Change and change again

Abstract

The wind of change is in the air again. The British Journal of Plastic Surgery is a great and almost a venerable title, but it seems that BJPS can never stand still. But then neither does the environment we work in. These are times of rapid development all around, as e-publishing takes off and the medical publishing market globalises. Can a small British society title do well in those conditions? When I use the term ‘do well’, for our journal I mean attract good quality papers and content, publish them in an attractive accessible and affordable manner and achieve a large enough market to sustain the journal and allow continuous development of its role.In striving for that we have already made some big changes. The Journal has moved to a far more international position, with an Editorial Advisory Board from many different regions of the world. We have expanded the size of the journal and increased its frequency of publication. We have deliberately positioned ourselves as not narrowly plastic surgical (because that means so many different things to different people) and have declared ourselves interested in surgical reconstruction from anywhere on the globe.In conjunction with these changes we have seen a very healthy citation index, and a pleasing maintenance of market share and a rise in electronic publishing. Many of our readers are discovering the benefits of Science Direct, which carries the full text of BJPS from the very first issue, available on line and fully searchable through hypertext links. This remarkable facility comes at no extra charge to all subscribers and places us ahead of leading competitor journals.Now another massive shift in the Journal is about to occur. Having realised that our name sent out a very parochial British image, when we want to be an inclusive journal for many different cultures and societies, and in order to benefit from the learning that diversity can allow, we moved to BJPS as a working title. Much in the same way the BMJ and NEJM are acronyms that progressed the publications from their original narrow roots, so we intended that our move to an acronymic title should do the same. Now, from January 1st 2006, our journal will become JPRAS, The Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, and will be published every month.What does this mean for the journal and those who have come to depend on it? It means we are serious about being an International Journal without bias, and serious about an editorial policy based only on quality. We are serious about development, and about representing diverse points of view. We intend to maintain quality and work in partnerships to find new ways of communicating, learning, and educating.All of these aims were true of BJPS, but it was apparent that, however, good the BJPS and its intentions were, the international credentials were weakened by the National title. Whilst the British bear their appellation with pride, believing it denotes quality, fairness and integrity amongst many other attributes, it nonetheless also carried a parochial sense. It has also been apparent for some time that the simple name of Plastic Surgery means different things to different people. We retain that name in our new title but include Reconstructive and Aesthetic not because they are separate from Plastic Surgery, but because Plastic Surgery embodies the traditions of both, and for some audiences that needs emphasising.In practical terms the change means very little to the readership, although we will inevitably see a brief drop in the citation index. This is solely because of the way the index is constructed and does not reflect on the quality of the journal. The drop is likely to last no more than 2 years. It is also likely that we will soon see the emergence of regionally representative Advisory Editors and more international names on our editorial board. In keeping with this, more and more of our reviewers are already from a wider and wider range of countries and this we hope will continue. A final indication of our commitment to internationalisation is that, whilst English remains the lingua franca of our specialty and the designated language of the journal, we intend soon to accept online simultaneous publications of the untranslated original in the native language.If you are interested in reviewing for us see the second editorial in this issue, and contact the editor directly. If you or anyone you know might make an excellent regional Advisory Editor and want to find out more about the role, please contact the editor directly. If you are a contributor, or a reader, I hope you will engage in this new and exciting stage in our development and continue to support our new journal. The wind of change is in the air again. The British Journal of Plastic Surgery is a great and almost a venerable title, but it seems that BJPS can never stand still. But then neither does the environment we work in. These are times of rapid development all around, as e-publishing takes off and the medical publishing market globalises. Can a small British society title do well in those conditions? When I use the term ‘do well’, for our journal I mean attract good quality papers and content, publish them in an attractive accessible and affordable manner and achieve a large enough market to sustain the journal and allow continuous development of its role. In striving for that we have already made some big changes. The Journal has moved to a far more international position, with an Editorial Advisory Board from many different regions of the world. We have expanded the size of the journal and increased its frequency of publication. We have deliberately positioned ourselves as not narrowly plastic surgical (because that means so many different things to different people) and have declared ourselves interested in surgical reconstruction from anywhere on the globe. In conjunction with these changes we have seen a very healthy citation index, and a pleasing maintenance of market share and a rise in electronic publishing. Many of our readers are discovering the benefits of Science Direct, which carries the full text of BJPS from the very first issue, available on line and fully searchable through hypertext links. This remarkable facility comes at no extra charge to all subscribers and places us ahead of leading competitor journals. Now another massive shift in the Journal is about to occur. Having realised that our name sent out a very parochial British image, when we want to be an inclusive journal for many different cultures and societies, and in order to benefit from the learning that diversity can allow, we moved to BJPS as a working title. Much in the same way the BMJ and NEJM are acronyms that progressed the publications from their original narrow roots, so we intended that our move to an acronymic title should do the same. Now, from January 1st 2006, our journal will become JPRAS, The Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, and will be published every month. What does this mean for the journal and those who have come to depend on it? It means we are serious about being an International Journal without bias, and serious about an editorial policy based only on quality. We are serious about development, and about representing diverse points of view. We intend to maintain quality and work in partnerships to find new ways of communicating, learning, and educating. All of these aims were true of BJPS, but it was apparent that, however, good the BJPS and its intentions were, the international credentials were weakened by the National title. Whilst the British bear their appellation with pride, believing it denotes quality, fairness and integrity amongst many other attributes, it nonetheless also carried a parochial sense. It has also been apparent for some time that the simple name of Plastic Surgery means different things to different people. We retain that name in our new title but include Reconstructive and Aesthetic not because they are separate from Plastic Surgery, but because Plastic Surgery embodies the traditions of both, and for some audiences that needs emphasising. In practical terms the change means very little to the readership, although we will inevitably see a brief drop in the citation index. This is solely because of the way the index is constructed and does not reflect on the quality of the journal. The drop is likely to last no more than 2 years. It is also likely that we will soon see the emergence of regionally representative Advisory Editors and more international names on our editorial board. In keeping with this, more and more of our reviewers are already from a wider and wider range of countries and this we hope will continue. A final indication of our commitment to internationalisation is that, whilst English remains the lingua franca of our specialty and the designated language of the journal, we intend soon to accept online simultaneous publications of the untranslated original in the native language. If you are interested in reviewing for us see the second editorial in this issue, and contact the editor directly. If you or anyone you know might make an excellent regional Advisory Editor and want to find out more about the role, please contact the editor directly. If you are a contributor, or a reader, I hope you will engage in this new and exciting stage in our development and continue to support our new journal.