Over the last few months, many changes have occurred in your
Journal, with the addition of such new features as The Orthopaedic
Forum, Ethics in Practice, and Evidence-Based Orthopaedics as well
as electronic enhancements through our collaborative efforts with
the Video Journal of Orthopaedics. All of these
changes have been made to increase The Journal's usefulness
to all orthopaedic surgeons, regardless of their specialty interest.
This first issue of 2001 has a new style of presentation that we
hope will enhance your ability to read, use, and enjoy the material
presented in The Journal.
While many changes have occurred and are occurring in The
Journal, the long-standing tradition of delivering high-quality
peer-reviewed information, established by my predecessors and professionally
conducted by our outstanding corps of Deputy and Associate Editors
and reviewers, continues unchanged. Adherence to those high standards
is well encapsulated in the slogan "Excellence Through Peer Review," an
important and meaningful expression of The Journal's ongoing
policy and philosophy, which will never change or be compromised.
This is an era of rapid change in the publishing field. The advent
of the electronic era has radically altered the way in which we
transmit and receive all types of information, including medical
information. Through our new web site, slated to be fully operational
by February, The Journal is prepared to be a ready
access point for orthopaedic information. We plan to develop this
web site in a way that will be user-friendly and supportive of the
educational initiatives of our two founding organizations, the American
Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American Orthopaedic Association.
As part of The Journal's continuing effort to serve you better,
there will be a number of upcoming improvements:
· With this edition, we commence the monthly specialty update
entitled "What's New in . . ." Working through the Council of Musculoskeletal
Specialty Societies of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons,
we will present, each month, a thorough summary of the state-of-the-art
thinking in a selected orthopaedic specialty. Over the course of
the year, each of the twelve major specialties in orthopaedics will
be updated, so that the general orthopaedist can keep in touch with
the rapidly developing advances in these areas.
· This month, we are introducing summary pages, which present
brief capsules of each month's scientific articles to provide an
introduction to the information being presented in those articles.
· This year, we will begin to provide Continuing Medical Education
(CME) credit on a quarterly basis for routine reading of The
Journal. We will be working through the sponsorship of
the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons to provide up to fifty
hours per year of American Medical Association category-I CME credit
for Journal reading. A written test, to be completed and returned
to The Journal office for grading, will be provided
on a quarterly basis. Successful completion of the test makes the
reader eligible for the CME credit.
· We are working to make the articles shorter and easier to read,
without compromising their content. This will give us the opportunity
to publish more of them, with less delay. The editorial board is
working diligently to facilitate the publication of as many important
articles as possible, and we are pleased to report that, over the last
six months, the acceptance rate for scientific articles has almost
doubled. We hope to provide a greater variety and extent of information
without compromising the high standards that traditionally have
been an essential part of the editorial process.
The many changes that have occurred over the last year, perhaps
most dramatically characterized by the new appearance of The
Journal this month, are changes in style rather than substance.
We hope that you find The Journal, in whatever
format you choose to use, to be of greater interest and more valuable
to you in the care of your patients in the years to come. We pledge
to always preserve the high quality of Journal information through
the peer-review process, and "Excellence Through Peer Review" will
be the guiding principle behind all that we do. I look forward to
receiving feedback from you about the changes that have been made; constructive
criticism will further enhance The Journal's value
to you and your patients. We want to hear from you, and we need
to know how you feel about your Journal.