Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Staying Put, But Not Standing Still

2011; Elsevier BV; Volume: 59; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1053/j.ajkd.2011.11.004

1523-6838

Andrew S. Levey, Daniel E. Weiner,

Renal and Vascular Pathologies

Five years ago, the American Journal of Kidney Diseases moved its editorial offices to Boston, beginning a new period for the journal. This was an exciting time for us: a time of new challenges and new opportunities, a time of ideas, a time of boundless enthusiasm. We had inherited a professional and respected journal after 5 years of expert management by Dr Bertram Kasiske and his team in Minneapolis, and we saw opportunities to continue their mission to expand the reach and improve the quality of AJKD. By many measures, we have been successful, implementing many new features, strengthening editorial policies, and along the way, we have imprinted the journal with a bit of ourselves. Now, on January 1, 2012, as we embark on a new term, we intend to retain the principles that have guided us during the past 5 years, specifically excellence and innovation. The lessons we have learned will help us enormously. We are a more experienced team, more comfortable with the day-to-day operations of a clinical journal. We have gained insight into the importance and difficulty of ensuring and improving article quality. We have learned that speed is important, but validity is paramount. We discovered that impact factor is a frustrating metric; while it is something that we cautiously watch, we accept that our commitment to less-frequently cited items, such as educational features, may adversely affect our ranking. The challenges we face are greater now. Multimedia is ubiquitous, and doctors and medical researchers are becoming more e-sophisticated, forcing print journals to adapt. The funding environment for medical research has tightened, creating a far more pressurized environment for the researchers and clinicians who are major contributors to both the content of and the editorial process for AJKD. There is more competition, both from new journals and non–peer reviewed publications. None of these new challenges affect our mission or the mission of the peer-reviewed scientific forum. Specifically, as the heralds of change in medicine, medical journals have an obligation both to disseminate advances in knowledge as well as to promote the current state of practice to the medical community. Our first and primary goal remains the responsible, professional, and expedient delivery of knowledge from researchers and practitioners to the wider community of nephrology and medicine. Managing a medical journal is a position of trust—clinicians, researchers, and patients trust that we have maintained ethical standards and good judgment in selecting the very best research and the most compelling content. We will strive to continue to meet and to exceed this challenge, providing you with the best and most relevant information about clinical practice, clinical research, and public health in an understandable and clinically useful format. Our second goal is to continue to improve the quality and the clinical relevance of AJKD. We aspire to meet the needs of clinical researchers and clinicians by presenting both groundbreaking original research as well as a number of features that encompass key clinical and socioeconomic issues in nephrology, both in the United States and worldwide. Our boldest initiative was the introduction of statistical review for original research articles, recognizing that the only way to ensure quality was to assess validity. We also focused more on standards for reporting, reasoning that understanding research results requires transparency.1Uhlig K. Menon V. Schmid C.H. Recommendations for reporting of clinical research studies.Am J Kidney Dis. 2007; 49: 3-7Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (15) Google Scholar These decisions have a cost, slowing down the editorial process by a week on average and requesting more of authors. However, we feel that the benefit of this policy has been priceless, providing both the editors and the readers with the confidence that content in AJKD will be accurate and reliable. We have also broadened the scope of original research content by introducing the “Quality Improvement Report” subcategory2Uhlig K. Levey A.S. Improving practice: reporting quality improvement activities.Am J Kidney Dis. 2007; 50: 5-7Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (4) Google Scholar of Original Investigations as well as Research Letters.3Nolin T.D. Weiner D.E. A new forum for brief research reports in AJKD.Am J Kidney Dis. 2010; 55: 975-976Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar We have retained our popular Case Reports, reflecting the longstanding tradition in medicine of learning from our individual patients. We are pleased to see a steady stream of manuscripts using familiar methods, such as clinical trials and observational studies, as well as manuscripts utilizing newer methods, including cost-effectiveness and cost-utility studies, quality improvement, and qualitative research. During our first 5 years, we implemented many new educational features, which we feel have resulted in a better journal. In the Literature provides expert commentaries on research published elsewhere that impacts the nephrology community; In Practice guides clinicians in approaching topics relevant to nephrologists; In Translation presages hot topics to come; teaching cases now cover acid-base and electrolyte disturbances and imaging in addition to kidney pathology; World Kidney Forum explores socioeconomic, geopolitical, ethical, and historical issues related to kidney disease; In a Few Words gives voice to the personal experiences of members of the nephrology community. Together with editorials that explain the context and significance of selected AJKD articles, Narrative Reviews, and the popular Core Curriculum and Quiz Page article types, these features constitute a varied portfolio of educational features each month found in no other nephrology journal. In addition, we have increased our emphasis on public policies that shape medical practice, highlighting the growing awareness of acute and chronic kidney disease as public health problems. Whether this content arises from within US borders, such as the US Renal Data System Atlas,4US Renal Data SystemUSRDS 2011 Annual Data Report: Atlas of Chronic Kidney Disease and End-Stage Renal Disease in the United States.Am J Kidney Dis. 2012; 59 (1): e1-e420PubMed Google Scholar stakeholder commentaries on epoetin reimbursement,5Weiner D.E. Watnick S.G. The 2009 proposed rule for prospective ESRD payment: historical perspectives and public policies—bundle up!.Am J Kidney Dis. 2010; 55: 975-976Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1) Google Scholar and, more recently, bundled payments,6Weiner D.E. The 2011 ESRD prospective payment system: welcome to the bundle.Am J Kidney Dis. 2011; 57: 539-541Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (8) Google Scholar and our new series of DOPPS Practice Monitor Updates, or from without, as was the case with commentaries from the Canadian Society of Nephrology on recent clinical guidelines,7Mann B.J. Hodsman A. Zimmerman D.L. et al.Canadian Society of Nephrology commentary on the 2009 KDIGO clinical practice guideline for the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of CKD–mineral and bone disorder (CKD-MBD).Am J Kidney Dis. 2010; 55: 800-812Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (36) Google Scholar, 8Knoll G.A. Blydt-Hansen T.D. Campbell P. et al.Canadian Society of Transplantation and Canadian Society of Nephrology commentary on the 2009 KDIGO clinical practice guideline for the care of kidney transplant recipients.Am J Kidney Dis. 2010; 56: 219-246Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (38) Google Scholar we will continue to explore the effects of policy on practice. Our third goal is to make better use of the ever changing world of communication and rapid information exchange. Information technology is changing far faster than medicine, and we need to adapt to these changes rather than remain static. We hope that success in this field will not only expand our impact close to home, but will also broaden the appeal of AJKD to the international audience. In April of 2010, we gave the journal a social media presence with the launch of the AJKD facebook page. In November of this past year, we unveiled eAJKD (www.AJKDblog.org), led by Kenar Jhaveri, MD, which explores both AJKD content as well as other news and events that affect nephrologists using blog posts, rapid commentary, social media, and other interactive features. By most measures, we have been successful. The journal's reach has vastly expanded by launching AJKD on the highly regarded ScienceDirect platform, enabling institutional users convenient, click-through access to journal content. In the most recent data available form the publisher's ongoing surveys of AJKD authors, 92%, 99%, and 93%, respectively, felt that the journal is well managed, the editors are responsive and helpful, and the acceptance conditions for their paper were clear. We have become increasingly selective, publishing only 17% of the original research articles we receive. Our impact factor has steadily risen, from 4.072 in 2006 to 5.242 in 2010. We have diversified our formats and content. In an era of decreased revenues and increasing competition, we continue to be the leading clinical journal in nephrology. Embarking on a second term, we intend to confront the challenges of the next 5 years by relying on our proven strengths. We have retained our entire editorial team, including an experienced and dedicated editorial office staff. We have modestly expanded our Editorial Board, increasing international representation. Most importantly, we retain the enthusiasm and energy that have served us well during the past 5 years. We would like to thank the National Kidney Foundation for entrusting us with this responsibility; we will strive to meet their expectations and the expectations of the wider nephrology community. There is considerable strength in stability, and this is a model that has served the leading medical journals extremely well. However, there is danger in complacency as well, and we will continue new endeavors. Although we are proud of our accomplishments to date, we are also humbled by what remains undone. In writing this editorial, we reviewed what we had written 5 years ago,9Levey A.S. Weiner D.E. New Editorial TeamThe challenges of the next 5 years.Am J Kidney Dis. 2007; 49: 1-2Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar at the start of our first term. There are many things that we did not accomplish, and even more things that we did not even anticipate that we would need to accomplish. We have realized that, in order to achieve the goals we have laid out, we will need assistance and guidance. We have charged our Editorial Board with monitoring our performance and pointing out where we can further improve and grow. But we would also like to request that you, the readers of AJKD, let us know how we are doing and what you would like to see. Accordingly, we would be pleased to receive any suggestions for improvements to the journal at [email protected] We have intentionally kept the bar set high, but we feel we are up to meeting these challenges. We hope that you will be pleased with the results. Drs Levey and Weiner serve as Editor-in-Chief and Deputy Editor of AJKD, respectively. Financial Disclosure: Drs Levey and Weiner receive support from the National Kidney Foundation in furtherance of their editorial duties.