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Manuscript reviewers: The backbone of a peer-reviewed journal
EDITORIAL
Manuscript Reviewers: The Backbone of a Peer-Reviewed Journal Harvey Feigenbaum, MD, Indianapolis, Indiana
All of us in the health care industry are inundated with a wealth of information. Much of this comes from advertising, publications that contain articles representing the opinions of one or two physicians, and reports by a science reporter of some meeting or interview.There are symposia sponsored by commercial companies, which obviously have some degree of bias. Often this information comes by way of “throwaway journals”or now the Internet, is unsolicited, and is supported almost entirely by advertising. These publications rarely are peer-reviewed. Thus the articles and statements are solely those of the author. Historically, medicine has relied heavily on peerreviewed data. The information in a peer-reviewed article has been critiqued by persons other than just the author or authors.The reader thus has some assurance that at least some of the author’s peers believe that the material is worthy of publication. Although this process is cumbersome, lengthy, and has many deficiencies, it is somewhat like “democracy,”in that it is clearly flawed but no better alternative exists. The backbone of a peer-reviewed publication is the dedicated pool of individuals who take the time and make the effort to review manuscripts and provide a critique.All of us are increasingly burdened with more work than we frequently want. For a host of reasons, “free time” to do such things as review manuscripts is almost impossible to find. Thus an editor of a peerreviewed journal is increasingly indebted to those persons who make the time to undertake this vital role. As a “thank you” to the people who have assisted the Journal of the American Society of EchocardiFrom Indiana University Medical Center, Indianapolis. Harvey Feigenbaum, MD, University Hospital 5420, 550 North University Boulevard, Indianapolis, IN 46202-5250. J Am Soc Echocardiogr 2000;13:968. Copyright © 2000 by the American Society of Echocardiography. 0894-7317/2000/$12.00 + 0 27/1/109795 doi:10.1067/mje.2000.109795
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ography, I am printing a list of those persons who have provided outstanding cooperation in reviewing manuscripts. All these individuals have reviewed at least 20 manuscripts and have been unable to grant such a request fewer than 5 times. There is a subgroup that has always made an effort to review a manuscript even if it was by a colleague or coworker. I plan to publish a similar list on an annual basis to recognize the people who are truly the backbone of this and any other peer-reviewed journal. Thank you and congratulations to those of you on this “JASE Honor Roll.” Harry Acquatella* Hugh Allen Christopher P. Appleton David S. Bach John Bates* Ann Bolger Robert J. Bryg* Gary W. Burggraf* Chunguang Chen* John S. Child Linda Crouse Ravin Davidoff Ivan A. D’Cruz Pamela S. Douglas Mario Garcia Julius M. Gardin* Edward A. Geiser Martin Goldman John Gorcsan III Howard P. Gutgesell William R. Jacobs Alan Katz* Sanjiv Kaul Donald L. King Morris N. Kotler Itzhak Kronzon* Arthur J. Labovitz
Roberto M. Lang Marian Limacher Randolph P. Martin Navin C. Nanda* Catherine M. Otto Natesa C. Pandian Ioannis P. Panidis Alfred F. Parisi Walter Paulsen Alan S. Pearlman* Julio E. Perez Michael H. Picard Charles Pollick* Thomas Ryan David J. Sahn Stephen G. Sawada* Nelson B. Schiller Ingela Schnittger* Douglas S. Segar* James B. Seward Pravin M. Shah Norman H. Silverman William J. Stewart Kiyoshi Yoshida *Never refused to review a manuscript.
Manuscript Reviewers: The Backbone of a Peer-Reviewed Journal Harvey Feigenbaum, MD, Indianapolis, Indiana
All of us in the health care industry are inundated with a wealth of information. Much of this comes from advertising, publications that contain articles representing the opinions of one or two physicians, and reports by a science reporter of some meeting or interview.There are symposia sponsored by commercial companies, which obviously have some degree of bias. Often this information comes by way of “throwaway journals”or now the Internet, is unsolicited, and is supported almost entirely by advertising. These publications rarely are peer-reviewed. Thus the articles and statements are solely those of the author. Historically, medicine has relied heavily on peerreviewed data. The information in a peer-reviewed article has been critiqued by persons other than just the author or authors.The reader thus has some assurance that at least some of the author’s peers believe that the material is worthy of publication. Although this process is cumbersome, lengthy, and has many deficiencies, it is somewhat like “democracy,”in that it is clearly flawed but no better alternative exists. The backbone of a peer-reviewed publication is the dedicated pool of individuals who take the time and make the effort to review manuscripts and provide a critique.All of us are increasingly burdened with more work than we frequently want. For a host of reasons, “free time” to do such things as review manuscripts is almost impossible to find. Thus an editor of a peerreviewed journal is increasingly indebted to those persons who make the time to undertake this vital role. As a “thank you” to the people who have assisted the Journal of the American Society of EchocardiFrom Indiana University Medical Center, Indianapolis. Harvey Feigenbaum, MD, University Hospital 5420, 550 North University Boulevard, Indianapolis, IN 46202-5250. J Am Soc Echocardiogr 2000;13:968. Copyright © 2000 by the American Society of Echocardiography. 0894-7317/2000/$12.00 + 0 27/1/109795 doi:10.1067/mje.2000.109795
968
ography, I am printing a list of those persons who have provided outstanding cooperation in reviewing manuscripts. All these individuals have reviewed at least 20 manuscripts and have been unable to grant such a request fewer than 5 times. There is a subgroup that has always made an effort to review a manuscript even if it was by a colleague or coworker. I plan to publish a similar list on an annual basis to recognize the people who are truly the backbone of this and any other peer-reviewed journal. Thank you and congratulations to those of you on this “JASE Honor Roll.” Harry Acquatella* Hugh Allen Christopher P. Appleton David S. Bach John Bates* Ann Bolger Robert J. Bryg* Gary W. Burggraf* Chunguang Chen* John S. Child Linda Crouse Ravin Davidoff Ivan A. D’Cruz Pamela S. Douglas Mario Garcia Julius M. Gardin* Edward A. Geiser Martin Goldman John Gorcsan III Howard P. Gutgesell William R. Jacobs Alan Katz* Sanjiv Kaul Donald L. King Morris N. Kotler Itzhak Kronzon* Arthur J. Labovitz
Roberto M. Lang Marian Limacher Randolph P. Martin Navin C. Nanda* Catherine M. Otto Natesa C. Pandian Ioannis P. Panidis Alfred F. Parisi Walter Paulsen Alan S. Pearlman* Julio E. Perez Michael H. Picard Charles Pollick* Thomas Ryan David J. Sahn Stephen G. Sawada* Nelson B. Schiller Ingela Schnittger* Douglas S. Segar* James B. Seward Pravin M. Shah Norman H. Silverman William J. Stewart Kiyoshi Yoshida *Never refused to review a manuscript.