A new year, a new index, and more hope

Despite the challenges of the COVID19 pandemic, Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences survived last year with a record number of articles of various topics and formats.[[1]] Among the Tsunami in COVID19-focused publications[[2]], 3509 PubMed records involved the Middle East and North Africa and 4855 involved Arabic-speaking countries out of a total of 114,988 records detected at the time of writing of this editorial (March 22, 2021). We would have been happier if more articles of regional concerns on COVID-19 were submitted to regional and national journals rather than to other far away journals that may have not been accessed by readers from our region nor have the interests of the region in the center of their interests.[[3]],[[4]],[[5]] We feel it would have been more appropriate for such articles on regional concerns to be published in regional journals.[[6]] Notwithstanding, we recognize that it remains the prerogative for the authors, yet a balanced approach should help enhance medical journalism in the developing regions.[[7]]

We have recently learned from our publisher that IJMBS has been selected for inclusion in the Emerging Sources Citation Index by the Web of Science. Articles published after January 1, 2019, will be included in the aforementioned Index. In future, IJMBS may be evaluated and added to additional Clarivate Analytics products to meet the needs of the scientific and scholarly research community. Although this is obviously a piece of good news, it should not distract the focus of the Editorial Board from the primary target index namely PubMed which the key index recognized by clinicians.

The current issue is fairly small in volume. However, it has a few important articles. The review of the ethics of transplantation in Arab counties is a comprehensive resume of the subject. There are two surveys; one documenting the perceptions of physicians and scientists of peer reviewing and the other describing the knowledge, attitudes, and practices about hepatitis B among medical and dental students in Karachi. In addition, there are a few more educational articles.

By end of 2020, Salem Beshyah stepped down as joint editor-in-chief since he was appointed as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Diabetes and Endocrine Practice, the official publication of the newly formed Gulf Association of Endocrinology and Diabetes. However, he will continue in a supporting capacity as a deputy editor. From this issue onwards, Elmahdi Elkhammas will resume his role as a solo editor-in-chief and he should more time since he relinquished his clinical practice in September 2020. We would like to thank all the editors who are leaving the editorial board for services over the last few years. We would also like to recognize all the donors who supported the journal many of whom insisted to remain unnamed.

The path to international recognition is paved with achievements and guided by ambitions, and full of challenges.[[8]] We remain focused on our objectives, adherence to our principles, and optimistic about our future.

Authors' contributions

Equal.

Compliance with ethical principles

Approval not required.

Conflict of Interest

Nil.

• References

• 1 Beshyah SA, Elkhammas EA. Surviving through the COVID-19 pandemic! Ibnosina J Med Biomed Sci 2020;12:143-4.
• 2 Beshyah SA, Hajjaji IM, Elkhammas EA. COVID-19 pandemic: A tsunami in medical practice and research. Ibnosina J Med Biomed Sci 2020;12:77-9.
• 3 Karamouzian M, Madani N. COVID-19 response in the Middle East and north Africa: Challenges and paths forward. Lancet Glob Health 2020;8:e886-7.
• 4 Ibrahim H, Kamour AM, Harhara T, Gaba WH, Nair SC. COVID-19 pandemic research opportunity: Is the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) missing out? Contemp Clin Trials 2020;96:106106.
• 5 Wehbe S, Fahme SA, Rizk A, Mumtaz GR, DeJong J, Sibai AM. COVID-19 in the Middle East and North Africa region: An urgent call for reliable, disaggregated and openly shared data. BMJ Glob Health 2021;6:e005175. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-005175.
• 6 Beshyah SA, Ibrahim WH, Hajjaji IM, Ben Mami F, Arekat M, Abdelmannan DK. Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Clinical Practice, Medical Education, and Research: An International Survey. Tunis Med 2020;98:610-8.
• 7 Beshyah SA. Authors' Selection of Target Journals and Their Attitudes to Emerging Journals: A survey from two developing regions. Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J 2019;19:e51-7.
• 8 Elkhammas EA, Beshyah SA. Ibnosina journal of medicine and biomedical sciences 2009–2019: Achievements, ambitions, and challenges. Ibnosina J Med Biomed Sci 2020;12:1-5.

Publication History

Received: 22 March 2021

Accepted: 22 March 2021

Article published online:
14 July 2022