The State of the Journal: A Midyear Update (2007)

I want to provide our readership with a review of the recent changes that ease reading of the Journal, and I am hopeful that each month readers will see some changes not only in the content but also in the quality of articles in the Journal. A number of important strategic endeavors have been initiated and consolidated, and the peer review process has experienced further refinement. There are many new venues for readers that will take shape in the coming months. THE PAST 6 MONTHS: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY Production Schedule Improvements Beginning with the November 2006, the Journal improved on its production schedule and now mails approximately 2 weeks before the calendar month. This enables the readership to have access to Journal content earlier, enables the posting of the Journal Web site in a timely fashion, and eases behind-the-scenes scheduling challenges with the publisher. Podcasts We unveiled the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery podcasts in September of 20061 and now have podcasts of selected article abstracts for each issue. Since that time, more than 2200 podcasts have been downloaded from the Web site. To make them an even more valuable source of information, we are considering additional podcast themes and formats, such as podcasts within supplements and discussions of articles as well as video podcasts. Video+ Articles The first Video+ article was published in the January 2007 issue.2 These articles feature high-resolution, extended (10+ minutes) streaming videos of operative procedures. Additional Video+ articles will be published in the coming months, covering topics such as cleft lip repair and cleft lip nasal deformity, breast reconstruction, and different aspects of hand surgery. We will also initiate Video+ articles on the Baker Gordon Symposium on Cosmetic Surgery on an annual basis. We are working with our publisher’s Web team to determine the best format, and will provide this information in future Information for Authors updates. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Now an Official Organ of the Plastic Surgery Research Council In February of 2007, the Journal became an official organ of the Plastic Surgery Research Council.3 The Journal and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons welcome this long-overdue official affiliation with the Council. The Council’s annual meeting abstracts will publish with the July issue of the Journal, making available valuable research information far in advance of when it would normally see widespread distribution. We look forward to publishing the Council’s annual meeting abstracts on a yearly basis. Clinicopathological Conferences in Plastic Surgery This is a new article series that takes an actual problem or complication and dissects its causation—what went wrong, how it was corrected—in an unbiased, educational learning manner, so that we can learn from the errors that occurred. The first article in this series premiered in the April 15, 2007, issue, along with a Discussion by Joseph Serletti, an explanatory Editorial, and a Special Topic article that gives historical perspective.4 More of these articles have been solicited from selected authors and program directors of plastic surgery training programs. We anticipate that this series of articles will become very popular, especially as they begin to include videos. Internal Review Board and Declaration of Helsinki In the June editorial, I discussed the importance of authors conducting their research with approval from their own institutions’ internal review board or, for private practice surgeons, abiding by the Helsinki Declaration as they conduct clinical research. The Information for Authors now includes this information and makes clear the Journal’s stand on the importance of such ethical issues and the need to abide by the Helsinki Declaration. Refinements in the Review Process Because the Journal has a finite number of pages it can publish each year, but faces a significant increase in the number of manuscripts submitted, we have necessarily needed to become more selective in the articles that are accepted. The review panel and especially members of the Editorial Board have progressively become more discriminating with the articles that they review. As a result, the overall acceptance rate for all articles submitted is now at approximately 30 percent. The acceptance rate for original articles stands at 20 percent for the first quarter of 2007, compared with a 47 percent acceptance rate for the first quarter of 2006. We anticipate that the acceptance rate will level off at 15 percent for all original articles in the upcoming year. Although this new acceptance rate makes it challenging for authors to get their papers accepted, it correspondingly means that the Journal is publishing only the very best articles. We encourage authors to continue to send us their high-quality manuscripts; the increased competition and selectivity result in an improvement in the quality of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery articles specifically and plastic surgery literature overall. LOOKING AHEAD: NEW INITIATIVES FOR THE JOURNAL The Journal has many new and exciting plans underway that will be implemented over the following months. Some of these plans are as follows: Updated Review Section We plan to publish a listing of “Articles of Interest in Other Journals.” Editorial Board members will review a large number of medical and scientific journals, looking for articles of interest that plastic surgeons may not otherwise notice. These articles will be listed according to their section of the Journal, and the list will be published in the Review section. Supplements We anticipate that two supplements, “Nonpermanent Dermal Fillers” and “Craniofacial Trauma,” will be published in the second half of this year. Additional supplements are well underway and are in the writing and review stages. They include “Advances in Breast Safety,” “Pediatric Plastic Surgery,” and “Advances in Microsurgery.” Space-Saving Ideas for the Print Journal In the ongoing efforts to improve on page usage, we will begin to unveil a number of creative ideas to save space in the Journal. Begin to look for notices, useful submission tips, and other items of interest in the white space at the end of articles, beginning with this issue. MOCERT Update The Journal is moving ahead, in concert with the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, on making Maintenance of Certification, or MOCERT, a reality. The Journal plans to publish online-only collections of MOCERT continuing medical education articles early in 2008, with a goal of assisting plastic surgeons in obtaining their MOCERT objectives. Also, look for editorials on MOCERT items in upcoming issues. Foreign Language Translations/International Exposure As the Journal is truly the international journal of plastic surgery worldwide, the Editorial Board is investigating the translation of selected Journal articles and supplements into foreign languages. We anticipate that translated articles will be published on the online Journal, will be available as downloadable files, and will become popular with non–English-speaking plastic surgeons. We desire to increase the Journal’s distribution and accessibility to non–English-speaking plastic surgeons, and this venture into other languages represents one of the most exciting challenges we’ve undertaken. Information for Authors Updates Please continue to regularly check on updates to the Information for Authors. Note that beginning July 1, 2007, all clinical articles with clinical trials have to register their clinical trials in public databases.5 We will soon publish specific information on Clinicopathological Conferences in Plastic Surgery articles and Video+ video formats for authors. On behalf of myself and the Editorial Staff of the Journal, led by Dan, Ed, April, Aaron, and Angela, and the entire Lippincott team, I am personally grateful for all of the creative ideas and insights that you, the readers and authors of manuscripts, have provided to make the Journal better. I welcome all such ideas, and hope that the creative interplay between authors and the editorial office will continue. Many exciting things are coming. I welcome you all to enjoy what’s coming up next!