Letter from the Editor in Chief

Abstract

Dear JAAHA Readers,In January 2007, I accepted the position of Editor in Chief of the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association. Since that time, I have been exploring with JAAHA staff ways in which the Journal might better serve its readers, authors, and the profession. As a result of these discussions we are instituting a number of changes that we would like to introduce at this time.Our first objective is to improve the review process for the Journal. We intend both to make the process more timely and user-friendly for our authors and to improve the quality and relevance of our published manuscripts for our readers. Because of the broad range of subject matter submitted for consideration to the Journal, we have decided to identify a group of content experts to serve as Section Editors and to expand the size of our Editorial Review Board. The purpose of these changes is both to expedite the review process and to ensure that all submissions can receive fair and critical review by knowledgeable experts. The names of our new Section Editors will now be published with each Journal volume. When the completed list of the Editorial Review Board is available, these names will also be included on the Journal’s title page.Our Section Editors have already been hard at work revising our Publication Guidelines. Collectively, the Section Editors and I believe that our readership will best be served by the publication of well-designed clinical trials and retrospective clinical studies of significant numbers of patients with the same disease syndrome. Reports of single cases of new syndromes or unusual presentations of more commonly observed phenomena will continue to be published but will be handled as brief communications rather than fully developed manuscripts.We also intend to publish review articles on topics of importance to practicing companion animal veterinarians. These reviews can be expected to cover a wide range of subjects from basic pathophysiology of complex syndromes to new approaches to disease diagnosis, to issues in public health and epidemiology. Section Editors will conference several times per year to identify significant topics for invited reviews from internationally renowned experts. The submission of author-initiated reviews is also being enthusiastically encouraged.Another goal of JAAHA is to increase its national and global visibility and impact. Accordingly, we intend to continue to solicit international authors and readers and over time will add international Section Editors and Editorial Review Board Members to the Journal leadership team. Where appropriate, we will publish highlights from international conferences and events and will feature commentaries addressing issues of significance to the global companion animal practice community.The mission of JAAHA is clear. We seek to be the most relevant, most widely read, and most cited scientific journal for companion animal practitioners in the world. We intend to build upon the solid foundation established by previous editors to raise the Journal to an even higher standard of excellence. The changes being instituted now represent the first steps along this pathway. We seek your support and counsel as we work together to reach our goal.Sincerely,