Int Surg 2014;99:492 DOI: 10.9738/0020-8868-99.5.492
DOING THINGS THE RIGHT WAY
T
his is editorial letter 17, which I submit to you as your Editor-in-Chief of International Surgery, the flagship Journal of the International College of Surgeons. International Surgery has had ten Editorsin-Chief since establishment of the Journal and I am the 11th Editor-in-Chief. There are many quotations in reference to living life and conducting the affairs of organizations. One is that it is always wise to do the right thing. Doing the right thing is, in fact, always the best way, generally the simplest and direct way, with positive results. Doing the right thing for those who submit manuscripts for consideration to be published in International Surgery, not only serves those authors well, but those same authors tell others about our doing the right thing. ‘‘Word of mouth’’ communication, in general, has always proven to be the most powerful and effective form of informing people about the true value of a product or service being provided. Such powerful endorsements, based on first-hand experience, build confidence in the minds of others regarding their evaluation of a service being offered. So it is with International Surgery. As Editor-inChief, I continue to receive an increasing number of positive, unsolicited, favorable comments on our Journal from various sources. The escalating number of submissions from authors who wish to have their research results published in International Surgery is, I am certain, because we are doing things the right way. Of all the performance measures used by the scientific and medical publishing industry, nothing is more relevant and more important than positive commentary based on experiences with our Journal. Doing things the right way means that we must continue to strive, not only to publish in accord with
492
current thinking regarding scientific and medical publishing, but also to move in a direction supportive of evolving scientific and medical research publishing trends, always keeping the interests of researchers in the upper most parts of our minds. Our priority is to support their needs to publish their research results in a timely manner. In this respect, I continue to receive indications that governments, which support and fund scientific and medical research with public funds, are increasingly stipulating that the research results from research supported with public funds must be made available to all interested entities at the earliest possible time. Given the foregoing, we continue to position International Surgery as a Journal supportive of open access (OA) publishing. I am advised that in excess of 50% of research results published are supported by tax payer, government funds at this time. The move to open access publishing is gaining momentum. More movement to open access publishing has occurred in the past two years, than the previous 10 years. While one may question the exact statistics, no question exists in reference to the increasing need for manuscript authors to publish their results on an expedient basis. We urge all readers of International Surgery to consider open access publishing. Should you wish to explore open access possibilities, please see the author guidelines and/or make direct inquiries to us. Our commitment to all manuscript authors is to continue doing things the right way. Professor Christopher Chen Editor-in-Chief International Surgery
Int Surg 2014;99
DOING THINGS THE RIGHT WAY
T
his is editorial letter 17, which I submit to you as your Editor-in-Chief of International Surgery, the flagship Journal of the International College of Surgeons. International Surgery has had ten Editorsin-Chief since establishment of the Journal and I am the 11th Editor-in-Chief. There are many quotations in reference to living life and conducting the affairs of organizations. One is that it is always wise to do the right thing. Doing the right thing is, in fact, always the best way, generally the simplest and direct way, with positive results. Doing the right thing for those who submit manuscripts for consideration to be published in International Surgery, not only serves those authors well, but those same authors tell others about our doing the right thing. ‘‘Word of mouth’’ communication, in general, has always proven to be the most powerful and effective form of informing people about the true value of a product or service being provided. Such powerful endorsements, based on first-hand experience, build confidence in the minds of others regarding their evaluation of a service being offered. So it is with International Surgery. As Editor-inChief, I continue to receive an increasing number of positive, unsolicited, favorable comments on our Journal from various sources. The escalating number of submissions from authors who wish to have their research results published in International Surgery is, I am certain, because we are doing things the right way. Of all the performance measures used by the scientific and medical publishing industry, nothing is more relevant and more important than positive commentary based on experiences with our Journal. Doing things the right way means that we must continue to strive, not only to publish in accord with
492
current thinking regarding scientific and medical publishing, but also to move in a direction supportive of evolving scientific and medical research publishing trends, always keeping the interests of researchers in the upper most parts of our minds. Our priority is to support their needs to publish their research results in a timely manner. In this respect, I continue to receive indications that governments, which support and fund scientific and medical research with public funds, are increasingly stipulating that the research results from research supported with public funds must be made available to all interested entities at the earliest possible time. Given the foregoing, we continue to position International Surgery as a Journal supportive of open access (OA) publishing. I am advised that in excess of 50% of research results published are supported by tax payer, government funds at this time. The move to open access publishing is gaining momentum. More movement to open access publishing has occurred in the past two years, than the previous 10 years. While one may question the exact statistics, no question exists in reference to the increasing need for manuscript authors to publish their results on an expedient basis. We urge all readers of International Surgery to consider open access publishing. Should you wish to explore open access possibilities, please see the author guidelines and/or make direct inquiries to us. Our commitment to all manuscript authors is to continue doing things the right way. Professor Christopher Chen Editor-in-Chief International Surgery
Int Surg 2014;99
