We now take an initial step to the world!

Abstract

Obstetrics & Gynecology Science, the official journal of six Korean academic societies in the fields of obstetrics and gynecology, will be published in English bimonthly from January 2013. These societies are the Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Korean Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Korean Society of Gynecologic Endocrinology, Korean Society of Gynecologic Endoscopy and Minimal Invasive Surgery, Korean Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Korean Society of Contraception and Reproductive Health. Under the initiative of the Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the delegates of the six societies have discussed the unification of their representative journals, and concluded that the publication of a unified journal in English is an essential part of the future growth of each society. The primary goal of Obstetrics & Gynecology Science is to become a worldwide journal by publishing highly qualified articles. Concentrating the submission of articles into one journal instead of six separate journals will allow us to reduce the risk of publishing articles of low quality. In addition, we expect that the change will give foreign scholars easier access to Obstetrics & Gynecology Science because it is published in English. Previously, the six journals of the societies were published in Korean, which made it nearly impossible for non-Koreans to read the journals. Geographical distance is no longer a significant obstacle for international communication. Accordingly, academic exchanges between different countries are so vigorous, fast, and difficult to keep up with, as are exchanges in the medical field. In the meantime, the quality of clinical practice in Korea has gradually increased in proportion to Korea's economic growth. Korean researchers have frequently presented researches at international academic meetings abroad. However, as there is a paucity of Korean journals published in English, they must submit their articles to foreign journals for the purpose of international communication. Moreover, foreign scholars have difficulty in searching Korean journals and citing Korean articles due to language differences. We will make Obstetrics & Gynecology Science an open access journal and assign digital object identifiers to all published articles. We also have a plan to provide a crosscheck service for reviewers to prevent plagiarism. Publishing Obstetrics & Gynecology Science is difficult because English is not a native language for Koreans. The burden is shared by the editors and manuscript contributors. Many contributors may hesitate to submit manuscripts to Obstetrics & Gynecology Science, and prefer to submit their work to more world-renowned journals. However, we as editors, have a firm belief that the future of Obstetrics & Gynecology Science is dependent on our continuous self-sacrificing endeavor in terms of submitting articles, peer reviewing, deliberate editing, and providing tools for easy access to this journal. We also believe that the future of Obstetrics & Gynecology Science reflects the future of the six societies. We believe that it is not an unrealistic dream for Obstetrics & Gynecology Science to become an academic journal through which distinguished researchers worldwide freely communicate with each other. We expect that all members of the six societies are eager to contribute to the efforts to reach the goals of Obstetrics & Gynecology Science. Finally, we would like to extend our appreciation to the presidents of the six societies and the Chairman of the Board of the Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology for their contributions to the publication of Obstetrics & Gynecology Science. We also express our appreciation to the members of the Editorial Board and reviewers of the journal for their willingness to participate in its publication.