010;36(2):81-84 1975;1(1):1-14 1977;3(3):144-153 1992;18(1):1-9 2007;33(4):245-251 1993;19(5):297-312 2007;33(1):1-3 1997;23(4):243-256 1997;23(4):311-316 1999;25(2):85-99 1999;25(6):465-469 2006;32(6):413-419 2006;32(6):431-442 2006;32(6):443-462 2016;42(3):177-18

however, the key management and decision-making together with Eira, who took on the role of Assistant EC in 2000. As a supplement to the paper version, an electronic version of the Journal was launched in 2001.
In his last editorial before retiring (7), Sven emphasized the significance of the need to shift the focus to new areas of research. While traditional occupational diseases were -and still are -a burden in many countries, he highlighted that the main roadblock in their remedy is not additional research but implementation of already existing knowledge (7). Taking the lead, we started to focus on new areas where existing knowledge was not great, especially psychosocial issues and musculoskeletal disorders, while maintaining a strong presence in epidemiological and clinical research on occupational epidemiology.
During the 1990s, we had already started to publish editorials and reviews in all issues of the Journal. Several of the latter became citation classics, for example those on exposure assessment and musculoskeletal issues by Burdorf (8) and Burdorf & Sorock (9) and a review on shift work and cardiovascular diseases by Bøggild & Knutsson (10). We also published consensus reports on key issues like the new Helsinki criteria for diagnosis and attribution on asbestos, asbestosis and cancer (11), extensively cited later, up to its update a few years ago (12), and special issues on growing research areas like work-related stress: health-risks, mechanisms and countermeasures (13) and shift work and health (14). These special issues included several reviews that also became citation classics. The review on psychosocial factors and mental health by Stansfeld & Candy (15), in particular, has been cited >900 times based on Scopus, as well as a review on work stress and coronary heart disease by Kivimäki and colleagues (16) (>500 times).
During the 2000s, in addition to relevance, emphasis was placed on shortening article processing time and improving accessibility of the Journal (17) From 2008 to today, the impact factor of the Journal has doubled, and currently we hold a close second among all journals in the field of occupational and environmental health. During the same period, the number of submitted papers has doubled allowing us to be more selective and publish only the best research, which is depicted in the current acceptance rate of 15%. Since the beginning of 2012, the non-profit Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health (NOROSH) has published the Journal. As earlier, the Nordic research institutes play a key role as founding members of NOROSH.
The last two years have been historical for the Journal for several reasons. Sven sadly passed away (2). When Eira retired as Assistant EC in 2018, Alex Burdorf, Head of the Department of Public Health at Erasmus University Medical Centre joined me as co-EC. And when I decided to step down at end of 2019, Reiner Rugulies, Professor of Psychosocial Issues and Mental Health at the Danish National Research Centre for the Working Environment became EC alongside Lex, after earlier having been an AE. I will continue as an AE for the topics of shift work and working hours. In the meantime, several new AE have joined the team: Karin Broberg, Håkan Wallin, David Lombardi, Karl-Christian Nordby, Carel Hulshof, Susanne Svendsen, Hermann Burr and Vivi Schlünssen several years ago, and, more recently, Annina Ropponen, Henrik Kolstad, Cécile Boot, and Paul Kuijer.

Editorial
In the future, as the editorial team has pointed out, the Journal will place greater emphasis on scientific quality and innovative research topics and methods (35). Staying ahead of the Open Science Movement, we recently decided to take the important step towards becoming a fully fledged open access journal. Starting in 2020, open access will be by opt-out only and in 2022, we will publish 100% unlocked content. Thus the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health will remain a relevant, high-quality, non-profit scientific journal that is unique in many ways.