Can J Diabetes 37 (2013) 361–362
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Canadian Journal of Diabetes journal homepage: www.canadianjournalofdiabetes.com
Editor’s Note
The Year in Review: Time to Celebrate
The year 2013 will be remembered as a remarkable year for the Canadian Journal of Diabetes (CJD). It marks the end of our second year as the reborn official journal of the professional members of the Canadian Diabetes Association. Since 2012, the CJD has become a bimonthly instead of quarterly publication, and we have doubled the number of articles published when compared with previous years. Over the past 2 years, we have seen a significant and continuing increase in the manuscripts submitted to the CJD from Canadian as well as international diabetes researchers and practitioners. Our rejection rate has climbed to more than 60% an indirect measure of the high standards of our peer-review process. The average time from submission to initial decision has decreased to 32 days from 44 days in 2012, and just missed our goal of 30 days. The average time from submission to print publication was approximately 165 days, which is unchanged from last year. The mission of the CJD is to promote the sharing and enhancement of knowledge to advance the prevention, management and cure of diabetes and related diseases. We publish original research articles and expert reviews ranging from basic sciences to clinical applications, education, public and population health and health policy. The topics covered are of interest to clinicians, researchers, epidemiologists, psychologists, diabetes educators, public health, health policy and other health professionals. With the emphasis on knowledge translation and relevance to diabetes clinical practice, we endeavour to include articles under the category of Perspectives in Practice in each issue. We also publish commentaries and case reports in the CJD. Since 2012, we have published the following thematic issues: diabetes and pregnancy (vol. 36, issue 2), diabetes selfmanagement education (vol. 36, issue 4), islet biology (vol. 36, issue 5), diabetes self-management (vol. 37, issue 1), obesity and type 2 diabetes (vol. 37, issue 2), cardiovascular complications of diabetes (vol. 37, issue 5) and exercise and physical activity (vol. 37, issue 6). The themes were developed based on reader interest, research and clinical relevance. For example, the obesity and diabetes theme was published in April to coincide with the Third Obesity Summit (May 2-5, 2013), which was hosted by the Canadian Obesity Network. The cardiovascular complications of diabetes were published in October to coincide with and celebrate the Vascular 2013 Summit (October 17-20, 2013), a unique one-time scientific conference where the Canadian Diabetes Association and Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism are joining forces with the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress, Canadian Stroke Congress, Hypertension Canada and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. In addition to the bimonthly publication, the CJD has published 4 supplements this year. The evidence-based Canadian Diabetes 1499-2671/$ – see front matter Ó 2013 Canadian Diabetes Association http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjd.2013.10.004
Association 2013 Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Prevention and Management of Diabetes in Canada were published in April (Supplement 1) and was 216 pages in length. The 70-page executive summary of the CDA 2013 Clinical Practice Guidelines appeared in June (Supplement 3). The clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) were the fruit of 3 years of arduous work by a dedicated team of 120 Canadian diabetes experts spanning 19 different disciplines (1). Over the years, the CDA CPGs have grown significantly in recognition and stature at an international level. A systematic review conducted by the Johns Hopkins University Evidence-Based Practice Center evaluated 11 international guidelines on oral medications for type 2 diabetes mellitus. The 2008 CDA CPGs, along with the United Kingdom National Institute for Health and Clinical Evidence, were ranked as the top 2 CPGs in the world (1,2). To ensure wide dissemination and implementation, we provided free access to the CPGs (http://guidelines.diabetes.ca). The free website contained CPGs in PDF format, PowerPoint presentation slides, and dynamic interactive point-of-care decision support tools for healthcare professionals and patients. We have had more than 180,000 visits to the website from Canada, the United States, Italy, Australia, the United Kingdom, India, Taiwan, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. It is evident from the web traffic that the evidence-based CPGs are gaining worldwide attention and popularity. The 73-page Supplement 2, published in April, contained the abstracts of the Third Obesity Summit held in Vancouver in May 2013. The 108-page Supplement 4 was published in October and contained the abstracts of the 16th annual Canadian Diabetes Association/Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism Professional Conference and Annual Meetings. A benchmark of success is achieving MEDLINE indexing by the National Library of Medicine. Although we have had 2 unsuccessful attempts for MEDLINE indexing in 2003 and 2008, we believed that, with the significant changes in the content of the CJD, we would stand a good chance. We submitted our application early this year and we received positive news in July from the Literature Selection Technical Review Committee of the US National Library of Medicine. I am delighted to inform our readers that the CJD has been selected for MEDLINE indexing retroactive to the beginning of this year, for the entire 37th volume. A new initiative that we just launched is a clinical resource centre, which will appear on our website (http://www.canadian journalofdiabetes.com). We hope to share with our readers innovative and interactive educational resource materials through video clips, research and review articles relevant to the topics of interest. The first topic selected for the launch is the role of the kidney in glucose homeostasis and management of type 2 diabetes.
362
Editor’s Note / Can J Diabetes 37 (2013) 361–362
Although there is much to celebrate, we continue to have many significant challenges ahead. We anticipate a steady increase in manuscript submissions, especially after the journal received MEDLINE indexing. We will need to increase the editorial board membership to ensure broadened areas of expertise as well as a timely turnaround of manuscript review and decisions. We also need to continue to expand our pool of external reviewers in the hope of reducing the average time from submission to initial decision to less than 30 days (preferably 21 days). A major focus is to augment the impact factor of the CJD, the benchmark of a successful top-ranked peer-reviewed journal. We aspire to become a premier journal in diabetes and related areas to showcase the work and contributions of both Canadian and international authors. We want to ensure the CJD is relevant to the diabetes community in Canada and abroad. We will continue with thematic issues in the coming years. Some of the topics planned for next year include in-hospital glycemic management,
primary care diabetes management, diabetes and the kidney, pediatric diabetes and obesity. I invite our readers to join us on our exciting journey to become a premier diabetes journal. As always, the editorial board members of the CJD and I welcome your comments and input. David C.W. Lau, MD, PhD, FRCPC Editor-in-Chief E-mail address: [email protected] References 1. Cheng AY, Lau DC. The Canadian Diabetes Association 2013 Clinical Practice Guidelines-raising the bar and setting higher standards! Can J Diabetes 2013; 37:137–8. 2. Bennett WL, Odelola OA, Wilson LM, et al. Evaluation of guideline recommendations on oral medications for type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review. Ann Intern Med 2012;156:27–36.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Canadian Journal of Diabetes journal homepage: www.canadianjournalofdiabetes.com
Editor’s Note
The Year in Review: Time to Celebrate
The year 2013 will be remembered as a remarkable year for the Canadian Journal of Diabetes (CJD). It marks the end of our second year as the reborn official journal of the professional members of the Canadian Diabetes Association. Since 2012, the CJD has become a bimonthly instead of quarterly publication, and we have doubled the number of articles published when compared with previous years. Over the past 2 years, we have seen a significant and continuing increase in the manuscripts submitted to the CJD from Canadian as well as international diabetes researchers and practitioners. Our rejection rate has climbed to more than 60% an indirect measure of the high standards of our peer-review process. The average time from submission to initial decision has decreased to 32 days from 44 days in 2012, and just missed our goal of 30 days. The average time from submission to print publication was approximately 165 days, which is unchanged from last year. The mission of the CJD is to promote the sharing and enhancement of knowledge to advance the prevention, management and cure of diabetes and related diseases. We publish original research articles and expert reviews ranging from basic sciences to clinical applications, education, public and population health and health policy. The topics covered are of interest to clinicians, researchers, epidemiologists, psychologists, diabetes educators, public health, health policy and other health professionals. With the emphasis on knowledge translation and relevance to diabetes clinical practice, we endeavour to include articles under the category of Perspectives in Practice in each issue. We also publish commentaries and case reports in the CJD. Since 2012, we have published the following thematic issues: diabetes and pregnancy (vol. 36, issue 2), diabetes selfmanagement education (vol. 36, issue 4), islet biology (vol. 36, issue 5), diabetes self-management (vol. 37, issue 1), obesity and type 2 diabetes (vol. 37, issue 2), cardiovascular complications of diabetes (vol. 37, issue 5) and exercise and physical activity (vol. 37, issue 6). The themes were developed based on reader interest, research and clinical relevance. For example, the obesity and diabetes theme was published in April to coincide with the Third Obesity Summit (May 2-5, 2013), which was hosted by the Canadian Obesity Network. The cardiovascular complications of diabetes were published in October to coincide with and celebrate the Vascular 2013 Summit (October 17-20, 2013), a unique one-time scientific conference where the Canadian Diabetes Association and Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism are joining forces with the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress, Canadian Stroke Congress, Hypertension Canada and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. In addition to the bimonthly publication, the CJD has published 4 supplements this year. The evidence-based Canadian Diabetes 1499-2671/$ – see front matter Ó 2013 Canadian Diabetes Association http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjd.2013.10.004
Association 2013 Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Prevention and Management of Diabetes in Canada were published in April (Supplement 1) and was 216 pages in length. The 70-page executive summary of the CDA 2013 Clinical Practice Guidelines appeared in June (Supplement 3). The clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) were the fruit of 3 years of arduous work by a dedicated team of 120 Canadian diabetes experts spanning 19 different disciplines (1). Over the years, the CDA CPGs have grown significantly in recognition and stature at an international level. A systematic review conducted by the Johns Hopkins University Evidence-Based Practice Center evaluated 11 international guidelines on oral medications for type 2 diabetes mellitus. The 2008 CDA CPGs, along with the United Kingdom National Institute for Health and Clinical Evidence, were ranked as the top 2 CPGs in the world (1,2). To ensure wide dissemination and implementation, we provided free access to the CPGs (http://guidelines.diabetes.ca). The free website contained CPGs in PDF format, PowerPoint presentation slides, and dynamic interactive point-of-care decision support tools for healthcare professionals and patients. We have had more than 180,000 visits to the website from Canada, the United States, Italy, Australia, the United Kingdom, India, Taiwan, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. It is evident from the web traffic that the evidence-based CPGs are gaining worldwide attention and popularity. The 73-page Supplement 2, published in April, contained the abstracts of the Third Obesity Summit held in Vancouver in May 2013. The 108-page Supplement 4 was published in October and contained the abstracts of the 16th annual Canadian Diabetes Association/Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism Professional Conference and Annual Meetings. A benchmark of success is achieving MEDLINE indexing by the National Library of Medicine. Although we have had 2 unsuccessful attempts for MEDLINE indexing in 2003 and 2008, we believed that, with the significant changes in the content of the CJD, we would stand a good chance. We submitted our application early this year and we received positive news in July from the Literature Selection Technical Review Committee of the US National Library of Medicine. I am delighted to inform our readers that the CJD has been selected for MEDLINE indexing retroactive to the beginning of this year, for the entire 37th volume. A new initiative that we just launched is a clinical resource centre, which will appear on our website (http://www.canadian journalofdiabetes.com). We hope to share with our readers innovative and interactive educational resource materials through video clips, research and review articles relevant to the topics of interest. The first topic selected for the launch is the role of the kidney in glucose homeostasis and management of type 2 diabetes.
362
Editor’s Note / Can J Diabetes 37 (2013) 361–362
Although there is much to celebrate, we continue to have many significant challenges ahead. We anticipate a steady increase in manuscript submissions, especially after the journal received MEDLINE indexing. We will need to increase the editorial board membership to ensure broadened areas of expertise as well as a timely turnaround of manuscript review and decisions. We also need to continue to expand our pool of external reviewers in the hope of reducing the average time from submission to initial decision to less than 30 days (preferably 21 days). A major focus is to augment the impact factor of the CJD, the benchmark of a successful top-ranked peer-reviewed journal. We aspire to become a premier journal in diabetes and related areas to showcase the work and contributions of both Canadian and international authors. We want to ensure the CJD is relevant to the diabetes community in Canada and abroad. We will continue with thematic issues in the coming years. Some of the topics planned for next year include in-hospital glycemic management,
primary care diabetes management, diabetes and the kidney, pediatric diabetes and obesity. I invite our readers to join us on our exciting journey to become a premier diabetes journal. As always, the editorial board members of the CJD and I welcome your comments and input. David C.W. Lau, MD, PhD, FRCPC Editor-in-Chief E-mail address: [email protected] References 1. Cheng AY, Lau DC. The Canadian Diabetes Association 2013 Clinical Practice Guidelines-raising the bar and setting higher standards! Can J Diabetes 2013; 37:137–8. 2. Bennett WL, Odelola OA, Wilson LM, et al. Evaluation of guideline recommendations on oral medications for type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review. Ann Intern Med 2012;156:27–36.
