The Quiet Professionals of Advances (2002)

The term quiet professionals is used to describe a person or group of persons who accomplish great things in relative obscurity. This term appropriately describes the highly competent behind-the-scenes work accomplished by the journal's "two Susans"-Susan Doan-Johnson and Susan Perry Weng (or, as I sometimes say to one when I am referring to the other, "Let me talk to the smart Susan."). As they prepare and shepherd 6 editions a year of Advances in Skin & Wound Care, they are responsible for managing the editorial board; maintaining a confidential and fair peer review process; coordinating topics for departments with Cathy Thomas Hess, BSN, RN, CWOCN, the journal's outstanding clinical consultant; commissioning manuscripts; and editing every word that appears in this publication. They have also been instrumental in ratcheting up the quality and style of the journal by raising the threshold for what is an acceptable manuscript ensuring that only the best of the best appear in the journal. Sometimes, though, I think their biggest job is keeping me on schedule. In this issue, therefore, I want to use the editorial space to thank both of the smart Susans for the hard work they do and to introduce them and their important contributions to readers who may not be aware of the talent behind the journal. Susan Doan-Johnson A summa cum laude graduate of Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey), Susan Doan-Johnson was hired as a part-time writer by The Times, one of the local newspapers in Trenton, NJ, while she was a freshman in college. She worked her way up to a part-time copyediting position over the next 3 1/2 years, and, when she graduated, she was hired as a full-time copy editor. In 1986, Susan left the newspaper to work in public relations at Mercer Medical Center in Trenton, NJ, but a year later, she returned to journalism when she accepted a position as an associate editor for Nursing87, a publication of Springhouse Corporation. She has held numerous positions at the company, now part of Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, over the past 14 years, and she is currently the editorial director of Advances in Skin & Wound Care. In addition, she is editorial director of the journal's official Web site, woundcarenet.com, and she is an active member of the planning panel for the Clinical Symposium on Advances in Skin & Wound Care. Susan is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi national honor society and one of the newest members of the board of directors of the American Professional Wound Care Association. Susan Perry Weng Susan Perry Weng graduated from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, with a bachelor's degree in English and journalism. Following graduation, she worked as an editorial assistant at Risk Management Magazine, a New York-based monthly trade magazine for the insurance industry. She joined J.B. Lippincott (now Lippincott Williams & Wilkins) in 1990 as an assistant editor of nursing books. Three years later, Susan left J.B. Lippincott to work at the American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine (ACP-ASIM) in Philadelphia, PA. For the association's journal, Annals of Internal Medicine, she helped manage the manuscript-tracking process from submission to acceptance. Susan moved to ACP-ASIM's newly created Research Center 3 years later to work as a research coordinator. She was responsible for researching current health care trends and writing synopses of the findings to be used in strategic planning. In 1999, Susan accepted a position as associate editor of Advances in Skin & Wound Care. She manages the peer-review process for all manuscripts submitted; edits all feature and department copy for the journal; generates copy for a biweekly, Web-based news column called Breaking News; and coordinates the journal's E-alert E-mail news service. In addition, she manages the day-to-day operation of the journal's Web site. So there you have it. I suppose I have only begun to scratch the surface of the recognition these outstanding journalists-our quiet professionals-deserve. They may work behind the scenes to ensure that the journal you read is the highest quality it can be, but their efforts resonate throughout Advances in Skin & Wound Care. Whether it be quality control, revising manuscripts, coming up with on-line innovations, or even making sure that I do not get lost in the shuffle, these colleagues are quite essential to the success of our journal. And if you don't believe me, you can just ask the smart Susan.