A Season of Change

We would like to take this opportunity to announce a transition and change at the Journal of Reconstructive Microsurgery. Starting in the latter half of 2013, the Editor-in-Chief role at the journal will transition from Dr. Peter Neligan to Dr. Bernard Lee. We are all indebted to Dr. Neligan for his contributions to the journal as well as to the field of microsurgery.

Over the past 6 years, Dr. Neligan has led the journal through a multitude of changes, which have helped push our publication into the 21st century. The addition of the electronic manuscript submission system at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jrm has dramatically increased the number and quality of submissions over the past 6 years. Special Topic issues such as Imaging Modalities in Perforator Flaps, Composite Tissue Allotransplantation, Robotic Surgery, and the upcoming issue on Lymphedema have captured the latest innovations and progress within our field. All of this hard work has increased our impact factor to an all-time high of 1.432.

For the second half of 2013, the papers in the journal will be transition papers that have been processed through Dr. Neligan. Moving into 2014, in the 30th year of the journal, the workflow changes will have been completed and will continue under the capable watch of Dr. Lee. One of the major goals over the coming year will be reducing the review time for submissions. To that end, there will be some changes at the Editorial Board level mainly in the addition of new, younger members of our community.

In the past 6 years, we have also seen a lot of change in our society affiliations and relationships. We are proud to announce our latest affiliation with the European Federation of Societies for Microsurgery. This is in addition to the World Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery, American Society for Peripheral Nerve, and Robotic Assisted Microsurgical and Endoscopic Society.

We were disappointed to learn recently that the American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery has decided to end their affiliation with our journal. To those familiar with the journal, it was in 1984 that Dr. Berish Strauch, our Founding Editor Emeritus, established a place for the microsurgical community to publish and share academic papers in the Journal of Reconstructive Microsurgery. As a founding member and the first President of the American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery, the society and journal were aligned in mission and content. We owe Dr. Strauch a great debt as a pioneer in our field and most importantly, an organizer in our community.

We celebrate this season of change as we continue to expand the international scope of the journal while continuing to broaden its content to include complex reconstructive surgery. As we transition Dr. Neligan to an Editor Emeritus role, we also owe him a great debt in leading our journal to where it is today.