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The past, the present and the future
EDITORIAL
The Past, the Present and the Future • William F. Rutherford, MD, Life Line, Methodist Hospital, Indianapolis, Ind. This is the final issue of the first full year of the Air Medical Journal, a reasonable point at which to issue a report card. In addition to using the " r e t r o s p e c t o s c o p e , " I'll offer a glimpse of what is to come. The story is told of the downtrodden but righteous individual who, week after week, petitions God to allow him to win the lottery to alleviate the suffering of his family. Week after week there is no bonanza. Finally, in frustration, the man asks specifically why his request has not been granted, and God responds, "You've got to help me out a little bit. At least go buy a lottery ticket!" In t h a t same vein, the Air Medical Journal c a n n o t publish what is not submitted. Typically, we have received fewer than half a dozen papers per year based on abstracts presented at the annual Air Medical T r a n s p o r t Conference. The low rate of papers resulting from presentations at the AMTC has been discussed twice in our publication.I,2 Herron and Falcone s u g g e s t e d t h a t t h e Air Medical Journal could do more to promote the journalistic metamorphosis of abstract p r e s e n t a t i o n s into published papers by "going the extra mile." The short response is "we have." While we cannot buy the lottery ticket for you, we have taken steps to cultivate new authors and to encourage others to continue submitting papers. Specific actions we have taken include: 1) The review p r o c e s s has b e e n s t r e a m l i n e d . Most authors now receive the reviews of t h e i r paper within six weeks. The process has been even
further refined since the AMTC in St. Louis; 2) Authors of abstracts or p o s t e r s accepted for the AMTC were all individually and collectively invited to submit papers to the Air Medical Journal, with the promise of an expedited review; 3) A one-hour workshop on "Pitfalls and Pearls of P u b l i s h i n g in t h e Journal" was presented in St. Louis, and was attended by approximately 75 p r o s p e c t i v e a u t h o r s ; 4) P r o s p e c t i v e a u t h o r s are m a d e aware at every opportunity of the desire of the editorial board and the editorial staff to a s s i s t t h e m in whatever fashion necessary to produce a worthy manuscript. This process appears to be working. Of 50 abstracts presented in St. Louis, 12 were submitted as papers by the end of the conference, and several more are expected. In the six m o n t h s since H e r r o n and Falcone's justifiable critique, onethird of the peer-reviewed papers in the Air Medical Journal have been presented in abstract form at previous AMTCs, as have several more papers currently undergoing the review process. We are receiving more and better manuscripts, including more international submissions. M a n y a u t h o r s have commented on the timeliness and high quality of the reviews and indicated their desire to continue submitting papers to AMJ. A popular cartoon character once lamented that "just when you think you've found out where it's at, somebody goes and moves it." This brings us to the future. We h a v e n ' t arrived; we've only j u s t s t a r t e d . Now t h a t the e d i t o r i a l b o a r d is in place, t h e m o n t h l y
Air Medical Journal ,, N o v e m b e r / D e c e m b e r 1993
"Editorial" will be a shared responsibility among its members and occasionally some guests. A new section, "Editor's C o m m e n t s , " also appears in this issue. This section will focus on a discussion of the papers in the c u r r e n t issue. Other new features are under consideration, such as a review of the curr e n t air medical l i t e r a t u r e published in other journals, a periodic update of the impact of health care reform on our profession, and continuing education articles. I have been told by other editors that we are attempting the impossible: the production of a journal that meets needs of nurses and pilots, medics and physicians, communications specialists and administrators. While no one is capable of the truly impossible, air medical professionals have a funny habit of accomplishing the highly unlikely. Thus, the Air Medical Journal editorial board (listed on page 411) is actively p u r s u i n g innovative approaches to meeting the widely divergent needs of our readership. As always, we w e l c o m e y o u r comments on what is appearing in these pages and on what you would like to see. •
References 1 Schwartz RJ, Jacobs LM; Analysis and comparison of research abstracts presented at AAMS, 1987-1990. JAMT 1992; 11(6):7-11. 2. Herron H, Falcone RE: Research presented at AMTC: Subsequent publication in indexed journals. Air Med J 1993; 12 (5) :119-122.
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The Past, the Present and the Future • William F. Rutherford, MD, Life Line, Methodist Hospital, Indianapolis, Ind. This is the final issue of the first full year of the Air Medical Journal, a reasonable point at which to issue a report card. In addition to using the " r e t r o s p e c t o s c o p e , " I'll offer a glimpse of what is to come. The story is told of the downtrodden but righteous individual who, week after week, petitions God to allow him to win the lottery to alleviate the suffering of his family. Week after week there is no bonanza. Finally, in frustration, the man asks specifically why his request has not been granted, and God responds, "You've got to help me out a little bit. At least go buy a lottery ticket!" In t h a t same vein, the Air Medical Journal c a n n o t publish what is not submitted. Typically, we have received fewer than half a dozen papers per year based on abstracts presented at the annual Air Medical T r a n s p o r t Conference. The low rate of papers resulting from presentations at the AMTC has been discussed twice in our publication.I,2 Herron and Falcone s u g g e s t e d t h a t t h e Air Medical Journal could do more to promote the journalistic metamorphosis of abstract p r e s e n t a t i o n s into published papers by "going the extra mile." The short response is "we have." While we cannot buy the lottery ticket for you, we have taken steps to cultivate new authors and to encourage others to continue submitting papers. Specific actions we have taken include: 1) The review p r o c e s s has b e e n s t r e a m l i n e d . Most authors now receive the reviews of t h e i r paper within six weeks. The process has been even
further refined since the AMTC in St. Louis; 2) Authors of abstracts or p o s t e r s accepted for the AMTC were all individually and collectively invited to submit papers to the Air Medical Journal, with the promise of an expedited review; 3) A one-hour workshop on "Pitfalls and Pearls of P u b l i s h i n g in t h e Journal" was presented in St. Louis, and was attended by approximately 75 p r o s p e c t i v e a u t h o r s ; 4) P r o s p e c t i v e a u t h o r s are m a d e aware at every opportunity of the desire of the editorial board and the editorial staff to a s s i s t t h e m in whatever fashion necessary to produce a worthy manuscript. This process appears to be working. Of 50 abstracts presented in St. Louis, 12 were submitted as papers by the end of the conference, and several more are expected. In the six m o n t h s since H e r r o n and Falcone's justifiable critique, onethird of the peer-reviewed papers in the Air Medical Journal have been presented in abstract form at previous AMTCs, as have several more papers currently undergoing the review process. We are receiving more and better manuscripts, including more international submissions. M a n y a u t h o r s have commented on the timeliness and high quality of the reviews and indicated their desire to continue submitting papers to AMJ. A popular cartoon character once lamented that "just when you think you've found out where it's at, somebody goes and moves it." This brings us to the future. We h a v e n ' t arrived; we've only j u s t s t a r t e d . Now t h a t the e d i t o r i a l b o a r d is in place, t h e m o n t h l y
Air Medical Journal ,, N o v e m b e r / D e c e m b e r 1993
"Editorial" will be a shared responsibility among its members and occasionally some guests. A new section, "Editor's C o m m e n t s , " also appears in this issue. This section will focus on a discussion of the papers in the c u r r e n t issue. Other new features are under consideration, such as a review of the curr e n t air medical l i t e r a t u r e published in other journals, a periodic update of the impact of health care reform on our profession, and continuing education articles. I have been told by other editors that we are attempting the impossible: the production of a journal that meets needs of nurses and pilots, medics and physicians, communications specialists and administrators. While no one is capable of the truly impossible, air medical professionals have a funny habit of accomplishing the highly unlikely. Thus, the Air Medical Journal editorial board (listed on page 411) is actively p u r s u i n g innovative approaches to meeting the widely divergent needs of our readership. As always, we w e l c o m e y o u r comments on what is appearing in these pages and on what you would like to see. •
References 1 Schwartz RJ, Jacobs LM; Analysis and comparison of research abstracts presented at AAMS, 1987-1990. JAMT 1992; 11(6):7-11. 2. Herron H, Falcone RE: Research presented at AMTC: Subsequent publication in indexed journals. Air Med J 1993; 12 (5) :119-122.
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