Dear Reader,

Welcome to the final issue of Pediatric Drugs for 2021.

I wish to reflect on this year’s achievements, and to thank all those who have contributed their time and effort to guarantee the quality of the content published in the journal.

So far in 2021, over 40 articles have been published. The most popular of these in terms of downloads from SpringerLink have been:


Esposito, S., Principi, N. Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children Related to SARS-CoV-2. Pediatr Drugs 2021; 23: 119–129.

Willems, J., Hermans, E., Schelstraete, P. et al. Optimizing the Use of Antibiotic Agents in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: A Narrative Review. Pediatr Drugs 2021; 23: 39–53.

Trindade, V.C., Carneiro-Sampaio, M., Bonfa, E. et al. An Update on the Management of Childhood-Onset Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. Pediatr Drugs 2021; 23: 331–347.

Alghamdi, A.A., Keers, R.N., Sutherland, A. et al. A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Medication Safety Incidents Reported in Neonatal and Children’s Intensive Care. Pediatr Drugs 2021; 23: 287–297.

Wang, C.X. Assessment and Management of Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (ADEM) in the Pediatric Patient. Pediatr Drugs 2021; 23: 213–221.

Cooney, M.F. Pain Management in Children: NSAID Use in the Perioperative and Emergency Department Settings. Pediatr Drugs 2021; 23: 361–372.

The high quality of content published in Pediatric Drugs has been reflected in the most recent impact factor of 3.022 and CiteScore™ of 4.7. These place the journal in the top-end of the second quartile in the Pediatrics category, and in the top quartile for Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health (CiteScore™). Further, Pediatric Drugs has published content in a timely manner, with an average time from submission to first decision of 26 days.

I would like to start by thanking the authors of the articles published in Pediatric Drugs over the course of 2021. The enthusiasm of all authors for their chosen fields and their willingness to contribute content to the journal are crucial for its continued success.

The quality of published articles is also testament to the diligence of the peer reviewers. I would like to acknowledge the following individuals who acted as reviewers for Pediatric Drugs in the last 12 months:

Gregory Aaen, USA

Daoud Al-Badriyeh, Qatar

Samuel Alperin, USA

Doralina L. Anghelescu, USA

Michael Auerbach, USA

Pascal Augustin, France

Tadej Avcin, Slovenia

Sean Avedissian, USA

Catherine M. Avitabile, USA

Charles Berde, USA

Frank Berthold, Germany

Vikram Bhise, USA

Candice Bjornson, Canada

Osvaldo Borrelli, UK

Stephan Buderus, Germany

Ilia Buhtoiarov, USA

Neidin Bussmann, Ireland

Waldemar A. Carlo, USA

Maria J. Carvalho, Portugal

Andrea Eugenio Cavanna, UK

Min Jung Chang, Republic of Korea

Cecelia Chighizola, Italy

Eric H. Chiou, USA

Raj Chovatiya, USA

Giulia D'Arcangelo, Italy

Bibhuti B. Das, USA

Tom de Leeuw, the Netherlands

Antonio De Tanti, Italy

Juliann Di Fiore, USA

Lucia Z. Diaz, USA

Christian Domingo, Spain

Kevin J. Downes, USA

Jan Dudley, UK

Barbara A. Eberhard, USA

Mariagrazia Felisi, Italy

Julia C. Finkel, USA

Regina Folster-Holst, Germany

Yara D. Fragoso, Brazil

Silke Gastine, UK

Teresa Giani, Italy

Kathleen M. Gibbons, USA

Maria F. Gicchino, Italy

Stewart Goldman, USA

Rokuro Hama, Japan

Paula E. Heikkilä, Finland

Michael F. Holick, USA

Gerd Horneff, Germany

Christoph P. Hornik, USA

Seth Housman, USA

Tim Hundscheid, the Netherlands

Chi Huynh, UK

Anup Katheria, USA

Ömer Kiliç, Turkey

Catherijne A.J. Knibbe, the Netherlands

Malte Kohns Vasconcelos, Switzerland

Usha Krishnan, Australia

Matthew P. Kronman, USA

Theodore W. Laetsch, USA

Sebastiano A.G. Lava, Switzerland

Lyn-Li Lim, Australia

Peter A. Lio, USA

Carl Lo, USA

Michael Lorenzo, USA

Jolanda Maaskant, the Netherlands

David Mandelbaum, USA

Kevin Meesters, UK

Robin Michelet, Germany

Gregorio P. Milani, Italy

Frédéric Millot, France

Wendy G. Mitchell, USA

Sue Moloney, Australia

Simon Nadel, UK

Brandon Newell, USA

Chuck Norlin, USA

Martin Offringa, Canada

Kerry-Ann F. O'Grady, Australia

Kathleen M. O'Neil, USA

Seth J. Orlow, USA

Cataldo Patruno, Italy

Dharshni Pillay, South Africa

Navin Pinto, USA

Dimitri Poddighe, Kazakhstan

Daniela Pohl, Canada

Alison S. Poulton, Australia

Aurora Pujol Onofre, Spain

Ramachandran Ramesh Kumar, India

Michele L. Ramien, Canada

Adam Reich, Poland

Michael J. Rieder, Canada

Frédérique Rodieux, Switzerland

Keith A. Rodvold, USA

Cristian R. Sager, Argentina

Cynthia Salvant, USA

Neha Santucci, USA

Masatoki Sato, Japan

Lynda C. Schneider, USA

Marieke Seyger, the Netherlands

Stephanie J.W. Shoop-Worrall, UK

John M. Simpson, UK

Lea Solman, UK

Jan Stary, Czech Republic

Clinton F. Stewart, USA

Jenna Streicher, USA

Jeremy S. Stultz, USA

Robert Sümpelmann, Germany

Adam Sutherland, UK

Masato Taguchi, Japan

Agne Taraseviciute, USA

Cünyet Tayman, Turkey

Christopher A. Thomas, USA

Elizabeth J. Thompson, USA

Mark P. Tighe, UK

Tiago Torres, Portugal

Antonella Tosti, USA

Chani Traube, USA

Sandeep Tripathi, USA

Yincent Tse, UK

Shinya Uchida, Japan

Gilles Vassal, France

Ron Vender, Canada

Michael Verret, Canada

Jeffrey Villanueva, USA

Benedetto Vitiello, Italy

Yukihiro Wada, Japan

Jennifer Wilkes, USA

Stefan Willmann, Germany

Lara Wine Lee, USA

Juri-Alexander Witt, Germany

Victoria C. Ziesenitz, Germany

And, of course, I am also very grateful to the members of the journal’s Honorary Editorial Board, who have acted as peer reviewers and authors, and have provided guidance on journal content, policy and processes.

Karel Allegaert, Leuven, Belgium

Marina Aloi, Rome, Italy

John Berkenbosch, Louisville, KY, USA

Frank M. C. Besag, London, UK

Stan L. Block, Bardstown, KY, USA

Andrew Bush, London, UK

Rolando Cimaz, Florence, Italy

Saskia de Wildt, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

L. Lee Dupuis, Toronto, ON, Canada

Brian Eley, Cape Town, South Africa

Susanna Esposito, Milan, Italy

Carmen Ferrajolo, Napoli, Italy

Robert L. Findling, Baltimore, MD, USA

Dominic Fitzgerald, Westmead, Australia

Jennifer E. Girotto, Hartford, CT, USA

David A. Gremse, Mobile, AL, USA

Andreas H. Groll, Münster, Germany

Scott A. Halperin, Nova Scotia, Canada

Gregory L. Holmes, Burlington, VT, USA

Daniel B. Horton, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

Gregory L. Kearns, Little Rock, AR, USA

Desiree Kunac, Dunedin, New Zealand

Nai Ming Lai, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Lynne Levitsky, Boston, MA, USA

Stuart M. MacLeod, Vancouver, Canada

Christoph Male, Vienna, Austria

Antje Neubert, Erlangen, Germany

Terry Nolan, Parkville, Australia

Michael E. Pichichero, Rochester, NY, USA

Emmanuel Roilides, Thessaloniki, Greece

Catherine M. Sherwin, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

Robert Sidbury, Seattle, WA, USA,

William M. Splinter, Ottawa, Canada

John van den Anker, Washington, DC, USA

Diana A. van Riet-Nales, Utrecht, the Netherlands

Karen D. Wagner, Galveston, TX, USA

Hervé Walti, Paris, France

Ian C. Wong, London, UK

C. Michel Zwaan, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

The editorial schedule for 2022 is well under way, and I am looking forward to bringing you many high-quality and authoritative articles in the field of pediatric drug therapy over the coming year.

I thank you for your continued support.

With best wishes,

Rod McNab