Leading article

Adding value to BJSJ. J. Earnshaw and D. Alderson(e-mail: jjearnshaw@tiscali.co.uk)

Published online in Wiley Online Library (www.bjs.co.uk). DOI: 10.1002/bjs.7382

Scientific articles published in theJournal and on the website are centralto BJS. Attracting and publishinghigh-quality papers are fundamentalactivities and remain the principalfocus of the editorial team.

Readers will notice a new cover for2011 with a surgical illustration thatwill change every month. This imagewill usually be selected from articlespublished in BJS. We hope this willencourage authors to continue tosubmit high-quality illustrations withtheir papers that could be featured onthe front cover.

Reader surveys have suggested thatBJS users are eager for more than justthe science of surgery. Commentarieson selected articles, videos of surgicaltechnique and podcasts are all recentadditions to add value to the printedword. The Editors welcome feedbackon these initiatives.

The BJS website has also under-gone a major upgrade. It remains arepository for the entire BJS archive,as well as giving easy access to thecurrent edition of BJS and future pub-lications through Earlyview, togetherwith direct access to the Wiley OnlineLibrary. The BJS Clinical Librarywill contain additional online mate-rial, supplementary to papers pub-lished in the Journal, technical videosof methods described in submittedpapers and the archive of Snapshotsin Surgery. The taxonomy has beenrevised to make the Library moreintuitive and searchable. In time,

we hope that this becomes a usefuleducational resource, allowing mate-rial to be accessed for presentationsand lectures.

The Snapshots in Surgery willchange during 2011, moving fromsimple pictures to an educational for-mat with questions. If this is popularwith the readership, we hope that thiscould become formally recognizedas a contribution to the ContinuingProfessional Development of the sur-geon. There will be further podcastsand videocasts summarizing paperspublished in BJS to put them in awider context.

Experimental research is thebedrock of the future of surgical prac-tice, yet some experimental paperspublished in BJS are rarely cited,perhaps because their relevance todaily surgical practice is difficult toappreciate. The emphasis will, there-fore, be on translational work wherethere is a reasonable prospect of clin-ical application or at least knowledgethat might impact on surgical strate-gies in the near future. To give focusto these experimental papers, authorswill be asked to put their research intoclinical context using a box called ‘sur-gical relevance’ that will be publishedadjacent to the abstract on the frontpage of the manuscript. The lengthof experimental articles will also berestricted to encourage succinct andclear presentation.

In an era of evidence-basedmedicine, BJS has championed meta-

analyses, systematic reviews andrandomized controlled trials. Wecontinue to devote more space tothese article types than other journalsconcerned with surgery in general.The Editors are conscious, however,that well constructed observationalstudies remain important and that‘state-of-the-art’ reviews can be use-ful where an evidence base is weak,particularly in relation to the intro-duction and acceptance of novel tech-niques. It is planned to include a smallnumber of ‘state-of-the-art’ papers in2011. Another area to receive greaterattention will be trauma. Many gen-eral surgeons are still responsible forthe management of trauma and BJS isoften asked to increase the number ofarticles on this subject. A 13th issuewill therefore be published at the endof 2011, devoted to trauma from theperspective of the general surgeon.This will include invited articles andoriginal papers (after standard peerreview).

Although the Journal has a distin-guished past, the need to maintainthe highest possible quality both inprint and electronic formats demandsprogress and adaptation. BJS intendsnot only respond to many of thechallenges in the arena of scientificpublication but to be seen as a leaderin innovation. The Editors welcomecomment and suggestion to continuethis process.

2010 British Journal of Surgery Society Ltd British Journal of Surgery 2011; 98: 1Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd