Reflections on the last year and resolutions for the coming year are always on the menu for the first issue of the New Year. The past year was yet another successful one for the International Journal of Developmental Disabilities (IJDD), with 8 print issues being published as well as numerous online publications. Another highlight of 2024 was that the IJDD published a special issue entitled ‘Social Inclusion for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities in the Middle East’ co-edited by Prof. Eman Gaad and Prof. Nadera Alborno. This special issue was accompanied by a highly successful scientific conference in Dubai also organised by Eman and Nadera that featured presentations on most of the papers but also included additional presentations and posters on social inclusion.
The journal continued the trend of receiving articles from around the world and these submissions focussed on all of the areas and themes related to improving the lives of those with intellectual disabilities as well as for caregivers, educators and support staff. Articles published in the IJDD continued to be listed in the PubMed searchable database that accesses primarily MEDLINE as well as abstracts on life sciences and biomedical publications. The IJDD also went from strength to strength as judged by metrics such as impact factor (1.5), Scopus CiteScore (4.1) and an impressive average first decision time of 27 days from the paper submission date.
The coming year is already shaping up to be a good one for the IJDD with another special issue focussing on Southeast Asia that will have a tie-in meeting organised by the special issue editors. It also gives us great pleasure to announce that Christine Syriopoulou-Delli from the University of Macedonia in Thessalonica, Greece, has joined the Associate Editor Board from the beginning of 2025, thereby strengthening the journal’s breadth of expertise. Our remit to advance the IJDD as a major international forum for all aspects of intellectual disabilities will continue and we aim to provide practical help and support to all of those working in the field round the world. The IJDD is also aiming to print another 8 issues in 2025.
As usual, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all the authors of manuscripts submitted to and published in the IJDD. The high standard of papers have been ensured by the tireless dedication and support of the countless independent and voluntary reviewers of these papers, together with the various members of the esteemed IJDD Editorial Board. Thanks and appreciation also goes to our colleagues and support staff at our publisher, Taylor & Francis, as well as to the British Society of Developmental Disabilities for making publication possible. We look forward to a successful 2025 for the IJDD.
Brian Salmons
editor@bjdd.org
Arturo Langa
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.