Editorial.

This 1984 editorial looks back at the first 17 years of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.

The editor describes how the journal grew and thanks authors, reviewers, and readers.

No new data are given; the piece is a short mission check-in.

The editor reports steady growth in submissions and praise for the journal’s practical focus.

The tone is upbeat: the field is moving and the journal is keeping pace.

Iwata (1993) updates the same theme nine years later. That editorial says the review process itself trains writers, turning every manuscript cycle into free CE.

Gold (1993) extends the idea further. It urges applied readers to mine basic JEAB studies for usable tactics, bridging the two journals.

Cengher et al. (2024) brings the thread into today. Their primer teaches reviewers how to give kind, rigorous feedback, showing the culture first praised in 1984 is now teachable content.

Together these four pieces trace a 40-year arc: from celebration of growth, to viewing review as education, to explicit reviewer training.

The chain shows JABA’s culture was never an accident—it was built by intentional, friendly review. When you write or review today, you keep that custom alive. Model the same clear, helpful tone and the field keeps growing.