New Resolutions for 2015, But Orthopedics Remains Clinical, Trusted, Independent

Orthopedics was launched 38 years ago with H. Andrew Wissinger at the helm. In his first editorial, Dr Wissinger wrote, “Orthopedics will offer to its readers quality articles dealing with practical orthopedics. Our intent is to present a maximum amount of practical information in a minimum amount of space. The result will be useful information without loss of time for our readers.”1 That original mission still rings true today. During the time since the Journal launched (I was an Editorial Board member), thousands more scholarly journals exist, whether print and online, or online only, and probably 10s of orthopedic-related journals. Despite this glut of published content, Orthopedics continues to retain a niche in the orthopedic literature, which is, publishing clinical research articles, reviews, and case reports that our readers consider practical orthopedics. “Clinical, Trusted, Independent” best expresses our mission. In looking back at the first volume, I also noted Andy Wissinger stated in his second editorial for the Journal: “Our editorial policy mandates the publication of all accepted material within 90 days.”2 In the late 1970s, the days of manual manuscript tracking, snail mail, and slower printing and production processes, that was truly a lofty goal. With the vast increase in submissions over the years, however, we have not always maintained that speed of publishing (in 1978 we could never have imagined over a thousand submissions per year). But it remains a goal and I believe we are well on our way to reaching it again. Since the Journal began charging a manuscript submission fee last May, I am happy to report our submissions have decreased in number, but have increased in quality. The content in the Journal continues to be freely accessible, and the print issue free to all US orthopedic surgeons. The website, www.healio.com/ORTHO, received over 2 million page views in 2014, a real milestone. I am also pleased to announce the availability of the Journal issues online starting at volume 1, issue 1, which was one of our goals for 2014. For 2015 we will be announcing some new Journal awards, including an annual one for Best Clinical Article. Orthopedics continues to be your outlet for important clinical papers, which are indexed in Medline/PubMed (the Journal also has a 5-year impact factor of 1.220). Unlike some of the predatory journals with unethical practices being published these days, Orthopedics is a trusted source for both authors and readers. While we are constantly evolving and improving, we hope to continue our original mission for many years to come.