WHEN I took over the editorship of the Journal in May 2004, a number of outstanding manuscripts held over from the previous editor were in various stages of processing. Most have been dealt with but some are still awaiting peer reviewing. Up to 18 October total of 112 new manuscripts had been received. Most have been sent to peer reviewers and some have been fully processed within this period. A total of nine manuscripts were accepted for publication, 11 have been asked to resubmit and 15 were rejected. This issue includes an Editorial, a Commentary on brachial plexus injury in Scotland, 10 original articles, five case reports and the Abstracts of the Society of Experimental Medicine.
I am very grateful to the large number of specialists who have peer reviewed articles for me. I am reintroducing an old tradition by thanking them individually in this issue.
The Editorial Committee functions as a support for the Editor. It now comprises 14 people who have agreed to help me run the journal. The plan is for each member of the Committee to receive manuscripts according to their special interest. They will send these manuscripts on for peer reviewing by two people and will feed this information back to me along with their comments. I will make the final decision about acceptance, rejection or revision of the manuscript. I would like to thank the now retired Professor Kenneth McColl for his contributions to the Scottish Medical Journal.
I would like to introduce a more Scottish flavour to the cover of the Scottish Medical Journal in order to make it stand out and compete with other current journals. At the most recent meeting of the Board of Management, an agreement was reached to introduce a colour cover in 2005. Financial support is being sought for this new venture. I hope you will find the design both attractive and eye- catching.
Robert Carachi
Editor November 2004
Scottish Medical Journal –Reviewers from 2004
Reviewers since May 2004
Dr J Anderson Dr L Macara Dr KP Hanretty Dr A Bathgate Dr J Dillon
Dr T Walsh Dr G Leese Dr C Geddes Dr R Fox Dr C Tate
Dr M Booth Dr R Reid Dr S Morris Dr A Smith Mr J Richards
Prof K McColl Dr A MacKenzie Prof B Drumm Dr J Currie Dr S Potts
Mr WO Thomson Prof M Brodie Dr PR Mills Dr I Ramage Dr Baker
Dr J Potter Dr R Lindsay Dr D Nicholl Dr D Grosset Mr F Munro
Mr N Doraiswamy Dr M Livingstone Dr J Beattie Dr B Williams Prof J Morrison
Dr R McKee Dr T Brown Prof G Kenny Dr N. Morton Prof WD George
Dr G Irwin Dr P Galea Dr M Scott Mr D Sherlock Dr H Minnis
Mr J Ferguson Prof R Lorrimer Dr T Lavy Dr R Lever Prof I Greer
Dr R McKee Dr P Galloway Dr J Currie Dr J Brennand Mr J Ferguson
Prof D Hadley Prof S Hillis Dr G Fletcher Dr A Mackay Dr Ross Carter
Dr J Gemmell Prof DG Young Dr D Watt Mr H Kubba Dr S Whyte
Dr K Hassan Dr J Tolmie Dr C Stark Mrs S Aitkenhead Mr I Anderson
Mr F Crossan Mr A Smith Mr J Richards Miss J Brown Dr C Santosh
Dr M Donaldson Dr D Brennan Dr L McAlpine Dr J Gravil Dr T Walsh