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AJR Progress Report |
rstanley{at}ajroffice.org
As I complete the second year of my term as Editor in Chief, I feel the urge to look back and see what has been accomplished over that time span.
Online Submission and Peer Review
As our authors and reviewers now know, the web-based portal for submission and peer review in the AJR opened on October 1, 2003. All manuscripts must now be submitted online as of January 1, 2005.
The online review process has proceeded smoothly, with only a few bumps along the road for those who are less comfortable with the electronic process. My sincere thanks go out to all of our contributors and reviewers for working with us through the transition and for putting up with some of the glitches encountered. Your feedback and suggestions have been invaluable.
International Participation in AJR
As anticipated, manuscript submissions from outside of North America have continued to increase, facilitated by the online process. The speed of communication with authors and reviewers on the other side of the globe on occasion approaches real time. The percent of manuscripts submitted from international authors is now at the 54% mark, and 48% of the accepted manuscripts are international. In recognition of the substantive international contributions, skilled manuscript reviewers from many countries outside of the United States have been added to our team. And, to ease the workload on the most productive reviewers on our peer-review team, we've more than doubled the size of the reviewer pool since October 2003, including the addition of over 160 international members.
AJR Japan and AJR China
Because the ARRS/AJR team views our mission as a global one, and is impressed with the growth of interest in the AJR in the countries of Asia, the decision has been made to collaborate with Blackwell Publishing Asia to produce an abridged and translated version of the AJR in Japan. The translated journal will be sponsored by Daichii in Japan. Discussions are underway for a similar sponsored journal in China. Professor Mutsuhisa Fujioka has been named the editor in chief of the AJR in Japan, and Professor Jian Ping Dai has accepted that role for the AJR in China. The Japanese version will be quarterly and will consist of four or five major articles and eight to 12 abstracts, selected by an editorial board organized by the editor in chief. It is expected that the first issue will be published in the fall of 2005. The ARRS is actively pursuing similar relationships in other regions.
AJR Supplements
September 2004—CT in Clinical Practice
The AJR has also seen expansion in scope, with three new
supplements to the journal in the last year, and more supplements planned. The
first was included as part of the September 2004 issue and focused on CT in
Clinical Practice. This supplement featured radiology thought leaders who
discussed current and future uses of CT. The supplement also included the
results of a survey on utilization and expected utilization of CT.
March 2005—Case Reports
A Case Reports supplement followed in March 2005. The Case Reports
supplement included a number of excellent case reports accepted by the
AJR editors. It also featured a survey in which readers were asked
about their opinions about this category of manuscript. As we evaluate the
survey responses received to date, we may be prompted to consider publishing a
similar supplement later in 2005.
May 2005—Issues, Controversies, and Utility of PET/CT
This supplement originated with the AJR Technology Forum titled
"PET/CT Unplugged," which took place at the 2004 ARRS annual
meeting. The supplement consists of four articles, two of which provide 1 hour
of CME Category 1 credit; the topics span medical applications as well as
operational issues.
June 2005—AJR Integrative Imaging
With this current June issue of AJR, a new educational supplement
makes its first appearance. The AJR Integrative Imaging supplement to
the AJR, edited by Felix Chew, represents the response of the ARRS to
the requirements of the Maintenance of Certification program of the American
Board of Radiology. This supplement will satisfy some of the Lifelong Learning
and Self-Assessment Module (SAM) educational needs of those enrolled in the
program. It will enable the user to acquire CME category 1 credits as well as
complete some of the 20 SAMs over the 10-year period of time-limited
certification. AJR Integrative Imaging will be published quarterly as a 2-year
pilot project. Your contributions to and comments on this new feature are
encouraged.
Revised Author Guidelines
The July 2005 issue of AJR will introduce changes to the author guidelines, which will affect authors and readers alike. Information regarding manuscript format changes will be announced. Major papers will now be designated Original Research, and Original Reports will be designated Clinical Observations. Page headings will reflect the subspecialty in which the topic belongs, and some multipage articles will now begin on the left-hand page in recognition of the fact that personal printed copies can be produced from the electronic version of the journal, which is readily available at www.ajronline.org.
The May 2005 issue was the first to indicate limits on the number of coauthors for various types of submissions, in order to rationalize coauthorship and avoid inappropriately high numbers.
Online-Only AJR Articles
The online process has resulted in a reduction in the time required to first notification of authors. This is partly attributable to more timely reviews and to the elimination of lost time through surface mail. One undesirable aspect of the more rapid processing of manuscripts is the lengthening "pipeline" of accepted manuscripts. We are currently exploring the possibility of accepting some articles for publication exclusively on the electronic version of the AJR, where space limitations are not an issue. In its current configuration, the electronic version of the AJR allows the full-text article to be expanded over the printed version and allows inclusion of supplemental material that is not possible in print. I anticipate expanded use of the electronic version of our journal.
My tenure to date has been most enjoyable and rewarding. My thanks are extended to the AJR production and copyediting staff based in the Leesburg home office of the ARRS. They have rapidly evolved and grown with the new system. The end result is a better product to serve our constituency, the members of the ARRS, and the readers of the AJR.
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