Equine Veterinary Journal: Recent and future directions.

Three years on from becoming EVJ’s Editor in Chief, it seems appropriate to reflect on recent progress and plans for the future. Throughout my tenure, I have had the great privilege to work with Professor Jim Moore. Jim has recently resigned from his position of Deputy and North American Editor of Equine Veterinary Journal so that he can focus his attention on developing new teaching initiatives and his successful on-going research programme at the University of Georgia. Jim will be sorely missed at EVJ. During his time in post, there has been a 27% increase in submissions from North America; when Jim and I took up our positions in 2010, submissions from the UK and USA were roughly equal, but the USA now has a clear lead. Jim has led EVJ’s very successful partnership with the American Association of Equine Practitioners, which resulted in the publication of a series of three supplementary issues associated with their Annual Convention in 2011 [1], 2012 [2] and 2013 [3]. Although there will not be a similar supplement in 2014, EVJ looks forward to working with the American Association of Equine Practitioners on similar projects in the future. Jim also took responsibility for restructuring EVJ’s peer-reviewer database, which was a mammoth task because when he started there were over 3000 names on file with minimal associated information, rendering the database almost nonfunctional. Jim has instituted a keyword system, which allows us to match manuscripts to individual peer-reviewer interests more effectively and, in doing so, make sure the appointment of peer reviewers can be achieved swiftly. We have set ourselves the target of being able to make a decision on original submissions within 35 days. I am delighted to report that this target has been met throughout 2013 and, indeed, in the first quarter of 2013, we were able to achieve a median of only 24 days. The reputation of a peer-reviewed journal rests firmly on the quality of its peer review, and EVJ is extremely grateful to all those who continue to work on an entirely voluntary basis to ensure that our reviews are of high quality and produced promptly. Individuals who supported EVJ in this way in 2013 are gratefully acknowledged in this issue. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the members of our Editorial Consultants Board (ECB) and our Study Design and Data Analysis (SD&DA) Board. These individuals can be found listed on every second print issue in turn. The ECB encompasses individuals with expertise and international renown in all the main disciplines that EVJ publishes. The SD&DA board is comprised of 37 individuals who have specific expertise in biostatistics, data analysis and/or epidemiology. As science becomes ever more complex, our readers rely on the journal’s peer-review process to ensure that the conclusions that we publish are based on well-designed studies with robust and appropriate data analysis. Most manuscripts submitted to EVJ are sent to at least two individuals with specific expertise in the subject under discussion and, in addition, are sent for statistical review by a member of the SD&DA team. In this way, we strive to ensure that the quality of the articles in EVJ can be relied upon. Equine Veterinary Journal has two new Associate Editors this year. Dr Rob Christley has taken on the role of Statistical Editor, working with members of the SD&DA board as described above. We also welcome Professor Debra Sellon, who has joined us as Reviews Editor. Equine Veterinary Journal’s mission is to publish and promote high-quality, peerreviewed research that expands the knowledge base about equids, informs veterinary science and improves clinical practice. While publishing original research articles can be regarded as EVJ’s bread and butter, we also see our role as more than simply publishing primary research reports. Given the vast number of publications addressing subjects of relevance to equine clinical practice, individuals cannot hope to keep abreast of all developments. State-of-the-art review articles have regularly appeared in EVJ for many years. Recently, there have been excellent review articles on the pathogenesis of laminitis [4], racehorse injury [5,6], equine proliferative enteropathy [7] and influenza, including EVJ’s first Open Access article [8]; and with Debra’s help we aim to increase the number of review articles in future. As outlined in our Author Guidelines, which are available at http:// www.wileyonlinelibrary. com/journal/evj and are included in this print issue, review articles should address important topics relevant to equine veterinary medicine and synthesise results in areas in which there have been a large number of recent publications. Potential authors are encouraged to contact Debra Sellon, via the EVJ office, to discuss possible submissions. Debra Sellon has also stepped into the role of North American editor, while Tom Stout, who has been Associate Editor with responsibility for reproduction, will take on the role of Deputy Editor in addition. Over the last 2 years, EVJ has put considerable effort into publishing editorial pieces. The underlying aim has been to create a conduit to provide clinicians with access to relevant science. In general, our editorial material falls into three main categories. First, we have invited authors to comment on issues of general interest in equine veterinary sciences and, in particular, those that we feel are important for the health and wellbeing of our equine cases. For example, in a report on the legacy on biosecurity left by the London Olympics, Professor Josh Slater, who has led biosecurity programmes both in London and in Hong Kong, documented lessons learnt [9]. The risks associated with equine obesity were highlighted by Roly Owers, writing in our first issue of 2013 [10], while Kirstein Verheyen addressed the ongoing challenge of reducing the risk of injury in racehorses [11], and a senior advisor on EVJ’s Editorial Board, Professor Bill Muir, provided insight on the assessment of quality of life in equine patients [12]. Some editorials are specifically linked to articles appearing in the same issue, with the goal of setting the research in broader context. A fascinating summary of knowledge of neonatal consciousness [13] accompanied a research study reporting a possible pathogenic mechanism for prostaglandins in neonatal maladjustment syndrome [14], while new and complex approaches, such as finite element analysis [15], require additional explanation for readers who are unfamiliar with this methodology when applied to problems in equine orthopaedics [16]. The third category of editorial material has been dubbed ‘Science in brief’. This is perhaps the clearest example of EVJ’s effort to bridge a potential gap between scientists and clinicians. Numerous meetings that are extremely relevant to clinical practice occur every year, and it is simply impossible to participate in all of them. Provision of workshop reports [17,18] and summaries of major international congresses [19,20] is a very obvious way in which EVJ can help our readers to keep up to date. Equally, a significant proportion of highly relevant research is published in the basic science journals, not least because authors and their supervisors are attracted by higher citation rates that are achieved by science journals. We have used the ‘Science in brief’ section to include short synopses of research published elsewhere that may be of interest to EVJ readers, most recently, with a pair of editorials on the pathogenesis of tendinopathy describing recent insights on the role of the central nervous system [21] and summarising the contributions of inflammatory mediators [22]. Another example of how EVJ can help to deliver the most recent clinical evidence into the hands of our readers is our new Abstracts supplements. From EVJ’s perspective, abstracts-only supplements are attractive because their abbreviated format means we can produce them rapidly to ensure that conclusions from work that is ongoing or has very recently been completed can be disseminated quickly. Our first abstracts-only supplement, produced in association with the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA)’s 2012 Congress contained 44 of the clinical research abstracts presented at the meeting [23], and a similar number were included in our 2013 supplement [24]. In 2014, all clinical research abstracts presented at BEVA Congress will be included, and we will use EVJ’s manuscript-processing facility to enhance the peer-review process for these abstracts. Instructions for authors can be found at http://www.beva. org.uk/congress/Callforabstracts. Also to be published in 2014 is our first Abstract supplement produced in association with an outside organisation. We will publish the research abstracts from the 9th International Conference on Equine Exercise Physiology this summer. bs_bs_banner