The vitality, schisms, and polemics that are a part of the history of psychoanalytic thought have been reflected in its journals.
The first psychoanalytic journal, Jahrbuch für psychoanalytische und psychopathologische Forschungen, was founded in 1908 with C. G. Jung as the editor. It lasted only until World War I. Zentralblatt für Psychoanalyse, founded shortly after the Jahrbuch and edited by Wilhelm Stekel and Alfred Adler, did not fare well either. Nor did Stekel and Adler and some of the other early editors who disagreed with Freud on theoretical grounds and found themselves subject to exclusion. Imago, a journal of applied psychoanalysis, appeared in 1912, and Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse in January 1913. They survived until the 1930s, but a combined Zeitschrift and Imago, published in London for a time, did not survive World War II. The Psychoanalytic Review, the first American psychoanalytic journal, was also founded in 1913. The Review has endured to this day, albeit under different sponsorship.
Other enduring early journals are the International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, founded in 1920 in England, and The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, founded in 1932 in the United States. Revue Française de Psychanalyse was founded in 1926 and Revista de Psicanalisi in 1932. American Imago, founded by Hans Sachs in the late 1930s, is still published to this day. The history of these early journals can be found in Freud biographies and in the collections of Freud's correspondence, particularly those with Jones and Ferenczi.
The history of psychoanalytic journals includes some fascinating contretemps. For example, there was great fear of competition with the founding of the Quarterly and the International by Ernest Jones. Jones was revealed as the quintessential psychoanalytic gatekeeper in his correspondence with Freud. Jones wrote to Freud on June 2, 1932, expressing deep concern about competition:
I am very concerned about both the fact and the form of the new American publishing undertaking, The Psychoanalytic Quarterly. It is in direct competition with the official English-speaking organ, the Journal, and, since we are dependent on American subscriptions, it may even constitute a threat to our existence. That this should have been done without consultation with me, who has been officially responsible for catering to the English-speaking public, or without letting me know what was the nature of their dissatisfaction with my efforts, is unfortunate, as is still more the fact that [the publishers of the Quarterly] have the official approval and blessing of the leading authorities in all countries, including all the other officers of the International Association. I shall of course have to bring the matter up at the congress, and should be only too glad if I could find some amicable arrangement.
Freud answered Jones on June 8:
I do not share your concerns about the Quarterly. The new organ will bind American PsA closer to that in Europe, and compete significantly with the Ps. Review and Jellifie's journal, which are really overflowing with psychoanalytic contributions. I too am sorry that no one informed you of the intended founding, but it shows how little the Americans feel themselves tied to England. A friendly agreement would certainly be very desirable.
Jones would not give up, claiming that
the authors of the new undertaking failed to consult beforehand with people who are obviously affected. This shows no spirit of cooperation. After all, it is being published in more or less [sic] the same language as the journal, which hitherto has been officially recognized as adequate to publish both contributions and reports in English of what is going on in the psycho-analytic world. … Much more serious than any of this, however, is the fact that the Quarterly now directly threatens the existence of the Journal. … As to the Psychoanalytic Review, I regard its existence as superfluous as you do.
Jones ended with the following polemic:
Your inference that the Americans do not feel related to England I should modify by saying this is only true of the foreigners recently arrived in America, who have lost their own civilisation and not acquired any other. Zilboorg, who is a completely wild Russian, is the real centre of this piece of activity. I admire his energy, but wish it could be somewhat directed and controlled.
The Council of Editors of Psychoanalytic Journals (CEPJ), founded in 1997, is a much happier and less competitive organization, and exists at a time of cooperation among journals. There are today close to ninety journals worldwide that are broadly psychoanalytic — that encompass clinical psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, and applied psychoanalysis. Of these, fifty-one journals have joined CEPJ and are deeply involved in its activities. It is the goal of CEPJ to include as many journals as possible.
The Council, founded and chaired by Joseph Reppen, editor of Psychoanalytic Psychology, the journal of the Division of Psychoanalysis of the American Psychological Association, and Psychoanalytic Books: A Quarterly Journal of Reviews, is modeled after the Council of Editors of Learned Journals, an organization that numbers hundreds of editors of scholarly journals in the humanities, literature, and the arts. CEPJ was conceived as a clearinghouse and meeting place to afford an opportunity for editors to share common problems and exchange ideas that relate to the editing of psychoanalytic journals.
The two annual meetings of CEPJ held thus far have been a solid expression of collaboration, collegiality, and mutual respect. The second annual meeting, held December 19, 1998, in New York during the Fall Meeting of the APsaA, included editors from twenty-nine journals. All the major English-language journals were represented: The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, The Psychoanalytic Review, and Psychoanalytic Psychology. Editors from the PEP CD-ROM and JList were also in attendance.
Several overseas journals were represented: British Journal of Psychotherapy, Forum der Psychoanalyse, International Forum of Psychoanalysis, International Journal of Psychotherapy, Psicoanalisis, Psicoterapia Professionale, Revista Uruguaya Psicoanalisis, and Revue Belge de Psychanalyse. Countries outside the United States represented by their member journals were Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Chile, Germany, India, Sweden, and Uruguay. Reppen has been mandated by the Council to increase the number of foreign language journals represented and is currently contacting editors around the world.
Joseph Reppen, Ph.D., is a member of the IPA, the International Association for the History of Psychoanalysis, the APsaA, and the American Psychological Association. The book he most recently edited is Why I Became a Psychotherapist.
Psychoanalytic journals continue in vitality: in 1998, Psychoanalysis and History appeared; in 1999, The Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies and Neuro-Psychoanalysis will appearand in 2000, Studies in Gender and Sexuality will appear.
Journals represented in CEPJ show a spectrum of psychoanalytic concepts: Adlerian, contemporary Freudian, interpersonalist, inter-subjective, Jungian, Kleinian, Lacanian, relational, Sullivanian, and neuroscientific. As one editor, attesting to the friendly atmosphere at the 1998 meeting, remarked: “Peace broke out!”
The great advantage of CEPJ, and probably the reason for its immediate success, is that issues relating to content and psychoanalytic theory have not been relevant to any discussions. Instead, the mechanics of producing, publishing, distributing, and editing a journal and of getting good papers for publication are routinely discussed, and ideas are exchanged. Correspondence concerning the Council of Editors of Psychoanalytic Journals should be addressed to Joseph Reppen, Ph.D., Chair, Council of Editors of Psychoanalytic Journals, 211 East 70th Street, New York, NY 10021; fax: 212-628-8453; e-mail: .