EDITORIAL

Aspire to Inspire: The Launch of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology Dennis S. Lam, MD, FRCOphth,* Robert Ritch, MD,Þþ Srinivas K. Rao, FCRS,§ and Christopher K. Leung, MD, MBChC*

A

good journal is not just a collection of papers. It is a thought leader. It inspires and it guides. As editors-in-chief of a newly launched journal, the Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology (APJO), we are ready to take up the responsibility of connecting the East with the West, pushing forward into the frontiers of ophthalmology and stretching it to every corner in the Asia-Pacific region. Thus, this journal will be a panYAsia-Pacific journal, aimed at stimulating high-quality vision research. Translational research, translational ophthalmology, and the results of studies using new techniques will be welcomed. We estimate that more than 50,000 ophthalmologists and their patients will benefit from the education initiatives of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO).

MEETING THE NEEDS IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION Comprising more than 45 countries and representing more than 50% of the world’s population,1 the Asia-Pacific region, along with its endearing traits, can be encapsulated in its rich diversity of cultures, ethnicity, and socioeconomic development. Such diversity, however, also poses staggering challenges to ophthalmic care providers in terms of reaching out to a critical mass to deliver highquality service and up-to-date information pertaining to diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of a wide spectrum of eye diseases. Being the major driving force of ophthalmic development in the Asia-Pacific region, APAO is eager to take up the challenges of removing the barriers to the uptake of ophthalmic education and services. All national ophthalmologic societies in the Asia-Pacific region are eligible to become member societies of APAO, which is a supranational organization aimed at facilitating exchange of expertise among ophthalmologists in the region and across the globe. To that end, APAO has, on the one hand, organized its annual congress to bring together ophthalmologists from throughout the world for scientific exchange and closer collaboration. On the other hand, it has set up an electronic platform to provide online education for eye doctors in the region and beyond. A library of photographs and videos are freely accessible to individual members who have signed up at the APAO Web site. Meanwhile, case consultations, which are an international forum for ophthalmologists to put up challenging cases for discussion, are also available. The launch of APJO is another step forward. With the aim to disseminate accurate, useful, up-todate, and reliable information and knowledge about the latest developments in ophthalmology and to encourage research and publication in the Asia-Pacific region, APJO is positioning itself to become an important peer-reviewed scientific publication in the information age. Our idea is to feature topquality research and clinical articles. The clinical articles basically involve clinical research. Now, translational medicine is the hot topic. Nanotechnology, tissue bioengineering, stem cell therapy, gene therapy, and boil-based artificial tissues are entering the realm of utility. But the idea is not just to have a journal limited to Asia. We hope to attract manuscripts from around the globe and to become a truly internationally recognized journal. The way to achieve this is to adhere to the highest quality of content from the onset. It is proper that a journal comparable to the most significant ones, as judged by both readers and by impact factor, should be an online journal. We predict that the library of the future will consist not of a room of tomes, but entirely in cyberspace. More and more journals will go to online only publication, and hopefully, access will eventually be free of charge, just as one could walk into the medical school library and pick a journal off the shelf. Being an electronic publication, access to APJO will not be limited to institutional or individual subscribers. Individual members of APAO’s

From the *Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong; †Einhorn Clinical Research Center, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, New York, NY; ‡Department of Ophthalmology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY; and §Darshan Eye Clinic & Surgical Centre, Tamil Nadu India. Reprints: Dennis S.C. Lam, MD, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 3/F, Hong Kong Eye Hospital, 147K Argyle Street, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Email: [email protected]. The authors have no funding or conflicts of interest to declare. Copyright * 2012 by Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology ISSN: 2162-0989 DOI: 10.1097/APO.0b013e3182413b60

Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology

&

Volume 1, Number 1, January/February 2012

www.apjo.org

Copyright @ 2011 Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.

1

Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology

Editorial

member societies will enjoy permanent free access, whereas a 1-year free access will be freely available to all.

FEATURES OF APJO With APAO’s steely determination to impart and update information and knowledge in the advancement of ophthalmic care and technology and educate practicing ophthalmologists and residents-in-training, APJO offers, on the one hand, a window to the world to ophthalmologists in the Asia-Pacific region and, on the other hand, a window to the Asia-Pacific to ophthalmologists elsewhere. As a comprehensive journal, APJO will publish original research and review reports in all subspecialties to advance clinical and basic research, as well as provide a resourceful platform for education, with emphasis on topics germane to the Asia-Pacific region. It is our ambition that APJO will generate substantive impact on stimulating new insights conducive to the progress of scientific research and, more importantly, uphold and enhance the standard and the quality of ophthalmic care in both developed and developing areas in the region. To that end, APJO is privileged to have engaged a reputable publishing partner and solicited support from many leading international experts in both clinical and research aspects of ophthalmology who share our vision and mission to deepen interactions between ophthalmologists in the East and ophthalmologists in the West. APJO is unique in having a prestigious combination of boards of editors and advisors, whose generous support and contribution to the journal will undoubtedly elevate it to an internationally recognized publication. In the meantime, the journal office is preparing for the application of science citation index. Our aim is for APJO to apply for indexing in PubMed in the shortest possible period and that all the articles it publishes will be able to be indexed retroactively. It is also important that, as an online journal, we will be able to publish critical reviews of scientific questions and major review articles of specific disorders. The online format will not only allow extensive illustrations, photographs, and references, but will allow us to have a ‘‘living journal.’’ The research articles will, of course, be fixed in time, but the reviews can be constantly updated with new material. The outlook and conclusions of critical review articles may change direction when new studies are published, and a similar advantage is present in clinical review articles. While we are enjoying all the modern conveniences of the information age, the journal office is doing its very best to keep up with the pace of the fast-changing, fast-advancing world of scientific communication. We have promised that authors submitting articles to APJO will be notified of the editor’s decision

2

www.apjo.org

&

Volume 1, Number 1, January/February 2012

within an average of 8 weeks. Such an unprecedented level of commitment is to safeguard the best interests of the authors and make sure that the audience of APJO is always enjoying the most up-to-date information. You are cordially invited to test us with your submissions.

RAPIDLY CHANGING TECHNOLOGY WILL ACCELERATE THE PROGRESS OF TRANSLATIONAL OPHTHALMOLOGY Translational medicine (‘‘bench to bedside’’), a concept that has become increasingly popular and important in the last 2 decades, simply means rapid translation of laboratory discoveries into medical usefulness. The new age of medicine is based on some very new concepts and milestone discoveries. The first analysis of a human genome required years and US $3 billion.2 Soon, it will be possible for people to have their genomes scanned for a mere $1000. Genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, interactomics, transcriptomics, and others encompass the goal of defining the entirety of knowledge of a segment of bioscience. New technological concepts have now been and will increasingly be introduced into the field of medical therapy. These include nanotechnology, cell and tissue regeneration, stem cell research, gene therapy, and tissue bioengineering. All of these are encompassed in the area of translational ophthalmology, which will become a dominant factor in fighting disease because of the rapid advances in technology, computing power, easy global communications, and widening collaborations. In summary, we are proud to introduce a new journal, international in scope, with the highest of standards, to bring new technologies, translational research, clinical studies, and major review articles not only to the Asia-Pacific region, but also globally. By basing the journal online, we provide not only the means of more rapid communication, but also unlimited room for information. Original data could even be posted for analysis. Communications by readers can be more easily accommodated. Thus, we provide room for the communications of today, while establishing the potential to add on those of tomorrow. REFERENCES 1. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Web site. Overview of the Asia-Pacific region. Available at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/W4388E/w4388e03.htm. November 9, 2011. Accessed November 9, 2011. 2. The U.S. Department of Energy Web site. Human Genome Project Information. July 25, 2011. Available at: http://www.ornl.gov/sci/ techresources/Human_Genome/home.shtml. Accessed November 7, 2011.

* 2012 Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology

Copyright @ 2011 Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.

Aspire to Inspire: The Launch of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology.

Aspire to Inspire: The Launch of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology. - PDF Download Free
65KB Sizes 1 Downloads 11 Views