Welcome to the first issue of 2025, which marks the end of JDEP's (Journal of Diabetes and Endocrine Practice) seventh year. The number seven has a special status in many cultures. It is, therefore, appropriate at the end of the Journal's seventh year to stop and reflect on the past, examine the present, and look towards the future.
We will start with the present first. The current issue has a review article, two original articles, and two case reports. In addition, we have a conference abstract. We also have a comprehensive narrative review article on the glycemic control of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes in the United Arab Emirates by the Pediatric Endocrinology group at Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City in Abu Dhabi.
The issue has five original articles addressing important clinical and professional perspectives. The first is an exploratory survey of physicians attempting to map endocrinology training, certification, and service provision in Arab countries. It identifies much heterogeneity in training, certifications, and care provision. It also explored the balance and fair distribution of sharing the diabetes care provision between endocrinologists and other specialists, some of whom may claim to be “diabetologists” with no evidence of verifiable expertise. The second study examined the safety of finerenone in patients with chronic kidney disease during Ramadan fasting from Al Ain renal and endocrine groups. Although it is only a retrospective exercise, it remains the first to address this important issue. The third original article examined the frequency of cardiac events in patients with or without diabetes admitted to a cardiac unit at Dubai Hospital before, during, and after Ramadan. The fourth study evaluated the awareness of antithyroid drug-induced agranulocytosis in patients with thyrotoxicosis, similar to two previous studies from the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates (published in this Journal). However, they also evaluated awareness comparisons after a patient education and awareness-raising intervention. The fifth is a survey of physicians from the Middle East and North Africa on managing thyroid disorders during pregnancy. It is based on the original study conducted in Europe and repeated in several other regions. The authors also attempted to make some narrative comparisons with the previously published studies.
There are two case reports in the current issue. The first reported an adrenal crisis with hypercalcemia precipitated by levothyroxine initiation in a patient with polyendocrinopathy from the Al-Ain endocrine group. The second case report describes a patient with a syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion in which the use of empagliflozin raised the serum sodium and enabled timely surgery.
Lastly, we have the free communications of The Sixth Libyan Diabetes Conference held on November 14 to 16, 2024 at Tripoli Medical School, Tripoli, Libya. The Journal supports education and research in the region by airing conference abstracts to give them a wider audience beyond the conference auditorium and facilitate more collaborations.
Second, we will reflect on the past. The current issue is the first in JDEP's 8th year of life. Over the past 7 years, JDEP has progressed rapidly after a soft opening between 2018 and 2020. We have achieved our planned quarterly issues with the timely release of all the issues within their nominated quarters from 2021 onwards ([Table 1]). We have repeatedly reiterated our commitment to the goals of the Journal, as stated in the first issue.[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6] The variety of articles increased with a blend of reviews and original articles. We have kept the number of single case reports to a maximum of two to three per issue and carefully selected them to encourage more research-based articles and clinical and research reviews. Most of the original articles focused on subjects of regional interest.[7]
[8] The review articles addressed topical issues of immense clinical relevance. Most commentaries were written by international or regional experts who are accomplished and authoritative. We have strictly adhered to ethical and scholarly publishing principles and practices, although this may have meant some delay in publication. We still suffer from a significant degree of endogeny. However, we are addressing this more carefully. Such a phenomenon is seen in many emerging journals. It can only be combated by a flow of submissions by a wider base of researchers and clinicians from the localities and surrounding regions to dilute the contribution of the editors. Support from local academic institutions will have a great impact.[9]
Table 1
The increasing volume and varying content of work published in the Journal of Diabetes and Endocrine Practice (2018–2024)
|
Year
|
2018
|
2019
|
2020
|
2021
|
2022
|
2023
|
2024
|
|
Number of issues
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
|
Number of pages
|
46
|
15
|
120
|
231
|
180
|
197
|
203
|
|
Original articles
|
0
|
3
|
5
|
15
|
9
|
5
|
5
|
|
Review articles
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
6
|
4
|
5
|
9
|
|
Editorials
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
|
Viewpoints and commentaries
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
7
|
2
|
5
|
|
Cases and clinical vignettes
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
7
|
2
|
5
|
|
Conference-related[a]
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
4
|
4
|
|
Special communications
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
|
Total number of articles
|
5
|
4
|
10
|
37
|
34
|
23
|
31
|
a Conference-related material was either an abstract book submitted by authors or reflective accounts highlighting the conference proceedings by independent delegates.
For the future, we hope our publisher and indexation organizations value our contribution to the clinical and academic world of diabetes and endocrinology. The current medical journalism scene is muddled with the huge number of clones published by several multinational publishers and the increased flood of predatory entities.[10] We have recently recognized the danger of these entities, particularly the low awareness of this catastrophe by physicians in developing regions.[11]
[12]
[13] Legitimate emerging journals established by professional groups and academic institutions in developing countries are squeezed between these two forces. Although, understandably, many authors feel they will get more reach with their work in indexed journals.[9] Nonetheless, more journals are recognized via other search engines and databases. For instance, Exaly is a new nonprofit project addressing the absence of an open and comprehensive resource of scholarly literature and bibliometric data.[14] Based on 82 citations from 163 articles, JDEP was granted an impact factor of 0.3 ([Fig. 1]). We still hope our current and more readers and authors support the Journal in the critical pre-indexation stage of its life.
Fig. 1 The time distribution of citations between 2019 and 2023.
