Changes in this Journal

Journal of

Molecular and Cellular Cardiology Volume 10

Number 1

January 1978

EDITORIAL Changes

in This

Journal

This Journal seesyet another increase in subscription rate this year and we as Editors feel that subscribers are entitled to an explanation. It is important for subscribersto be aware that the major reason for this increase is not merely the continued rate of inflation but also that we wish to help eliminate a back-log of papers. We have, at the moment, enough papers for eight ordinary issuesand thus even if we accepted no more papers from now onwards, authors whose papers were accepted in September 1977would have a delay of approximately 11 months before seeingtheir paper in print. Of all the delays in preparing a paper, the delays between submissionand publication are psychologically the most irksome. The time consumed in the review processis usually an accepted necessity, and the average time in one of our Editorial offices from receipt of manuscript to sending a letter of reply to authors was 44 days in 1972 and 49 days in 1975. This delay (author-Editor-referees-Editor-author) compared well with other journals. For example, even when dealing chiefly with a localized pool of reviewers in the greater Boston area, the New England Journal of Medicine took an average of 33 days in 1974 Cl]. Thereafter, most authors will also have overcome the delays required to deal with the suggestionsof the referees. Referees’ comments may seemoff the mark and sometimeseven aggressive,but the Editors know from personal experience that the referee system really doesimprove the quality of the final paper. The European Office of this Journal has since its inception in 1970 only passedtwo paperswithout any modification at all. Both were extremely outstanding papers. But the majority of papers required revision in accordance with the suggestionsof the referees.Further delay was frequently caused by the authors who did not submit the revision for sometime, or failed to answer the refereesclearly, and then the publication delay came on top of that. In reality, the delay between final acceptance and publication is only a small part of the whole project which usually takes several years. One or two months either way should make no difference. Nevertheless, once an author has actually gone so far as completing his paper, and overcome all the inherent delays and all

2

EDITORIAL

the inherent problems he now feels quite justifiably that everything should be done to expedite publication. The Academic Press has, therefore, decided to increase the subscription rate with the aim of giving an additional 192 pages during the coming year so as to reduce the acceptance-to-publication lag. In view of the growing pressure on our space and the already high incidence of refusals, extra space with an increased subscription price appears to be the only answer. We trust our subscribers and readers will bear with us. At the same time, we would like to announce two other major changes. First, the abstracts of the meetings of the International Society for Heart Research (International Study Group for Research in Cardiac Metabolism) will be published in this Journal as supplements. Thus the supplement to the September issue of this Journal represented the abstracts of papers presented at the European Meeting of the International Study Group, held in September in Rotterdam. The supplement was available to those registering at the meeting and was also sent to all subscribers. Such supplements will be paid for by the organizers of the meeting and in no way contribute to the increased price. Publication of these abstracts is in keeping with the trend to bring the Journal and the International Society of Heart Research closer together and the Journal is now the official organ of the International Society for Heart Research. From this stems the second major change, It has become evident that we need a wider geographic distribution. At the same time, it has become obvious that we need an editor to be situated in Europe directly. This is primarily required to expedite the publication of papers. Therefore, the proposal was made that the European Editorial Board should elect an additional Editor at its meeting in Rotterdam in September and Professor P. Y. Hatt M.D. from Paris was chosen. Dr Opie will remain as a Co-Editor, helping with European and non-American affairs, but also with a special task of building up the worldwide Editorial Board. We welcome Professor Hatt, who has not only made many notable contributions to this Journal, but has already gained inside experience from several years on the Editorial Board. He organized the very successful meeting of the European Section of the International Study Group for Research in Heart Metabolism in 1972 and he and his group have greatly contributed to the recent flowering of Metabolic Cardiology in France. We trust that these changes will continue to strengthen this Journal and we look forward to the opinions of our readers. R. J. BING L. H. OPIE Co-Editors

REFERENCE 1.

INGELFINGER,

56,686-692

F. J. Peer review in biomedical (1974).

publication.

American

Journal

of Medicine