IJP Open Relaunch

I would like to introduce readers to the new IJP Open.

IJP Open was launched in 2014. At that time, it was very cutting-edge; there was nothing like it in the world of psychoanalysis, and not much that was comparable in other related disciplines. In a nutshell, authors were invited (if they so wished) to upload their submissions to the site, and the psychoanalytic community was invited to comment on the submission. These comments did not have to be full reviews, they could be very short, taking up some particular point, or they could be longer and more associative. They could, of course, be critically appreciative, as well as giving an opinion on possible flaws. After some time, the formal reviews would be posted, which would end the process.

For a couple of years, there was quite a bit of traffic on the site. But then the informal reviews from readers dropped away, and for some years only the submissions and the formal reviews have been posted. In effect, IJP Open has given authors the chance to allow their first submissions to be read by a wider public, without these constituting formal publication, but the main point of the site, which was to give an opportunity for the psychoanalytic community to get involved with the development of the paper, had effectively lapsed.

With the recent institution of the new PEP platform, we had an opportunity to develop the site, and we have decided to go ahead with what amounts to a relaunch and development of IJP Open. The site will now be able to facilitate much more activity than hitherto, particularly in the form of to-and-fros between authors and readers. This constitutes the raison d'être of the exercise, and I hope it will stimulate psychoanalytic creativity, not only of the author in question, but also of the particular group of readers and editors engaging with the paper, and of the wider group of interested readers.

In the years since 2014, transparent peer review has now become standard practice for journals in the science