Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at 11 years of age

The present issue marked the end of 11 years of age of Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (IJMBS). The current issue has a variety of articles that reflects the interests of readership of the journal. The narrative review of the acute- and long-term effects of water pipe smoking on the respiratory system and the accompanying commentary eluding to the recent position statement on the impact of water pipe smoking on the cardiovascular system touch on a rising problem in many parts of the world.[[1]] Being seen as a social function in the Middle East and North Africa allows water pipe smoking to grow among the young and the educated including health-care professions. The viewpoint on the implication of 2023 ECFMG policy changes on medical education in developing countries, sends a wakeup call to academics and other health professional undergraduate education worldwide.[[2]] Those leading undergraduate institutions have a duty of ensuring that their graduates are enabled to undertake further specialist training in advanced countries before they return home or seek their fortunes worldwide.

The three original research articles reflect local experiences with the use of procalcitonin and other inflammatory markers in patients with sepsis and septic shock at a major hospital in Qatar; smoking habits and attitudes of diabetic patients in Tripoli, Libya; and normative data on retinal thickness in adults from Benghazi, Libya. These not only encourage doing local research but also help define the patterns of disease in more regions of the world other than the West. The three case reports not only reflect on the rare presentations of common cases with educational messages (retropharyngeal soft-tissue mass with multiple cranial neuropathies, hepatitis A-associated cholestasis, and aplastic anemia) but also contribute to the international literature by describing novel mutations (neurodevelopmental disorder with microcephaly, epilepsy, and brain atrophy).

The last year's narrative review on “Ramadan Fasting and Health” in 2017 was the most popular article in the journal being viewed by over 4224 readers.[[3]] Therefore, the team was invited to submit a similar review on the global literature production on the subject in 2018 published in the current issue.[[4]] Perhaps, it should become an annual ritual for the journal to publish such a narration. However, it would be more appropriate to be released in the first or the second issues rather than at the end of the year.

End of 2019 marks the end of editorial term of the current editorial board (2017-2019). We would like to than all of those who served on the board and supported the journal in all possible manner. We welcome interested people to be nominated by themselves or by others. Abilities and committments are the most important critieria for selection.

The present issue also marks the end of the 1^st year of new quarterly model. Although the editorial team felt more relaxed with less time pressure to meet the bi-monthly deadlines, it was hoped to enhance the ratio of the original research articles to the total number of articles and reduce the number of case reports. However, the former aim was not achieved fully. As with all journals, IJMBS depends on the number of submissions to select from as judged by the editors and peer reviewers. Naturally, it is the authors' prerogative to make the choice between open-access emerging journals or international journals. Yet, positive authors' experience from interaction with editors and helpful peer-reviewer's reports should attract more submissions. We are indebted to our reviewers.

The journal remains committed to its vision, principles, and practices. We are pleased that the journal has recently received a couple of unconditional educational grants from donors who wished to remain unknown. The grants should secure the financial position for a couple of years and should support our completely open-access model of the journal and even consider providing prizes for the most cited article each year.

We wish you a new and prosperous year for 2020.

Authors' contribution

Equal contributions.

Compliance with ethical principles

Not Applicable.

Publikationsverlauf

Eingereicht: 04. Dezember 2019

Angenommen: 10. Dezember 2019

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
07. Juli 2022

• References

• 1 Mogassabi W, Hasan SS, Mahadik SA, Mubarak RS, Ibrahim WH. Acute and long term effects of water pipe smoking on the respiratory system: A narrative review. Ibnosina J Med Biomed Sci 2019;11:140-50.
• 2 Elkhammas EA, Beshyah SA, Abdelmannan DK. Implication of the 2023 Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates policy changes for medical education in developing countries. Ibnosina J Med Biomed Sci 2019;11:135-7.
• 3 Beshyah SA, Hajjaji IM, Ibrahim WH, Deeb A, El-Ghul AM, Akkari KB, Tawil AA, Shlebak A. The year in Ramadan fasting research (2017): A narrative review. Ibnosina J Med Biomed Sci 2018;10:39-53.
• 4 Beshyah SA, Badi A, El-Ghul AM, Ghabroun A, Dougman KK, Eledrisi MS. The Year in “Ramadan Fasting and Health” (2018): A Narrative Review. Ibnosina J Med Biomed Sci 2019;11:151-70.