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Message from the Editor
WELCOME TO THE JOURNAL OF RHEUMATOLOGY: VOLUME 35
DUNCAN A. GORDON, MD,
Whether you select an article from this month's print table of contents or retrieve it online from PubMed, you are joining a unique medical discovery cycle of international rheumatology research, peer review, and peer readership many years in the making (Figure 1).
CONTINUITY AND RENEWAL HAVE BEEN KEY TO THE JOURNAL'S MOST RECENT SUCCESSES With this issue The Journal begins its 35th year of delivering high-impact original research, groundbreaking signature editorials like "Inverting the Pyramid," and equally renowned Pediatric Rheumatology, OMERACT proceedings, Cochrane Musculoskeletal Reviews, and supplements on emerging therapies. Our Editorial Board (Figure 2). We continue to be rewarded by thoughtful and incisive feedback from longstanding and emerging reviewers; their contribution enriches the experience of authors, the reviewers themselves, and our rheumatology readers.
Our committee. On the continuity side, the "spirited" in-person editorial committee meetings that helped build the early Journal are more important than ever: No technology can recreate the synergy of person-to-person interaction that makes for more balanced, creative decision making on the ultimate fate of a manuscript. Our Website. Ongoing renewal has meant integrating innovative, convenient Web-based technology that shortens time to decision and to publication. Our recently integrated, Web-based online submission and peer review system makes participation in peer review more convenient for all: authors can look up the status of their manuscript in real time and respond to reviewer comments sooner; busy reviewers appreciate how easy it is to send in their comments and recommendations. As an indication of its success, submissions have increased by 35% since the system launched, while submission to acceptance time has been cut in half. Our online edition at jrheum.com also means shorter time from acceptance to publication: Under our First Release program introduced in 2006, The Journal publishes all original research articles as much as 2 months ahead of print. With final author approval, our production staff posts the edited article on the next bi-weekly First Release date. Web-based content-tracking provides valuable early feedback to editors and readers alike on the interest generated by Journal articles. We believe our efforts to preserve continuity while integrating innovation are the reason for the increased number of high quality manuscripts submitted to The Journal and for our continuing solid citation record. Thank you for joining us as we begin our 35th year of serving rheumatology. 2. The Journal of Rheumatology. [Internet landing registration page. Scholar One. Cited November 19, 2007]. Available from http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jrheum |
