Substance Use & Addiction Journal (SAj) embarked on it 46th year of publication with publication of Volume 46, Issue 1 in January 2025. In this issue, we are proud to publish In Support of the Decriminalization of Personal Drug and Paraphernalia Use and Possession: Position Statement of AMERSA, Inc. (Association for Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance Use and Addiction). This issue also included 12 papers from the NIH’s Integrative Management of Chronic Pain and OOUD for Whole Recovery (IMPOWR) Research Network, including 2 commentaries and 10 commentaries with protocol papers.
SAj Awards
During the 2024 AMERSA Annual Conference, we awarded the 2024 SAj Best Peer Reviewer Award to Joseph Mandato, a medical student, and SAj Most Downloaded Paper to Leslie Suen, MD, MAS; Michael Incze, MD, MSEd; Caty Simon; Honora Englander, MD; Jeffrey Bratberg, PharmD, FAPhA; Gail Groves Scott, MPH; and Rachel Winograd, PhD for their authorship of Methadone’s Resurgence in Bridging the Treatment Gap in the Overdose Crisis: Position Statement of AMERSA, Inc (Association for Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance Use and Addiction).
In December, the SAj Editorial Team announced that we will be selecting an “SAj Editors’ Choice Paper” on a quarterly basis from the papers published in the most recent issue. These articles will be highlighted in a collection on the Sage website (the publisher of SAj) and on the AMERSA website.
SAj Editorial Scholar Program
Consistent with the AMERSA strategic plan, we announced our SAj Editorial Scholar Program (https://amersa.org/saj-editorial-scholar-program/). Through this program, SAj seeks applications from multidisciplinary, post-graduate trained fellows/scholars and junior faculty to be an SAj Editorial Scholar. The goal of the SAj Editorial Scholar Program is to engage early career clinical or health services scholars with SAj’s editorial team to learn about editorial decision-making and enhance skills in scientific communication. This opportunity will be of interest to those interested in becoming journal editors as well as those looking to learn more about journal review processes. Applications are due on March 1, 2025.
Peer Review
SAj is always eager to add new peer reviewers to our slate of outstanding volunteers. The overall quality of the journal is significantly impacted by peer reviewers, whose volunteer efforts provide the Editorial Team with the information necessary to ensure that only the highest quality work appears in our journal. Comments and suggestions from peer reviewers can turn a marginal paper into a publishable work that advances the field. If you are interested in becoming a peer reviewer, please email saj@amersa.org.
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Adam J. Gordon, MD MPH FASAM DFASAM, Editor-in-Chief, SAj