On behalf of my editorial board I am happy to present the first issue of 2020. As you read this, Professor Andrew Elder would have taken over as the president of our college from the beginning of March and we extend a warm welcome to him in his new role. We would like to thank Professor Derek Bell, the past president of our college, for his tremendous contributions over the last several years to the college and support to this Journal in particular.
You would have noted that this is the 50th volume of the Journal, a major milestone in any journal’s life. As many of you already know, this Journal was started way back in 1971 as the Chronicle (Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh). It was renamed Proceedings of the Royal College of Physicians of EdinburghP in 1988, and obtained its current title in 2002. To celebrate its 50th anniversary next year, the Journal is planning a series of events and I shall keep you posted on them. As a curtain raiser we will have an interesting paper by the college’s heritage team on the Journal’s history, which I hope you will look forward to reading in a forthcoming issue.
The Journal has consistently progressed in the last 2 years. The number of submissions from across the world has increased, simultaneously, owing to stronger editorial processes and peer review, the rejection rate has also risen. Its new webpage (www.rcpe.ac.uk/jrcpe) within the college website is pleasing to the eye, with easy navigational tabs and one-click PDF downloads for the papers. Soon the ahead of print page will have the final version of accepted manuscripts with digital object identifier details, linked to the ahead of print at MEDLINE.
Another major development will be the introduction of an online manuscript submissions system. This much awaited, user-friendly interface will provide all stakeholders, i.e. authors, editors, reviewers and the editorial office, with a superior experience and lead to more efficient management of manuscripts. To give authors and reviewers their due credit the system will have important features; for authors, ORCID and for reviewers, Publons. Once it is operational, we would inform you through all available channels.
On the social media front, on Twitter, the college’s External Relations and Policy team, through the hashtag #RCPEJournal, is reaching out to thousands and they deserve all the kudos for their hard work. The college organises several events (www.rcpe.ac.uk/events) throughout the year. The Journal is actively engaged in utilising and disseminating this rich academic resource in two ways. Firstly, by now having the symposia rapporteur reports published in the Journal (please see page 90). Secondly, we are regularly requesting the speakers at the symposia to contribute to the Journal in the form of relevant manuscripts.
The present issue of the Journal is a rich bouquet comprising interesting papers in each of its three sections. The Journal remains committed to the trainees in internal medicine and its subspecialties. Working together with the Senior Fellows Club, it supports the College Journal Prize for best original papers and case reports by the trainees as first authors. We would like to congratulate all the winners (details available on page 48). In this regard, Slater in his perspective (page 76) has expertly highlighted the value of case reports in our day-to-day clinical practice using the case reports published in the Journal in 2018–19 as examples.
I would like to draw your attention to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors guidelines that have been revised recently (available at www.icmje.org). They are extremely important ‘Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals’ and though are intended primarily for use by authors who might submit their work for publication, are useful for ‘editors, and others involved in peer review and biomedical publishing create and distribute accurate, clear, reproducible, unbiased medical journal articles’. This Journal follows these guidelines and ensures that all submitted manuscripts are scrutinised for compliance with these ethical standards.
I welcome feedback or suggestions regarding any aspect of JRCPE by email to drvinod12@gmail.com, or to the editorial team at editorial@rcpe.ac.uk.
Finally, the editorial team would like to thank Ms Nicole Spray for her efficient role as its Senior Production Editor since mid-2018 and wish her all the best for the future.
Vinod Ravindran
