The Journal of Headache and Pain turns 25 this year, with the occasion I would like to express all my gratitude to the many readers, and authors, and all those who have collectively provided an opportunity for our scientific community during this long journey to nurture the fire of evidence verification in the forge of the Journal, for the benefit and advantage of headache patients.

Enumerating the long list of Editors who have succeeded one another over a quarter of a century is a daunting task, but I feel compelled to mention the first who then accepted my humble proposal to join this very perilous adventure, Michael Arthur Moskowitz. His musing star was already high in the sky, but he had no hesitation in accepting my invitation, his proverbial open-mindedness reinforcing the necessary courage not to be afraid of some of the reactions of a scientific community that was at that time not at all inclusive. 

The list of scientists who, as Editors, then wished to entrust The Journal of Headache and Pain with their soul includes, but is not exhaustive and others will forgive me, Lars Edvinsson, Lars Jacob Stovner, Rigmor Højland Jensen, Shengyuan Yu in the early days, Cenk Ayata, Antoinette Maassen van den Brink, Uwe Reuter, Messoud Ashina, Simona Sacco, Shuu-Jiun Wang, Anne Ducros later, and most recently Michel Lanteri-Minet, Rashid Giniatullin, Matilde Leonardi, Gianluca Coppola, Shih-Pin Chen, Tissa Vijeratne, Yonggang Wang, Tobias Kurth, Gregory Dussor, Kristian Agmund Haanes, and many, many others.

I would like to thank the representatives of the Scientific Societies whose political decisions have reinforced the mutual exchanges with the Journal, from the European Headache Federation, ever since the first agreement signed under the presidency of Miguel José Láinez, through the process of cultural independence co-managed with Dimos Dimitrios Mitsikostas, the management return to Europe with Christian Lampl, to the tireless activity of the charity Lifting the Burden, where I had the honour of sharing the founding process with Timothy Joseph Steiner, its cultural driving force.

A collective thanks to all the Editorial Boards members past and present, with a due special mention for the Junior Editorial Board and the young new talents of the School of Advanced Studies, always capable of transforming a simple input into a product of great quality, as certified by the citations, the immanent verb of scientific life.

The institutional relationships hosted by The Journal of Headache and Pain have been innumerable, and I must mention the Aids for Management of Common Headache Disorders for Primary Care produced under the auspices of the World Health Organization, and the ongoing co-promotion of pharmacovigilance with the European Medicine Agency.

Finally, quite recently the path of support for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals has found a loyal supporter in the Journal. No disease with global impact can be cared for and nurtured with fruits available only to the few and not for the many who would need it. In this social paradigm, the theme of accessibility of our Journal is entirely relevant.

Modern science has always shared its discoveries through scientific journals, which are the pillars of all scientific disciplines. The products they publish are discussed at congresses, new drugs are proposed, and the evidence generated create solid ground for debate. Medical education constantly refers to them. We must all regard them as the true cornerstones of science and as such their role must be respected, their comparison encouraged.

However, as always in every celebration there is the risk of not devoting enough space to the structure that has enabled success, the publisher Springer Nature in this case.

Ça va sans dire that without the mighty, articulate, vigilant, and proactive structure of Springer Nature the seed would not have sprouted to become a strong tree bearing scientific fruits.

To say that I am excited about this achievement today is true.

There are times in life when it is indispensable to be visionary, at the risk of being considered a little crazy, trying to imagine what is around the corner to anticipate trends or create new ones through innovative ideas, taking risks, and intercepting the cultural needs of a community. Then there are times when it is necessary to consolidate the path we have all travelled together, verifying the results in order to savour the joy.

This is happening exactly now.

Let us all celebrate it together as we now know that we have given an extra voice to our scientific community, having believed in the pluralism of scientific information and the inclusiveness that underlies it, and having committed a part of our cultural life to a just cause.

My heartfelt thanks you all.

Paolo Martelletti

Editor in Chief (Founding)

The Journal of Headache and Pain

2000-2024

Rome, 22 February 2024