Journal of Neurosurgical Anesthesiology

Abstract

Professor of Anesthesiology; Associate Vice President for Health Sciences; University of Utah; 50 North Medical Drive; Salt Lake City, Utah 84132;rsperry@anesth.med.utah.eduJames C. Eisenach, M.D., EditorJournal of Neurosurgical Anesthesiology. Edited by James E. Cottrell and John Hartung. Philadelphia, Lippincott-Raven Publishers, 1997. Pages: 384 per yr. Price: Subscription rates available from publisher.The Journal of Neurosurgical Anesthesiology is the official journal of the Society of Neurosurgical Anesthesia and Critical Care (and counterpart societies in Great Britain, Ireland, France, and Germany). The first volume of the Journal was published in 1989. At that time many anesthesia subspecialty journals were either new or in the developing stages. The Journal, now in its tenth year, is one of the few that have survived.The Journal is published quarterly. The format of the Journal is typical for clinically oriented scientific journals. The contents include general articles, case reports, laboratory reports, book reviews, and correspondence. Two aspects of the Journal that I have found useful are the sections titled Points of View and Journal Club. In the Points of View section there usually is a pro and con discussion of current topics and controversies in neuroanesthesia. In the Journal Club section there are annotated reviews of articles related to neuroanesthesia, which have been published in a worldwide source of journals.For years I have been impressed with the general quality of the articles that have appeared in the Journal. I believe that the Journal provides an important publication outlet for many talented neuroscience researchers. Whether the number of subscribers will continue to make publication of the Journal economically viable is to be seen.Editors James E. Cottrell and John Hartung recently wrote about the impact of the Journal. [1]They point out that the Journal was accepted by Index Medicus after 5 years and was ranked fourth among anesthesiology journals according to the 1995 edition of Journal of Citation Reports. Additionally, they note, the Journal has had the honor of having the highest impact factor sup * among subspecialty journals in anesthesiology. From all indications, the Journal has been a success.sup * Impact factors computed annually by Science Citation Index are the average number of times that articles published in two consecutive years are cited during the following year. For example, a 1996 Impact Factor (computed and published in 1997) of 2 indicates that articles published in a journal during 1994 and 1995 were cited in indexed journals, on average, twice during 1996.Richard J. Sperry, M.D., Ph.D.Professor of Anesthesiology; Associate Vice President for Health Sciences; University of Utah; 50 North Medical Drive; Salt Lake City, Utah 84132;rsperry@anesth.med.utah.edu