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This remarkable and unique reference is a comprehensive listing and review of internationally peer-reviewed suicide research compiled by the prestigious Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (AISRAP) since 2009.

This latest volume covers research from May 2014 – October 2014. It is an essential and accessible focused reference designed to keep Australian governments, NGOs, health workers and scholars constantly updated on new evidence from the scientific community in the field of suicidology.

Designed for non-specialists at the professional level it provides  a list of catalogued references; reproductions of key abstracts; and comments on the research by experts in the field on the implementation of the studies’ findings in the Australian context.

A separate section reports all items retrievable from major electronic databases, catalogued on the basis of their prevailing reference to fatal and non-fatal suicidal behaviours, with various sub-headings such as epidemiology, risk factors, and prevention.

About the Author

The Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (AISRAP) is a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention and an Australian National Centre of Excellence in Suicide Prevention. AISRAP is committed to the creation of a databank of the recent scientific literature documenting the nature and extent of suicidal and self-harming behavior and recommended practices in preventing and responding to these behaviors. In doing so, it is committed to user-friendly language, in order to render research outcomes and their interpretation accessible also to a non-expert audience.

About the Editors

Edited by A. Sheils, J. Ashmore, K. Kõlves, D. De Leo

Reviews

Foreword
This volume contains quotations from internationally peer-reviewed suicide research published during the semester May 2014 - October 2014; it is the twelfth of a series produced biannually by our Institute with the aim of assisting the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing in being constantly updated on new evidences from the scientific community. Compared to previous volumes, an increased number of examined materials have to be referred. In fact, during the current semester, the number of articles scrutinised has been the highest yet, with a progression that testifies a remarkably growing interest from scholars for the field of suicide research
As usual, the initial section of the volume collects a number of publications that could have particular relevance for the Australian people in terms of potential applicability. These publications are accompanied by a short comment from us, and an explanation of the motives that justify why we have considered of interest the implementation of studies' findings in the Australian context. An introductory part provides the rationale and the methodology followed in the identification of papers.
The central part of the volume represents a selection of research articles of particular significance; their abstracts are reported in extenso, underlining our invitation at reading those papers in full text: they represent a remarkable advancement of suicide research knowledge.
The last section reports all items retrievable from major electronic databases. We have catalogued them on the basis of their prevailing reference to fatal and non-fatal suicidal behaviours, with various sub-headings (e.g. epidemiology, risk factors, etc). The deriving list guarantees a level of completeness superior to any individual system; it can constitute a useful tool for all those interested in a quick update of what most recently published on the topic.
Our intent was to make suicide research more approachable to non-specialists, and in the meantime provide an opportunity for a vademecum of quotations credible also at the professional level. A compilation such as the one that we provide here is not easily obtainable from usual sources and can save a considerable amount of time to readers. We believe that our effort in this direction may be an appropriate interpretation of one of the technical support roles to the Government that the new status of National Centre of Excellence in Suicide Prevention - which has deeply honoured our commitment - entails for us.
The significant growth of our centre, the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, and its influential function, both nationally and internationally, in the fight against suicide, could not happen without the constant support of Queensland Health and Griffith University. We hope that our passionate dedication to the cause of suicide prevention may compensate their continuing trust in our work.

Diego De Leo, DSc