Growth

It is with mixed feelings that I write my last editorial for this journal. It is hard to believe that I joined its editorial team 12 years ago, first as Associate Editor and later, in 2015, as co-Editor. After serving as co-Editor with Christian Gold for a few years (and learning a lot from him!), I continued as Editor-in-Chief when he stepped down. During the past years, I was fortunate to work alongside a fantastic team of Associate Editors, Assistant Editors, and Managing Editor, and a great team at Taylor & Francis. Through their hard work, the journal has continued to grow rapidly. For example, comparing 2015 statistics with statistics provided in the latest Publishing Report by Taylor & Francis, it is noteworthy that the number of new manuscript submissions more than doubled (from 38 to 88), the number of article downloads more than tripled (from 47K to 170K), and the journal’s impact factor nearly doubled (from 0.958 to 1.80). There has also been a modest growth in the number of countries we received manuscripts from, namely from 21 countries in 2015 to 26 countries in 2021. Whereas in 2015 most manuscripts originated from the United States (n = 6), Australia (n = 4), Germany (n = 3), Norway (n = 3), and the UK (n = 3), in 2021 most manuscripts originated from the United States (n = 14), China (n = 6), Spain (n = 6), Türkiye (n = 6), Brazil (n = 5), and Ireland (n = 5), representing greater geographical diversity. The journal’s growth is also reflected in the expansion of our Editorial team with two Associate Editors specially tasked with statistical review of manuscripts, one Associate Editor for book reviews, and one Associate Editor of Communications. It is with satisfaction and pride that I reflect on this growth and with excitement that I look forward to the journal’s continued development and growth under the excellent leadership of Grace Thompson as Editor-in-Chief. I must admit that I am excited at the prospect of freeing up a significant amount of time for other scholarly endeavors, but, at the same time, will certainly miss working with this amazing editorial team and connecting with international music therapy scholars and clinicians through their manuscript submissions. As I draw the curtain, it is my pleasure to introduce the articles included in this issue. The first two articles focus on user experiences of music therapy in mental healthcare. Tuastad, Johansen, Østerholt, Nielsen and McIvor (pp. xx) present findings from a qualitative study with adult participants in a music therapy project in the field of mental health aftercare in Norway. Using User Interviewing User, a method for evaluation of health services that actively involves service users throughout the research process, they explored how stigmatization was experienced by participants in the music therapy project. Participants in this study recommended to reduce the emphasis on mental illness in the way activities in the music therapy project are described or advertised and, instead, attach more importance to the actual music making. The authors pose thought-provoking questions about how, as music therapy NORDIC JOURNAL OF MUSIC THERAPY 2023, VOL. 32, NO. 2, 97–99 https://doi.org/10.1080/08098131.2023.2175984