Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, 12: 1953
DOI: 10.1111/jth.12777
EDITORIAL
Another year F . R . R O S E N D A A L * † and P . H . R E I T S M A * ‡ *Department of Thrombosis and Hemostasis, Leiden University Medical Center; †Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center; and ‡Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
To cite this article: Rosendaal FR, Reitsma PH. Another year. J Thromb Haemost 2014; 12: 1953.
‘Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right’ (Oprah Winfrey, Facebook, 3 January 2012) When the year draws to a close, it is time to look back, but also to look forward. In 2014 we introduced new features to the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis in the form of the ‘Forum’ and the ‘Case of the Month’. The Forum category is intended for publishing viewpoints or for recounting recent events. In a way, these are quite similar to commentaries but without a specific accompanying article in the same issue. Forum pieces can be single articles, or multiple contributions with viewpoints from several perspectives. We published one such duet in the July issue on the Diane-35 oral contraceptives affair, which led to major media attention in France and the Netherlands, with contributions from authors working in national institutions that are responsible for the safety of medicines. In the October issue, two authors gave their view on the excessive amount of blood that is taken at routine venipunctures, with provocative titles alluding to iatrogenic anemia, and ‘twenty-five million liters of blood into the sewer’. In a single Forum article in the September issue authors gave their views on the use of warfarin or dabigatran for atrial fibrillation. A Case of the Month debuted in the May issue. Actually it was a relabeled original article describing a novel mutation in P2Y12. The Case of the Month article in the September issue, describing the management of a patient who had received a massive overdose of rivaroxaban, was the first to follow the new guidelines for this category. These two are the only published cases thus far, but more are in the pipeline (we are quite strict in select-
© 2014 International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis
ing contributions and do envision issues without a Case of the Month). In our May editorial we specified what constitutes a case description that we would be willing to publish, but the reason to launch features such as Forum and Case of the Month lies deeper and touches an existentialist core of publishing a journal. What is a journal, and what is the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis? This question may have haunted editors in the past, too, but is acute in the age of electronic publishing, in which articles can be accessed with the click of a computer mouse without ever handling the journal as a whole. If a journal were just a collection of original articles, the whole would not be larger than the separate parts, and rather than reading the journal one might cherry pick articles of interest after searching through Pubmed and other search engines or through eTOCs (electronic table of contents). Some have argued that the flavor of a journal is in the selection of articles, which is doubtlessly true, as some journals will preferentially publish therapeutic randomized trials, while others may favor articles with a societal or political connotation, and yet others focus on clinical practice. Nevertheless, the electronic cherry picker will not notice such subtle differences in editors’ preferences. With the Forum and Case of the Month categories, as well as with editorials and a revitalized correspondence section, we wish to create a journal that is more than a collection of articles, and one that is worth a read, or at least a glance, from cover to cover. Looking forward, in the new year we plan to continue these features and we call on the readership to submit contributions for these, as well as to make suggestions for new features that will grow the Journal further and make it an even better read.
Copyright of Journal of Thrombosis & Haemostasis is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
DOI: 10.1111/jth.12777
EDITORIAL
Another year F . R . R O S E N D A A L * † and P . H . R E I T S M A * ‡ *Department of Thrombosis and Hemostasis, Leiden University Medical Center; †Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center; and ‡Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
To cite this article: Rosendaal FR, Reitsma PH. Another year. J Thromb Haemost 2014; 12: 1953.
‘Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right’ (Oprah Winfrey, Facebook, 3 January 2012) When the year draws to a close, it is time to look back, but also to look forward. In 2014 we introduced new features to the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis in the form of the ‘Forum’ and the ‘Case of the Month’. The Forum category is intended for publishing viewpoints or for recounting recent events. In a way, these are quite similar to commentaries but without a specific accompanying article in the same issue. Forum pieces can be single articles, or multiple contributions with viewpoints from several perspectives. We published one such duet in the July issue on the Diane-35 oral contraceptives affair, which led to major media attention in France and the Netherlands, with contributions from authors working in national institutions that are responsible for the safety of medicines. In the October issue, two authors gave their view on the excessive amount of blood that is taken at routine venipunctures, with provocative titles alluding to iatrogenic anemia, and ‘twenty-five million liters of blood into the sewer’. In a single Forum article in the September issue authors gave their views on the use of warfarin or dabigatran for atrial fibrillation. A Case of the Month debuted in the May issue. Actually it was a relabeled original article describing a novel mutation in P2Y12. The Case of the Month article in the September issue, describing the management of a patient who had received a massive overdose of rivaroxaban, was the first to follow the new guidelines for this category. These two are the only published cases thus far, but more are in the pipeline (we are quite strict in select-
© 2014 International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis
ing contributions and do envision issues without a Case of the Month). In our May editorial we specified what constitutes a case description that we would be willing to publish, but the reason to launch features such as Forum and Case of the Month lies deeper and touches an existentialist core of publishing a journal. What is a journal, and what is the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis? This question may have haunted editors in the past, too, but is acute in the age of electronic publishing, in which articles can be accessed with the click of a computer mouse without ever handling the journal as a whole. If a journal were just a collection of original articles, the whole would not be larger than the separate parts, and rather than reading the journal one might cherry pick articles of interest after searching through Pubmed and other search engines or through eTOCs (electronic table of contents). Some have argued that the flavor of a journal is in the selection of articles, which is doubtlessly true, as some journals will preferentially publish therapeutic randomized trials, while others may favor articles with a societal or political connotation, and yet others focus on clinical practice. Nevertheless, the electronic cherry picker will not notice such subtle differences in editors’ preferences. With the Forum and Case of the Month categories, as well as with editorials and a revitalized correspondence section, we wish to create a journal that is more than a collection of articles, and one that is worth a read, or at least a glance, from cover to cover. Looking forward, in the new year we plan to continue these features and we call on the readership to submit contributions for these, as well as to make suggestions for new features that will grow the Journal further and make it an even better read.
Copyright of Journal of Thrombosis & Haemostasis is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
