The Journal in 2002
2003; Wiley; Volume: 33; Issue: 1-2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1046/j.1445-5994.2003.00361.x
ISSN1445-5994
Autores Tópico(s)Health Sciences Research and Education
ResumoThe last year has been a time of consolidation for the Internal Medicine Journal following the introduction of a series of major changes over the previous 2 years. The Journal has continued to attract high-quality articles, both in original research and in medical education, reflecting the vitality of medical science and practice in Australasia. Several new series have been initiated, with some success, to broaden the readability of the Journal outside its traditional scope, including the series In the Public Eye and Outside the Square. However, the key business of the Journal remains, as it has always been, to publish high-quality medical research and review articles that are helpful to practising physicians. Medical research worldwide is currently undergoing a period of intense excitement with a great deal of outstanding work that will influence human health in the years ahead. Only a relatively small percentage of good papers find their way into the first-rank international journals, which have very high citation indexes, so it is important to have a high-quality medical journal based in the Australasian region that is prestigious enough to attract high-quality original research papers. The changes set in train in the Journal over the last few years have been designed to improve its profile and stature, with the expectation that it will be able to compete for papers that could find their way into high-quality subspecialty journals, but have a more general appeal. The single most important factor in the ongoing growth of the Journal is the submission of high-quality original research papers and it is crucial that we receive as many manuscripts as possible from the regional base of the Journal, Australasia. As more high-quality papers are submitted, it is inevitable that the bar for acceptance will slowly rise, with some personal disappointment perhaps outweighed by general satisfaction that the scientific quality of the Journal is improving. I urge all Australasian physicians and medical scientists to get behind the Journal and support it by submitting some of their high-quality work. Authors who submit to medical journals require a rapid decision with regard to their manuscript and a reasonable period of time from acceptance to publication. The Journal has introduced a number of measures to ensure, as far as possible, a rapid decision. These include: (i) manuscript-tracking methodology, (ii) routine identification of three referees at the onset of the editorial process and (iii) tighter time guidelines for receipt of referee reports. Where it is unlikely that a manuscript will be acceptable for the Journal, the responsible editor will make that decision as early as possible in the editorial process to enable the authors to submit to another journal. The average delay from acceptance to publication (of less than 6 months) is quite competitive. The Journal has a wide readership and it is necessary to ensure subspecialty representation. We attempt to apply this well-intentioned policy in each issue, but as a result this can sometimes impact on publication dates of papers. The Journal is continuing to expand the areas of subspecialty medicine it represents. Last year the title of the epidemiology editorship was changed to Public Health Medicine, to reflect the increase in scope of that area. More recently, a new editorship has been introduced − Palliative Medicine − with Susan Newton (Newcastle) as the inaugural editor. The Journal is very pleased to welcome the Australasian Chapter of Palliative Medicine to the Journal family. The pace of introduction of new series over the last year has not been as great as the preceding year, but there have been some initiatives. Perhaps the most significant has been the series of articles describing the development of the Clinical Support Systems Program, relating to clinical practice improvement, quality assurance and how best to translate medical evidence of best practice into real practice. Part I of this series has now been completed and we anticipate more papers in the future. In addition, several eminent medical scientists have agreed to share their personal view of their medical research achievements in the series Personal Stories from Eminent Physician Scientists. The first one to be published − by Fiona Stanley − appears in this issue. It is hoped that this series will play a small part in inspiring future physician scientists to similar achievements. The number of case reports published in the Journal has declined and case reports that are accepted are now published as Clinical-scientific Notes rather than as free-standing articles. The Journal encourages communications in this category. There is still a great deal to be learnt from a well-written case report and such reports are often the introduction to medical journal authorship for physicians-in-training and younger physicians. An important project in late 2002 was the creation of a public website linking the Journal and The Royal Australasian College of Physicians. This has allowed the development of a simplified online review process with pro-forma documents for communication exchanges between the referees, the subspecialty editors and the editorial office. Although not a comprehensive programme at this stage, it aims to speed up and improve links in the communication that underpins the editorial processes of the Journal. There will be a gradual evolution of more electronic technologies to support the Journal's editorial processes. The editorial boards of medical journals worldwide have become increasingly aware of ethical issues with regard to medical publishing, including the need for all authors to declare any conflicts of interest − particularly pharmaceutical company subsidy − and for clear indication of funding sources. Our journal has required this information for some time but will now make an explicit statement about conflicts of interest and funding sources for all published articles. Another issue that has generated wide discussion among medical journal editors is the appropriateness of authorship for papers. It is accepted that, in this age of increasing complexity of medical research, multi-author papers are the rule, but there is nevertheless an expectation that all authors have made a significant contribution to the paper. Declaration to this effect is now sought for all papers. The Journal's publisher, Blackwell Publishing, is to be congratulated for having provided a very good service for the Journal over the last year. The quality of the printed journal has been high and issues have been produced in a timely way. Feedback on the new format of the Journal (developed by Blackwell Publishing) has been generally very favourable. The heart of the Journal continues to be the editorial office, led by the manager, Virginia Savickis. Virginia has worked tirelessly to ensure the success of the Journal over the last year. The office has coped extremely well with the increase from six to nine issues and with the large amount of work involved in the introduction of new sections. The approachability and personal interest taken by Virginia and her team in the Journal's progress is one of the strengths of the Journal. Finally, I must acknowledge the enormous contribution made on an honorary basis by the subspecialty editors of the Journal. Each subspecialty editor puts a great deal of work into his/her own subspecialty area, and several have taken on responsibility for new sections of the Journal. One of the strengths of the Journal for many years has been the excellence of the refereeing process and the names of the many referees who have given freely of their time are acknowledged here. The next few years will be very exciting ones for the Internal Medicine Journal as it continues to evolve from a strong regional publication into a significant international medical journal. M. Adams S. Adelstein J.W.M. Agar F. Alford R.L. Ali A.M. Allworth T. Anderson P.W. Angus N.G. Ardlie J.G. Armstrong C.N. Aroney G. Baker R. Baker D. Ball K. Bannister P. Bardin G.D. Barr P.J. Barter P. Bartley J. Bashford R. Basser R.G. Batey G.F. Beadle M.H. Beaman E.J. Begg J.F. Beltrame E.M. Benson W. Beswick N. Bett I.W. Black J.L. Black T.K. Blackmore C. Bladin J. Bleasel F. Bochner T. Bolin C. Boothroyd J. Bowden A. Bowers S.C. Boyages R. Bradbury K.F. Bradstock P. Brady G. Braun P. Bridgman D.B. Brieger D. Bruce J. Burdon R. Burns M. Byrne J.B. Cailes D.P. Cameron D.J. Campbell S. Campbell P. Cannell S. Carney J.N. Carter D.S. Celermajer B.R. Chambers S.T. Chambers A.J. Charlesworth S.C.A. Chen G. Chew D.J. Chisholm B.H. Chong S. Chunilal P.A. Cistulli R.M. Clarnette P.R. Clingan C. Colledge B. Collins P. Colman M. Colosimo M. Conron J.L. Cook P.D. Cook C. Coulter J. Craig H. Creasey B. Crotty I.G. Crozier S. Curran B.J. Currie M.C. D? Emden J. Danesh P. Darzins D. Davies S.M. Davis R. Day B.H. Demediuk R. Denniss T. Diamond A.J. Dodds S.A. Doggrell R. Doughty J. Douglas D. Drummond V. Duncombe M. Dunne M. Duraisingh B. Dwyer J.A. Eisman C.J. Ellis H. Englert E.A. Espiner G.C. Farrell D. Fatkin J. Fawcett M.P. Feneley M. Field F.C. Firkin M. Fitzgerald S. Fleming T. Florin M. Flynn T. Foltynie D. Fonda N. Ford M. Fraenkel I. Frazer J. French E. Gabbay J. Gallo A.S. Gallus R. Garsia P.A. Gatenby P.C. Gates J.G. Gerrard R. Gerraty W. Gibbon H. Gibbs P. Glasziou C. Glatthaar G.D. Gordon T. Gottlieb N. Graves D. Green H. Greville A.P. Grigg L.E. Grigg D.J. Grimes M. Grimm K. Grimwood K. Gristensen J.J. Grygiel P.S. Haber B. Hall G. Halliday A. Hamer D. Harley H.A.J. Harley D. Harris D. Hart C.M. Hawley N. Hayman R. Hays C.H. Heath D. Heaven J. Hecker M.A. Hely D. Henry D. Hillman P. Hoffman R.L. Hogan I.M. Holdaway P. Holmes P. Horby E. Hunter H. Ikram G.P. Jeffrey R.W. Jeremy D. Johnson A. Jones C. Jones D. Joske J. Kalman P. H. Katelaris D.M. Kaye A. Keech D. Keefe M. Kelly P. Kennedy S. Kent A.M. Keogh J. Kolbe M. Korman P. Kovoor H. Krum P. Lamberth S.D.R. Lang G. Larcos N. Lautenschlager D. Le Couteur K. Leeder S. Leeder P. Leedman N. Lever D.C. Lo Giudice P.K. Loh D. Macfarlane A. MacIsaac F. MacRae T.J.B. Maling J. Mann R. Marks P.V. Marlton T. Marwick R.S. Mason B. McCall I. Melton J. Millar B. Miller G.D. Mills G. Moore A. Morris J.G. Morris S.C. Morrison M. Morton R. Moulds B.F. Murphy A.W. Musk R. Neale M.G. Nicholls I. Norton R.C. O? Brien J.G. O? Driscoll P. Oakley P. Ockleford J. Ormiston R. Padbury P. Pavli A. Perignon M. Peters K-A Phillips S. Phillips R.W. Pickles R.C. Pirola A. Pitman E.G. Playford C.A. Pollock A-L Ponsonby R.L. Prentice M. Prince P.T. Pullan B.A. Pussell I.S. Ratnaike H. Reddel I.R. Reid M. Richards D. Rischin C. Roberston A. Roberts M.S. Roberts S. Roberts I. Roberts-Thomson J. Robson D. Rosen R.E. Ruffin G. Russ P. Ruygrok H.H.H. Salem R. Sanson-Fisher J. Santamaria J. Saunders G.M.A. Scalia R. Scicchitano A. Scott H. Scott R.S. Scott E. Seal W.S. Selby D.N. Sharpe D.R. Shaw G. Shenfield L. Simons C. Smith T. Smith B.R. Speed D.W. Spelman J. Spies R. Stafford R. Stell R. Stewart J. Stirling R. Stirling J. Stokes K.A. Stuart A. Sturgess W. Sutherland N. Talley R. Tello S.P. Thomas P.D. Thompson N.M. Thomson M. Tilse L. Toop D. Topliss A. Torda A. Tuckfield J. Turnidge G. Varigos R.G. Walker H. Walters M. Webster R.G. Weintraub M. Weltman A. Whelan G. Whelan M. Whitby C. White J.L. Wilkinson D.B. Williams S. Williams T.J. Williams D.J. Williamson M. Wilsher N. Wilson A. Wodak M. Wolf C.K. Wong E. Wood A. Woodhouse M. Woods B.S. Workman S. Wright G. Young Z. Ziegler M. Zimmermann
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