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AN HONOR—A PRIVILEGE—A PLEASURE
0022-5347/04/1716-2109/0 THE JOURNAL OF UROLOGY® Copyright © 2004 by AMERICAN UROLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
Vol. 171, 2109, June 2004 Printed in U.S.A.
DOI: 10.1097/01.ju.0000127746.03631.b1
From the Editor AN HONOR—A PRIVILEGE—A PLEASURE This is the last issue of The Journal of Urology® of which I will serve as Editor after two 5-year terms. When I assumed this position in 1994, The Journal was in excellent shape under the stewardship of former Editor, Dr. Jack Grayhack. Likewise, the editorial staff in Baltimore was a tremendous help. There have been some changes to The Journal during the last 10 years. The “This Month in Clinical Urology” and CME Home Study Course were added. This Month is the blue page in the front of each issue, which contains brief highlights of the more noteworthy articles in the issue. The Home Study Course consists of 5 questions about 5 articles in the issue. Subscribers who answer the questions with 80% accuracy earn 1 CME Credit. The number of Associate Editors increased from 2 to 3 during my tenure as Editor. A new group of Assistant Editors was also added. The number of Editorial Board members has grown due to dual representation (based on the number of section members) by the North Central, South Central, Southeastern and Western Sections. Editorial Board members are selected on merit and required areas of expertise. We initiated 2-day peer review seminars to train young urologists to review manuscripts. We held 3 seminars in the United States, 1 in Europe and 1 in Asia. These seminars have given us excellent new young reviewers all over the world, which has allowed us to increase our database to more than 2,500 consultants. This database is also used by the AUA to select reviewers of abstracts submitted to the annual meeting. Last year we received about 2,700 submissions, which were equally distributed between the United States and other countries, and the acceptance rate was 44%. A great deal of effort has been expended successfully to decrease the time from submission to publication. The time for initial review is 4 to 6 weeks, time allowed authors for revision is 8 weeks and time to publication is 8 weeks from acceptance. This year we plan to convert to complete electronic manuscript submission, review and production, which will decrease these times even more. The Journal look has changed somewhat with the introduction of more color. The cover underwent a major overhaul, as it now displays an exceptional photograph selected by the editors from an article in the issue. There have been some significant breakthroughs in Urology during my editorship, including advances in laparoscopic surgery, endourology, partial nephrectomy for renal cancer, brachytherapy and cryotherapy for prostate cancer, oral therapy for erectile dysfunction and advances in female urology, which have lead to new sections in The Journal. The Journal of Urology® enjoys a very high impact factor and circulation is 18,000, which is twice that of its nearest competitor. In addition to the traditional print version, The Journal is available online to all subscribers who purchase the print version. We hope to offer online subscriptions only to institutions and libraries, as well as to those countries that cannot afford the price of a full subscription. Future challenges for The Journal of Urology® will be to increase the quality of what is published and decrease the size of the issues. The Journal will be in good hands with Dr. Martin Resnick as Editor. Being Editor of The Journal of Urology® has indeed been an honor, a privilege and a pleasure. Jay Y. Gillenwater Editor
2109
Vol. 171, 2109, June 2004 Printed in U.S.A.
DOI: 10.1097/01.ju.0000127746.03631.b1
From the Editor AN HONOR—A PRIVILEGE—A PLEASURE This is the last issue of The Journal of Urology® of which I will serve as Editor after two 5-year terms. When I assumed this position in 1994, The Journal was in excellent shape under the stewardship of former Editor, Dr. Jack Grayhack. Likewise, the editorial staff in Baltimore was a tremendous help. There have been some changes to The Journal during the last 10 years. The “This Month in Clinical Urology” and CME Home Study Course were added. This Month is the blue page in the front of each issue, which contains brief highlights of the more noteworthy articles in the issue. The Home Study Course consists of 5 questions about 5 articles in the issue. Subscribers who answer the questions with 80% accuracy earn 1 CME Credit. The number of Associate Editors increased from 2 to 3 during my tenure as Editor. A new group of Assistant Editors was also added. The number of Editorial Board members has grown due to dual representation (based on the number of section members) by the North Central, South Central, Southeastern and Western Sections. Editorial Board members are selected on merit and required areas of expertise. We initiated 2-day peer review seminars to train young urologists to review manuscripts. We held 3 seminars in the United States, 1 in Europe and 1 in Asia. These seminars have given us excellent new young reviewers all over the world, which has allowed us to increase our database to more than 2,500 consultants. This database is also used by the AUA to select reviewers of abstracts submitted to the annual meeting. Last year we received about 2,700 submissions, which were equally distributed between the United States and other countries, and the acceptance rate was 44%. A great deal of effort has been expended successfully to decrease the time from submission to publication. The time for initial review is 4 to 6 weeks, time allowed authors for revision is 8 weeks and time to publication is 8 weeks from acceptance. This year we plan to convert to complete electronic manuscript submission, review and production, which will decrease these times even more. The Journal look has changed somewhat with the introduction of more color. The cover underwent a major overhaul, as it now displays an exceptional photograph selected by the editors from an article in the issue. There have been some significant breakthroughs in Urology during my editorship, including advances in laparoscopic surgery, endourology, partial nephrectomy for renal cancer, brachytherapy and cryotherapy for prostate cancer, oral therapy for erectile dysfunction and advances in female urology, which have lead to new sections in The Journal. The Journal of Urology® enjoys a very high impact factor and circulation is 18,000, which is twice that of its nearest competitor. In addition to the traditional print version, The Journal is available online to all subscribers who purchase the print version. We hope to offer online subscriptions only to institutions and libraries, as well as to those countries that cannot afford the price of a full subscription. Future challenges for The Journal of Urology® will be to increase the quality of what is published and decrease the size of the issues. The Journal will be in good hands with Dr. Martin Resnick as Editor. Being Editor of The Journal of Urology® has indeed been an honor, a privilege and a pleasure. Jay Y. Gillenwater Editor
2109