Two and One Half Years Down, Many More to Go

This issue of the Journal represents the 13th installment of what initially was a challenging and exciting task. It began much like the life of an infant with exploration, missteps, and learning the foundation of one's existence. It has now become more like a young adolescent, still learning, but beginning to mature and transform itself into adulthood. What then have we accomplished in the past 2½ years? From a logistical standpoint, there were many hurdles to overcome. These included finding the right electronic submission system (Rapid Review), manuscript flow issues, layout concerns, adequate copy-editing, and other issues, the absence of which readers and authors accept as the norm for a well-managed journal. However, they are considerable concerns in starting a new journal. Fortunately, with the help of our hardworking staff, most of these have been resolved. Of course, the editorial content of a journal is its lifeblood. Without interesting and useful content, a journal is of little use, especially one that represents its professional society. As noted in a previous communication with you, the Journal is now indexed in Medline, PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar, representing the majority of the leading scientific indexing services.1 The number of original research and case report submissions has increased considerably, as shown in Figure 1. The editorial staff and I have tried to make the timeline from submission to 1st notification as short as possible. As an author myself, I know that waiting for weeks or months for a journal to decide whether to accept a manuscript is potentially quite frustrating. Currently, the time from submission to first notification is 3.9 and 5.6 weeks for case reports and original manuscripts, respectively, averaged over the past 18 months. We are striving to improve these statistics. However, some of this delay relates to manuscripts that are submitted with incomplete documentation, such as conflict of interest documents. My goal is to have all manuscripts reviewed within 3 weeks of being available for editorial review. Figure 1 Submissions of original manuscripts and case reports to the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine by year. 2007 data extrapolated based on data from January through June 2007. Currently, the Journal publishes an eclectic mixture of “hard” clinical science, reviews and “case” type material. The latter includes our “Board Review” and “Sleep Pearl” series. These are especially designed for the sleep practitioner and may be quite useful in reviewing the upcoming American Board of Medical Specialties Certification Examination in Sleep Medicine. I would like to personally thank Drs. Sairam Parthasarathy and Richard Berry, respectively, for their roles as editors of the “Board Review” and “Sleep Pearls” section of the Journal. The Journal also publishes papers related to socioeconomic aspects of medicine, particularly sleep medicine. Hopefully, sleep medicine practitioners will find these informative in their practices. In this issue, the Journal is introducing 2 new sections which will appear intermittently as appropriate contributions are submitted. The first section is “Images in Sleep Medicine” which will publish interesting and informative pictures or charts related to our field. The second section is entitled “The Literature of Sleep.” Submissions can include reviews of lay literature with content relating to sleep or, for those of us who fancy ourselves as poets or writers, original poems or short essays. From a personal standpoint, being your editor has been a rewarding experience over the past 2½ years. For those of you who have expressed their personal appreciation to me, I thank you. However, this has been just a start. The field of Sleep Medicine is young, vibrant, and maturing. As the field develops, the Journal will be there to record the progress. Many more issues of the Journal will be forthcoming.