Editorial: Leading transition while maintaining tradition

Abstract

I am deeply honored to be appointed as the new Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of the Journal of Neurosurgery (JNS). I follow Dr. John Jane Sr., who has served admirably and tirelessly in this role since October 1992, and has implemented numerous transformative changes within the Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group (JNSPG) (Fig. 1). As such, the task for me is somewhat daunting; however, I view this task as a tremendous opportunity at a time when the standard operating procedures for publications for associations, such as the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), are being rewritten, in part, by shifts from print to online publishing. At a time of transition, such as this, it is wise to review salient aspects of the history of the JNS as we prepare to chart a new course for our future. Since its inception in 1944 there have been 6 previous EICs of the JNS (Table 1), all of whom have left indelible marks on the progress and stature of the journal. In addition, we should also remember the insightful and deliberative force of Dr. John F. Fulton, who, in the spring of 1943, in response to a request by Dr. Alfonso Asenjo in Santiago, Chile, worked with the officers of the Harvey Cushing Society (now AANS) to establish the first specialty-specific and international journal devoted to neurosurgery. In the words of Dr. R. Glen Spurling, a major participant in the US military effort during World War II, Dr. Fulton “fathered the JNS.”1 The first issue of the journal was published in January 1944, and the lead article was written by Dr. Gilbert Horrax on the many contributions of Harvey Cushing to the science and practice of neurosurgery throughout his career.4 There were initially 5 members appointed to the Editorial Board. Issues were published bimonthly until 1962, at which time it was necessary to increase the number of issues to 12 per year to accommodate the ever-increasing number of accepted submissions. From its first issue, the JNS has been maintained as an international journal accepting neurosurgical submissions from around the world.1,8 The same holds true to this day, with authors from over 60 countries submitting their best work for peer review in 2012. In this era of bibliometrics, we can indeed be proud of the JNS, which, from 2011 data, has a 5-year Impact Factor (IF) of 3.088, and total citations of 28,800, which is more than any other neurosurgical journal. The proliferation of neurosurgical centers throughout the world and the widespread accessibility of scientific and clinical data have led to an exponential rise in the number of submissions and, consequently, the number of published pages in the JNS over the past 50 years. Whereas in 1963 there were 165 individual papers and 1111 pages of text published in the JNS,1 in 2012 there were 1208 accepted manuscripts from a total of 3604 submissions, and a near 5-fold increase in pages printed at 5106 pages. Obviously, to accommodate such an incredible increase in volume of submissions and Editorial