A C TA Obstetricia et Gynecologica
AOGS E D I T O R I A L
AOGS: An international journal with Scandinavian quality GANESH ACHARYA
DOI: 10.1111/aogs.12556
The NFOG has appointed me as the Chief Editor of AOGS starting January 2015. AOGS is a rather mature journal in our specialty. It has been published every year since 1921, which is just a year later than the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. It has been published every year with the exception of 1944, when the printing was prevented by the World War II (1). It is a great honor to become the 12th Chief Editor of a journal with such a long tradition and history, but I am acutely aware that it comes with a considerable responsibility. I have been appointed at a time when the journal is doing quite well. Therefore my real task will be keeping the journal in good health and maintaining its growth and wellbeing by promoting good practices. Thanks to my predecessor Prof. Reynir T. Geirsson’s untiring effort in promoting AOGS, his empowering attitude towards the junior scientists as well as more accomplished academicians and meticulous editorial work, our journal is in good shape. Its impact factor has been increasing steadily and reached 2.005 in 2014. Despite many controversies, the bibliographic surrogates still remain important in academic communities and we will continue our efforts in improving our journal’s impact factor. However, our focus will be on improving the quality of publications and their visibility, assuring ethical conduct in research, promoting dissemination of important findings and improving service to our authors. We urge scientists to send their best research to AOGS. We have a devoted team of editors overseeing the scientific rigor and a solid base of international referees providing competent evaluation of the manuscripts submitted to our journal. We enjoy a very healthy relation with our publisher, Wiley-Blackwell, and together we aim to provide highest quality service to our authors. We would like to emphasize that AOGS is an international journal reporting in all aspects of women’s health. The journal is owned by NFOG but it has complete editorial freedom. We welcome submissions from all over the world. We want to publish research that has an impact on women’s healthcare and has potential to improve the wellbeing of the society. We encourage good
quality research from low resource countries that may benefit women and children living under vulnerable and deprived conditions. We have been a predominantly clinical journal, but our new strategy is to increase the proportion of basic science articles relevant to the specialty of obstetrics and gynecology. We will also consider publishing good quality experimental research that has a clear translational value. We have plans to substantially cut down our manuscript handling time. We have introduced fast-track review process for important research articles with potential for breaking news or leading to a change in clinical practice. Articles published in AOGS frequently receive media attention. Together with our publishers, we are focusing more on improving the visibility of individual articles to increase their clinical as well as social impact. To do this we want to engage the authors in disseminating their research to the public who are the real beneficiary of their scientific work. No doubt our journal is international, but the word “Scandinavica” in our journal’s relatively long name remains a “trademark” of Nordic quality since its inception, and we will not compromise on the quality. Other things we really value are fairness, openness, democracy, gender equality and responsible ethical conduct. We plan to renew our International Editorial Board and seek representation from all the continents. We want our Editorial Board to be competent, dynamic and willing to contribute to the advancement of our journal. We are fully aware that the reviewers are the gatekeepers of our journal who empower the authors by providing critical but constructive comments, feedback and suggestions helping them to improve their manuscripts, and help us to avoid publishing substandard work. We will broaden and consolidate our reviewer base to ensure further quality assurance. As the new Chief Editor, I would like to request all the Nordic colleagues (obstetricians and gynecologists as well as others working in the related areas), academicians, scientists and clinicians alike, to support AOGS. It is your journal and its success depends on your good will. AOGS has done really well recently due to the hard work of my
ª 2014 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica 94 (2015) 1–2
1
Editorial
predecessor, the editors, and the reviewers especially from the Nordic countries. We will do even better if you also supported us by sending your best research. We have to have confidence in our own journal, trust and support ourselves before we can ask support from others.
2
Reference 1. Janson PO. The history of NFOG and Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica 1921-2011. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2013;92:1344–52.
ª 2014 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica 94 (2015) 1–2
Copyright of Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica is the property of WileyBlackwell 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.
AOGS E D I T O R I A L
AOGS: An international journal with Scandinavian quality GANESH ACHARYA
DOI: 10.1111/aogs.12556
The NFOG has appointed me as the Chief Editor of AOGS starting January 2015. AOGS is a rather mature journal in our specialty. It has been published every year since 1921, which is just a year later than the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. It has been published every year with the exception of 1944, when the printing was prevented by the World War II (1). It is a great honor to become the 12th Chief Editor of a journal with such a long tradition and history, but I am acutely aware that it comes with a considerable responsibility. I have been appointed at a time when the journal is doing quite well. Therefore my real task will be keeping the journal in good health and maintaining its growth and wellbeing by promoting good practices. Thanks to my predecessor Prof. Reynir T. Geirsson’s untiring effort in promoting AOGS, his empowering attitude towards the junior scientists as well as more accomplished academicians and meticulous editorial work, our journal is in good shape. Its impact factor has been increasing steadily and reached 2.005 in 2014. Despite many controversies, the bibliographic surrogates still remain important in academic communities and we will continue our efforts in improving our journal’s impact factor. However, our focus will be on improving the quality of publications and their visibility, assuring ethical conduct in research, promoting dissemination of important findings and improving service to our authors. We urge scientists to send their best research to AOGS. We have a devoted team of editors overseeing the scientific rigor and a solid base of international referees providing competent evaluation of the manuscripts submitted to our journal. We enjoy a very healthy relation with our publisher, Wiley-Blackwell, and together we aim to provide highest quality service to our authors. We would like to emphasize that AOGS is an international journal reporting in all aspects of women’s health. The journal is owned by NFOG but it has complete editorial freedom. We welcome submissions from all over the world. We want to publish research that has an impact on women’s healthcare and has potential to improve the wellbeing of the society. We encourage good
quality research from low resource countries that may benefit women and children living under vulnerable and deprived conditions. We have been a predominantly clinical journal, but our new strategy is to increase the proportion of basic science articles relevant to the specialty of obstetrics and gynecology. We will also consider publishing good quality experimental research that has a clear translational value. We have plans to substantially cut down our manuscript handling time. We have introduced fast-track review process for important research articles with potential for breaking news or leading to a change in clinical practice. Articles published in AOGS frequently receive media attention. Together with our publishers, we are focusing more on improving the visibility of individual articles to increase their clinical as well as social impact. To do this we want to engage the authors in disseminating their research to the public who are the real beneficiary of their scientific work. No doubt our journal is international, but the word “Scandinavica” in our journal’s relatively long name remains a “trademark” of Nordic quality since its inception, and we will not compromise on the quality. Other things we really value are fairness, openness, democracy, gender equality and responsible ethical conduct. We plan to renew our International Editorial Board and seek representation from all the continents. We want our Editorial Board to be competent, dynamic and willing to contribute to the advancement of our journal. We are fully aware that the reviewers are the gatekeepers of our journal who empower the authors by providing critical but constructive comments, feedback and suggestions helping them to improve their manuscripts, and help us to avoid publishing substandard work. We will broaden and consolidate our reviewer base to ensure further quality assurance. As the new Chief Editor, I would like to request all the Nordic colleagues (obstetricians and gynecologists as well as others working in the related areas), academicians, scientists and clinicians alike, to support AOGS. It is your journal and its success depends on your good will. AOGS has done really well recently due to the hard work of my
ª 2014 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica 94 (2015) 1–2
1
Editorial
predecessor, the editors, and the reviewers especially from the Nordic countries. We will do even better if you also supported us by sending your best research. We have to have confidence in our own journal, trust and support ourselves before we can ask support from others.
2
Reference 1. Janson PO. The history of NFOG and Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica 1921-2011. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2013;92:1344–52.
ª 2014 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica 94 (2015) 1–2
Copyright of Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica is the property of WileyBlackwell 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.
