SMJ 2005 50(2): 53
I am happy to report that manuscripts are coming in at an unprecedented rate and I am grateful to all the specialist reviewers for their comments and judgements. All articles are being reviewed within a timescale of one to two months, all are being reviewed by two experts and occasionally three where conflict arises. As a consequence, within a two month period the main author of the manuscript should be getting feedback about the acceptance or rejection of the article and information on whether alterations are necessary before it is resubmitted.
Looking to the future
In an attempt to improve the quality of the journal I am commissioning articles from internationally renowned specialists who will write current review articles on their speciality for everyone to read. I regret to inform ardent fans of the case reports that in future, due to limited space in the Journal, we will only publish a list of case reports that have been accepted. However, full text and illustrations of all case reports will be placed on the Journal website. In exceptional circumstances, such as an unusual case report providing an important lesson, I may decide to publish in full.
I recommend that authors submitting original articles limit their word count to 2,500 words and abstracts to 200 words at the most. Full guidance notes on article submission are given on the inside front cover of every issue of the Journal. Where relevant I would welcome some articles with colour images, e.g. histopathology sections showing staining or skin lesions where a colour picture would certainly be of importance in illustrating the lesion. We have now facilities to print a few pages in each issue in colour.
In an attempt to encourage medical students and junior doctors to read the Scottish Medical Journal, we will be publishing a few articles with a strong educational flavour and this group of readers will also be encouraged to submit manuscripts. I am certain that individuals who have done an intercalated degree at University or have carried out an audit at a hospital would be keen to see their work in print. Naturally these would be peer-reviewed in a similar fashion to other original articles and case reports. We hope eventually to be able to introduce a prize for manuscripts submitted by junior doctors, but more about this at a later stage.
We currently print 3600 copies of each issue of the journal. Of this number, about half are sent out to Scottish-based Members and Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. Discussions have taken place with the College about the possibility of expanding this readership to the whole of the UK - which would effectively double our circulation in one sweep. In order for this to happen, the College is presently advertising the post of Sub-Editor on Education. This person would be responsible to the Editor for educational aspects in the Journal. The content and design of this section of the journal is still to be decided. Please search the College website (www.rcpsglasg.ac.uk) for this information if you are interested and feel you could contribute in this way. We have also appointed a new Sub-Editor on historical matters - Mr David Hamilton. Once in post, he will host a regular feature in the Scottish Medical Journal and will be asking for manuscripts of an historical nature to be sent to us. The website of the Journal (www.smj.org.uk) is up to date with articles that have been published. It continues to function as an important link and advertises the Journal worldwide.
The impact factor for the Journal is currently 0.315 (2003 figure) and as it is a small circulation Journal it is at present only reviewed for impact factor once a year. I feel this is totally inadequate and undersells the Journal and I am making the appropriate moves to have the Journal reviewed more regularly now that our manuscript rate has increased both in quality and quantity.
And looking to the past
We are trying to identify key papers that have been published in the Scottish Medical Journal over the years which have significantly changed the face of medicine. Could people who know about these articles please contact me with details so that we can include them in a 'Jubilee Issue' next year, 2006. Finally, I would like to recommend that all readers send original articles for consideration to try and keep the Journal in the front line of publishing.
Robert Carachi