Creating a new scientific journal from scratch is an unenviable task not to be underestimated. Conceived during several rounds of discussions at international congresses between myself and some of the founders of Dovepress, notably John Stolz and his partner Jane Irons, Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment (NDT) was intended to fill the gap between psychiatry and neurology. First published in New Zealand in early 2005 as a purely print version and kickstarted by a review from the Founding Editor,1 20 years later the fully digital journal has come of age. Its early incarnation as the house journal of the International Neuropsychiatric Association (INA) soon ended, but it has maintained its viability and original purpose by attracting much interest in both psychiatry and neurology with a focus on research emerging from lesser well known areas like Africa, and the Middle and Far East. While the Editor-in-Chief has remained constant over two decades, Associate Editors have come and gone including two INA Board Members in the early years followed by a bevy of renowned international psychiatrists, neurologists and neuroscientists. The current Associate Editors are from China, Japan and the USA.

Our policy has not focused on chasing impact factors - the most recent 5-year IF was 3.0 - and the journal has been Open Access almost from its very beginning. With averages of 46 and 9 days from submission to first editorial decision and from editorial acceptance to publication respectively, NDT has continued to attract researchers. While the acceptance rate has fallen steadily to only 18%, annual downloads and views are now well over half a million. Both the most cited “Correll and Schooler” and the most read “Alhola and Polo-Kantola” articles are reviews.2,3 The most cited “Huang et al”4 and the most read “Schlarb et al”5 original research articles are also important to note. Two of my favourite articles, reflecting my own personal research interests and my erstwhile second Dovepress journal the International Journal of Wine Research,6 were long and thorough reviews devoted to the cognitive effects of alcohol consumption by Neafsey and Collins7 and Wiegmann et al.8 Although the original Editorial Office handling all manuscripts remains active in New Zealand, both journals are now part of the Taylor & Francis stable where their specialist team has been active in commissioning major review articles as well as collections of articles on neglected topics such as autism.

So where does NDT go in the next 2 decades? Great strides have been made in the genetics and pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders since the journal was born, but treatments, be they pharmacological, psychological or physical, have tended to lag behind. Particularly in psychiatric conditions like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, our treatments leave a lot to be desired, while many neurological disorders are at best only symptomatically alleviated. Better times will come, and we will continue to keep up with the latest research and trends. To enable us to achieve these aims, NDT, like many journals, needs new Editorial Board members and more peer reviewers.

Dr Pinder is the Editor in Chief for Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment. The author report no other conflicts of interest in this work.

1. Pinder RM. Enhancing central noradrenergic function in depression: is there still a place for a new antidepressant? Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2005;1(1):3–7. doi:10.2147/nedt.1.1.3.52293

2. Correll CU, Schooler NR. Negative symptoms in schizophrenia: a review and clinical guide for recognition, assessment, and treatment. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2020;16:519–534. doi:10.2147/NDT.S225643

3. Alhola P, Polo-Kantola P. Sleep deprivation: impact on cognitive performance. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2007;3(5):553–567.

4. Huang Y, Sh X, Li Z, et al. Possible association of Firmicutes in the gut microbiota of patients with major depressive disorder. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2018;14:3329–3337. doi:10.2147/NDT.S188340

5. Schlarb AA, Friedrich A, Classen M. Sleep problems in university students - an intervention. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2017;13:1989–2001. doi:10.2147/NDT.S142067

6. Pinder RM. Does wine prevent dementia? Int J Wine Res. 2009;1:41–52. doi:10.2147/IJWR.S4691

7. Neafsey EJ, Collins MA. Moderate alcohol consumption and cognitive risk. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2011;7:465–484. doi:10.2147/NDT.S23159

8. Wiegmann C, Mick I, Brand EJ, Heinz A, Gutwinski S. Alcohol and dementia - What is the link? A systematic review. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2020;16:87–99. doi:10.2147/NDT.S198772