Volume 21, Issue 1 , Pages 1-2, January 2008
The Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography: Looking Back, Looking Ahead
Article Outline
This issue of the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography (JASE) marks a milestone. It is the first issue of the official journal of the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) ever to have been edited by someone other than its founding editor, Dr Harvey Feigenbaum. Quite literally, the ASE exists, and the JASE has become the premiere publication in our subspecialty, because of Dr Feigenbaum’s extraordinary vision and passion for echocardiography. At this time of transition, it seems fitting not only to look ahead, but also to look back.
Looking Back
The first issue of JASE was published in early 1988. As discussed in this month’s President’s Message (page 23A), ASE leaders at the time debated enthusiastically the pros and cons of starting a new journal. Eventually the wisdom prevailed that it was time to expand ASE’s educational role by developing an official publication. When it came to choosing a founding editor, however, there was no debate whatsoever. Harvey Feigenbaum was the unanimous choice to serve as the journal’s first editor-in-chief. During the past 20 years, he has nurtured and guided this publication, helping it to grow into ASE’s most wide-reaching educational activity, the primary forum for ASE guidelines and standards documents, and an important resource for all health care professionals who use cardiovascular ultrasound for patient care and investigators who use cardiovascular ultrasound in their research. None of this would have been possible without the vision, energy, and commitment of Harvey Feigenbaum.
During his term as editor-in-chief, Dr Feigenbaum published more than 20,000 pages containing nearly 3,000 original articles, guidelines and standards documents, review papers, case reports, letters to the editor, and even an occasional editorial. The number of publications per year has more than tripled, and so has the number of pages published. I suspect that Dr Feigenbaum reviewed more than 6,000 articles submitted by prospective authors from around the world to be considered for publication. Although ably assisted over the years by associate editors including Bill Armstrong, Tom Ryan, Doug Segar, Steve Sawada, and Bijoy Khandheria, and in the past year by Jules Gardin and myself, and by section editors including David Adams, Joe Kisslo, Pam Douglas, and Alan Waggoner, Dr Feigenbaum himself did the vast majority of the work that has made our official journal the success that it is today.
Many readers have heard Dr Feigenbaum described as the father of echocardiography. He is, however, quick to acknowledge that he did not invent the technique and was not even the first to use it in the United States. I do know that he is proud of the title as it pertains to the large number of professional offspring whom he has trained, and who themselves have become leaders in the field. It seems fitting to devote part of this issue to pay tribute to Dr Feigenbaum. I am indebted to Dr Arthur Weyman for agreeing to take on the role of guest editor for this project, to select the topics and writers, and to edit the draft manuscripts. Dr Weyman invited some of Dr Feigenbaum’s notable trainees to write articles that do not just praise the man, but also celebrate the accomplishments that they made together. I do not believe that it is overstating the truth to observe that anybody who reads this journal has been affected directly by the extraordinary contributions to echocardiography made by Dr Feigenbaum and his colleagues.
Looking Ahead
I am tremendously honored, and also tremendously humbled, to have the opportunity to take over the direction of the journal. Others have also had the dubious distinction of taking over the role of editor-in-chief after the long tenure of a legendary founding editor. When Dr Simon Dack, founding editor of the American College of Cardiology’s official journal (the American Journal of Cardiology from 1958-1992, and subsequently the Journal of the American College of Cardiology), retired after a 35-year term as editor-in-chief, his successor, Dr William Parmley,1 quipped that he felt “a little bit like the player who replaced Babe Ruth in right field for the Yankees.” I share that sentiment. Fortunately, I have the enviable opportunity to take responsibility for a well-established journal that is already widely recognized and acclaimed. I am committed to doing all I can to make it even better.
Readers will have noticed the new cover design, achieved with considerable help from staff at Elsevier, our publisher. The acronym JASE is prominently featured, because that is what our journal is commonly called. We have incorporated our new logo and used its color scheme. Because JASE focuses on cardiovascular imaging, we thought it proper to include on the cover an image reflecting the content in that issue. Each cover will also list several of the articles in that issue, encouraging readers to look inside. I hope that readers find the cover fresh, attractive, and a helpful preview of the contents.
What appears inside the journal is of course far more important than the cover. In an editorial on the first page of the first issue of the journal, Dr Feigenbaum described its purpose.2 He wrote, “It is our intention that the Journal meet a multitude of needs. First of all this publication will include peer-reviewed, original articles. We intend to publish a variety of investigations that are pertinent to furthering the field of echocardiography. We will make special efforts to encourage the publication of technical and clinical manuscripts.” He also noted “illustrations can be optimized in a journal that is particularly sensitive to the unique needs of … articles about echocardiography.” These general goals remain very relevant. JASE will continue to give high priority to original clinical research describing advances that lead to improved patient care. We will also continue to publish preclinical articles that describe important and novel research findings that we believe ultimately will lead to new approaches to diagnosis or treatment. We have high interest in timely state-of-the-art reviews of topics of general interest to our readers. We will continue to publish selected case reports, with particular interest in those that are succinct, easy to read, illustrated clearly, and accompanied by several important teaching points. Echocardiography is a dynamic imaging format, and in recent years we have pushed the envelope of communications technology by publishing case reports in our online journal and including dynamic video clips to illustrate important findings. In the future, we will expand the availability of dynamic images in the journal. We have selected a new font, narrowed the margins on each printed page, and changed the formatting of tables and figures so as to use precious editorial pages more efficiently. This will allow us to print more articles in a given number of editorial pages, benefiting both readers and prospective authors.
Many ASE members (and JASE readers) are eager not only to keep current with the latest developments in our field, but also to earn continuing medical education (CME) credits for such activities. Documentation of CME is needed to maintain sonographer credentialing, physician certification, and laboratory accreditation, which are important parts of ASE’s long-standing commitment to excellence in cardiovascular ultrasound and its application to patient care. Hence, publication of relevant and authoritative articles, accompanied by opportunities to earn CME credits, is a high priority. The editors of JASE are dependent on experts in the field to write such articles. We will invite state-of-the-art review articles, but are very interested in high-quality, author-initiated review articles.
On taking the position of editor of circulation research, Dr Carl Schmidt3 noted the editor’s duty “to strive for the highest possible scientific and literary standard in each manuscript.” He also wrote, “the Editor and his Editorial Board have the responsibility to forestall substitution of quantity for quality wherever they can.” In addition to these time-honored duties, the editor of a modern journal also needs to take advantage of new opportunities made possible by evolving communications technology. Although these and other responsibilities ultimately are mine, I am fortunate to have the assistance of an expanded group of associate editors: Jules Gardin, Bijoy Khandheria, Victor Mor-Avi, and Jeff Stevenson, as well as Section Editor Alan Waggoner. These dedicated colleagues bring expertise in important areas of growth such as vascular ultrasound, advanced imaging and analytic techniques, and congenital heart disease. They will facilitate inclusion of more state-of-the-art review articles and occasional editorial perspectives, and stimulate increased participation by interested sonographers. They and I will set priorities for which articles ultimately can be published in JASE, because as the number of articles submitted continues to grow, our acceptance rate must de facto decline. As is the case for all top cardiovascular journals, JASE is not able to publish every good article that we receive. We will use our best judgment to select those articles most worthy of publication, within the constraints of pages available. I am also delighted that Dr Feigenbaum will continue to play an active role as editor emeritus, lending his experience and sage advice, and helping to develop new and exciting online capabilities.
The editorial offices of JASE have relocated to ASE’s administrative headquarters in Raleigh, NC. This will help to integrate JASE with related society activities. Working with Amy Stewart in Dr Feigenbaum’s office to ensure a smooth transition, Nicole Egan and Cathy Kerr have learned the nuances of our editorial management system. The process of submission, review, and editorial decision is fully electronic. The JASE World Wide Web site is easily reached from a link on the ASE World Wide Web site. Authors and readers can contact the journal at jaseoffice@asecho.org.
Although under “new management,” JASE is committed to maintaining the tradition of publication excellence established by its founding editor, Harvey Feigenbaum. We rededicate ourselves to: (1) publish novel, well-written, clinically relevant articles that will help readers better care for their patients; (2) provide prospective authors with timely and constructive feedback, based on quality peer review; (3) minimize delays in the review process; and (4) shorten as much as possible the interval from acceptance to production of published manuscripts. To accomplish this, we will need the assistance of the echocardiographic community. I look forward to the challenges ahead, and can be reached at jaseeditor@asecho.org if you have comments or suggestions.
References
PII: S0894-7317(07)00812-7
doi:10.1016/j.echo.2007.11.008
© 2008 American Society of Echocardiography. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Volume 21, Issue 1 , Pages 1-2, January 2008