Blood Transfusion: a new, international scientific journal for Transfusion Medicine.

Abstract

From the announcement on the second page of this issue of the journal, our readers can see that Blood Transfusion has been selected and included by the National Library of Medicine in the PubMed-MEDLINE database: one of the most important and prestigious goals that the editorial staff had set has now been reached. The journal is also indexed in the Embase and Scopus databases, in PubMed Central and in Google Scholar. Another very important event is that the journal’s existing affiliates, AICE (Italian Association of Haemophilia Centres) and HSBT (Hellenic Society of Blood Transfusion), have been joined by SETS (Spanish Society of Blood Transfusion and Cell Therapy), whose President, Isidro Prat Arrojo, has become an Affiliated Society Editor. Undoubtedly, 2008 will be remembered by all our readers as a year of great changes to the journal which, thanks to the two facts described above, has evolved from being a vehicle conveying predominantly national experiences, to a new instrument for scientific communication and exchange in the international sphere of Transfusion Medicine. These excellent results must not, however, be considered as a definitive point of arrival. Indeed, only to maintain such results, the commitment and dedication that the entire editorial staff has shown up to now (perhaps hoping in an only temporary tour de force) must remain constant. For an international, scientific journal it is correct to ask that an exceptional commitment becomes the rule. Furthermore, any process of improvement must always set itself new aims. In the field of scientific publishing, the next objective sign of recognition is to be awarded an ‘impact factor’. The journey is still long and tasking, but I know that I can count on strong support from our Scientific Societies and on the dedication and enthusiasm of the editorial staff. With these two fundamental bases I can be nothing other than optimistic.