Editors' message

Abstract

This year marked the beginning of the second quarter century of the Journal of Vascular Surgery®, and our second year of Editorial stewardship. As this year comes to a close, we remain tremendously indebted and want to express our sincere appreciation to our authors, reviewers, and editors for their dedicated and scholarly efforts. Collectively, these individuals have enabled us to bring the best possible product to our readership. The Journal of Vascular Surgery®, by all objective metrics, has become the pre-eminent publication in the field of vascular and endovascular therapy. This past year, we received nearly 1600 manuscript submissions, an all-time high. This represents an increase in all types of submissions, including clinical and basic science studies, as well as case reports. Furthermore, the Journal has become a truly international publication, with roughly 60% of our submissions coming from outside the United States and Canada, and with the highest international fraction coming from Europe, Japan, and Asia. Acceptance of papers has become increasingly competitive, resulting in continued improvement in the quality of our peer-reviewed manuscripts. We are particularly proud of the rigor, thoroughness, constructive nature, and fairness of our peer-review process, which is at the very foundation of the editorial process. We continue to introduce several new features to the Journal during our tenure, to accompany the peer-reviewed clinical studies, basic science investigations, and case reports which are the foundation of the Journal. These new features are designed to communicate important and practical information to practicing vascular and endovascular surgeons who make up the majority of our readership, as well as the academic vascular surgical community. We have also produced six supplemental issues, more than in any previous year, in evolving and critical areas of vascular disease. We will continue to provide an increasing number of focused supplements in the coming months. We have also formed a collaborative relationship with the European Journal of Vascular Surgery to enhance our respective educational missions and conducted a reader survey to assess how we might better serve the needs of our readership. During this past year, although we have received a record number of submissions, we have achieved a significant reduction in manuscript processing time and we will continue to work to shorten the time between manuscript acceptance and online publication ahead of print. The Journal of Vascular Surgery® is the primary publication of the Society for Vascular Surgery®, and we view all of our readers as stakeholders in the Journal. As we move forward, we remain mindful of our responsibility to our readership and dedicated to continually improve the product. We wish you all a wonderful holiday season, and a happy, healthy, and peaceful New Year. The Journal uses a rigorous peer-review process, in which each submitted manuscript is externally reviewed by at least three people, including at least one member of the Editorial Board, selected for their expertise in the particular topic that is the subject of the manuscript. These reviews are then carefully considered by the Editors. In order to review this large number of submitted manuscripts, in addition to our Editorial Board members, more than 350 individuals participated as reviewers for the Journal during the past year. The Editors would like to acknowledge all of the reviewers who have contributed to this process during that time, and whose efforts are so critical to making the Journal the outstanding scientific publication that it has become. This is a voluntary effort performed by individuals during their personal time to advance the discipline of vascular surgery and endovascular therapy. The quality and impact of any scientific journal is primarily dependent on the quality of its peer-review process. We have been extremely impressed by the quality and insightfulness of reviews performed for the Journal, which in many cases have substantially improved the quality of our published articles and therefore the overall quality of the Journal. The Editors express our sincerest thanks to all reviewers for their contributions this past year. We are very grateful for the contributions of our two Associate Editors, Dr Louis Messina, who acts as the primary editor for most basic research submissions, and Dr Jan Blankensteijn, who acts as a clinical studies editor. Their efforts have ensured both the timeliness and quality of our review process, especially during this past year with the increased editorial workload, and they each have contributed significantly to the success and quality of the Journal. We also want to express our sincerest appreciation to our four Assistant Editors who have also participated in the editorial leadership of the Journal. They have helped solicit, select, and write content for various sections of the Journal, including several new features introduced this year that have significantly broadened and enhanced the overall content and value of the Journal for our readership. We would like to thank Dr James Jones for his contributions as Editor of the Ethics Section; Dr Gregory Moneta for his efforts as Editor of the Abstracts Section; Dr Thomas Forbes for his role in managing several new features including Vascular and Endovascular Techniques, Practice Management, Clinical Trials Update, and Expert Debates; and Dr Richard Cambria for his management of the Review Article Section. We would also like to thank Dr Sean Roddy who is responsible for the CPT Advisor Section, one of several new features recently added to the Journal with the practicing vascular surgeon in mind. Each review received by the Editors is rated according to its quality, accuracy, insight, and helpfulness to both the authors of the submission reviewed and the Editors. Editorial Board members are selected on the basis of an objective evaluation of the quantity, quality, and timeliness of their peer reviews. Our goal is to include as many of our best reviewers as possible on the Editorial Board. Original manuscripts submitted to the Journal are reviewed by at least one member of the Editorial Board, who also submit invited commentaries and perform other duties for the Journal. During the past year, members of the Editorial Board each performed an average of 18 reviews and accounted for 31% of all the reviews that were done. The Editors would particularly like to recognize the following Editorial Board members who will be retiring from the Board after many years of valuable service and countless hours of unselfish work in this process. We would also like to welcome new members of the Editorial Board, selected according to the process described above, who will begin in January. Ahmed M. Abou-ZamzamGeorge AndrosThomas E. BrothersRuth L. BushKeith D. CalligaroWilliam Darrin ClouseAlan DardikPaul Joseph DiMuzioMagruder C. DonaldsonHasan Haldun DosluogluMaciej Lukasz DryjskiJohn F. EidtJames B. FroehlichRandolph L. GearyPeter K. HenkeGlenn R. JacobowitzWilliam D. JordanJeffrey L. KaufmanLois A. KillewichRalf R. KolvenbachTimothy F. KresowikGregory J. LandryFrank A. LederleMichael P. LillyBengt LindbladFedor LurieThomas G. LynchJ. Gregory ModrallThomas F. O'DonnellTodd E. RasmussenTimothy A. ReschCaron B. RockmanHazim J. SafiLewis B. SchwartzCarlos H. TimaranGerald S. TreimanGilbert R. UpchurchAndre Van RijFred Arthur Weaver Ronald L. DalmanStuart I. Myers Ali F. AbuRahmaMatthew J. EagletonEric David EndeanBenjamin Ware Starnes The Editors would also like to recognize a group of Distinguished Reviewers, who have performed at least 7 reviews for the Journal during the past year and who have consistently performed high-quality and timely reviews. These individuals have collectively contributed 40% of the total reviews and represent ideal future candidates for the Editorial board. We are very grateful for their assistance and their outstanding contribution to the peer-review process. Ali F. AbuRahmaMark AdelmanJames B. AlexanderRichard AmdurJoseph P. ArchieRobert G. AtnipMartin R. BackJeffrey L. BallardDennis F. BandykB. Timothy BaxterFritz BechJacob ButhGregory Spicer CherrTimothy A.M. ChuterG. Patrick ClagettDaniel G. ClairPhilip D. Coleridge-SmithMark Frederick ConradJohn D. CorsonMichael C. DalsingMatthew J. EagletonJames R. ElmoreEric David EndeanAlik FarberWilliam R. FlinnSpencer GaltPhilip P. GoodneyMichael J. GoughJaap HammingLinda HarrisDean A. HealyNorman R. HertzerThomas S. HuberKarl A. IlligNicos LabropoulosPeter F. LawrenceW. Anthony LeeByung-Boong LeeLuis R. LeonThomas F. LindsayBo LiuFrank W. LoGerfoMatthew LongoSean P. LydenWilliam C. MackeyRobyn MacsataMichel S. MakarounEdward Joseph MaschaRobert A. McCreadyRobert B. McLaffertyGeorge H. MeierJoseph L. MillsRoss MilnerNicholas MorrisseyPeter NeglenLouis L. NguyenPatrick J. O'HaraKenneth OurielC. Keith OzakiMarc A. PassmanWilliam C. PevecJanet T. PowellRichard J. PowellWilliam J. Quinones-BaldrichJoseph D. RaffettoJohn E. RectenwaldJoseph J. Ricotta IIMichael J. RohrerAndres SchanzerBenjamin Ware StarnesLloyd M. TaylorR. James ValentineJ. Adam van der VlietJean-Paul de VriesThomas W. WakefieldDaniel B. WalshWei Zhou In addition, the Editors would like to recognize many other individuals who performed at least one review for the Journal during the past year. This includes several New Reviewers. In nearly all cases, these reviews were excellent, and they collectively represented 29% of all reviews, emphasizing the importance of each individual reviewer to the peer-review process. We hope to expand the role of these reviewers in the future, and are very grateful for their efforts this year. Babak AbaiChristopher J. AbularrageYves S. AlimiMichael AllonNiren AngleFrank R. ArkoElias ArousZachary M. ArthursMarvin Douglas AtkinsAli AzizzadehHenry V. BakerHisham S. BassiounyJean-Pierre BecqueminMichael BelkinScott A. BerceliThomas M. BergaminiDavid BergqvistScott S. BermanJean BismuthWerner BlättlerJames Hamilton BlackJohn BlebeaAmman BoliaMarc BosiersThomas C. BowerBruce J. BrenerDavid C. BrewsterJan S. BrunkwallJeffrey P. CarpenterDavid Christopher CassadaNeal Scott CayneRabih Antoine ChaerPhilip ChanJames G. ChandlerStephen W.K. ChengDavid K.W. ChewMarc CoggiaAnthony J. ComerotaMichael S. ConteRobert CrawfordR. Clement DarlingDaniel L. DavenportDavid L. DawsonJonathan Scott DeitchBrian G. DeRubertisNicolas DiehmRobert S. DieterEllen DillavouYves-Marie DionMatthew J. DoughertyAudra A. DuncanJohn Kingsley EdogaJames M. EdwardsBo G. EklofJonathan EliasonSharif Hamed EllozyLuke S. ErdoesMohammad H. EslamiRonald M. FairmanRumi FaizerMark A. FarberPeter L. FariesMark F. FillingerIgnatius W. FongCharles FoxJulie A. FreischlagPaul J. GagneVivian GahtanRobert H. GeelkerkenLeo GeeraedtsHugh GelabertPatrick J. GeraghtyDavid L. GillespiePeter GloviczkiMichael A. GoldenLee J. GoldsteinJerry GoldstoneEdwin C. GravereauxRoy K. GreenbergLazar J. GreenfieldRaul J. GuzmanDaniel G. HackamAllen David HamdanKimberley J. HansenE. John HarrisOlivier HartungHeitham T. HassounWilliam R. HiattJamal J. HoballahSimon D. HobbsJohn R. HochKim J. HodgsonAndrew HoldenGlenn C. HunterMark D. IafratiDaniel M. IhnatKrassi IvancevTakehisa IwaiMichael J.H.M. JacobsDonald L. JacobsWilliam C. JenningsJason M. JohanningTilo KölbelLowell Stuart KabnickJeffrey A. KalishVikram S. KashyapKarthikeshwar KasirajanRebecca L. KelsoK. Craig KentMelina R. KibbeRobert L. KistnerMark KoelemayTed R. KohlerLarry W. KraissYukio KuniyoshiChristopher J. KwolekGlenn M. LaMuragliaGregg LandisJames LaredoChristos D. LiapisPeter H. LinS. Martin LindenauerJes S. LindholtEvan C. LipsitzJoseph Vincent LombardiThomas Sabatini MaldonadoM. Ashraf MansourWilliam A. MarstonTara Marie MastracciJon S. MatsumuraJames MayJames F. McKinseyManish MehtaJames O. MenzoianDavid J. MinionMarc E. MitchellMark D. MoraschBart Edward MuhsSatish C. MulukHans Olav MyhreA. Ross NaylorDavid G. NeschisChristoph NienaberPhilip Theodore NowickiGustavo S. OderichSean D. O'DonnellTakao OhkiChristopher OwensWilliam P. PaaskeFrank T. PadbergJean M. PannetonGerard PasterkampRobert B. PattersonEric K. PedenPaul PetrasekTomas PfeifferIraklis I. PipinosPierre Francois PlouinFrank B. PomposelliRobert RaffaiSeshadriRajuJoseph H. RappLars RasmussenJudith G. RegensteinerRobert RheeJeffrey RhodesRobert RhodesMichael A. RicciJean-Baptiste RiccoNorman M. RichJohn J. RicottaDavid Andrew RigbergWilliam P. Robinson, IIIJacob G. RobisonDavid RosenthalVincent L. RoweDaniel RushEva M. RzucidloRussell H. SamsonRichard J. SandersSteven M. SantilliTimur Paul SaracRajabrata SarkarBhagwan SatianiLarry A. ScherMarc L. SchermerhornFelix J. SchlösserJurg SchmidliOlaf SchoutenGeert Willem SchurinkSherry D. ScovellAlexander D. ShepardPaula K. ShiremanCynthia K. ShortellNiten SinghBruce M. SmithAnton StalenhoefOren K. SteinmetzW. Charles Sternbergh IIIScott L. StevensDavid Howard StoneScott M. SurowiecJoep A. TeijinkDick H.J. ThijssenRobert W. ThompsonMatthew M. ThompsonJan H.M. TordoirBoulos ToursarkissianEdith TzengDirk Th. UbbinkA.C. VahlPaul S. Van BemmelenMarc R.H.M. Van SambeekOmaida C. VelazquezHence J.M. VerhagenJ. Leonel VillavicencioTodd R. VogelDavid A. VorpEric WahlbergMichael T. WatkinsJohn V. WhiteG. Melville WilliamsWillem WisselinkChristopher WixonEdward WooMark C. WyersEleftherios S. XenosJames S.T. YaoGuilherme YazbekJerry R. YoukeyThomas ZellerR. Eugene ZierlerPeter Zilla