Volume 100
This January issue of the British Journal of Anaesthesia (BJA) is the first in Volume 100 of the journal. The mathematics of how a journal entering its 85th yr reaches its 100th issue is complicated, but essentially reflects the changes and growth of anaesthesia as a specialty and is worth explaining. The BJA was founded in 1923 with the first issue appearing in July of that year. The Editor was H. M. Cohen, a New York born anaesthetist who had settled in Manchester. The journal issues appeared quarterly throughout the 1920s and 1930s with, curiously, the first issue of each volume appearing in the autumn. During most of the 1940s, presumably due to rationing of paper, only two issues per year were produced and each volume number covered 2 yr. By 1950 (Volume 22), the more usual pattern of volumes starting with the January issue was set with initially four issues per year rising to six in 1954 and 12 in 1955. This reflects the expansion at this time in both the clinical role of anaesthesia and the growth of clinical and basic science research in anaesthesia. This continued up to 1987 (Volume 59) where the combined size of the 12 issues was more than 1600 pages. The incoming editor, Graham Smith, as part of a number changes which would increase the pagination further,1 introduced two volumes per year. It is interesting to browse through the archive which is available to all on the BJA website: http://www.bja.oxfordjournals.org. This site allows the reader access to the text of all issues from Volume 1 Issue 1 in July 1923 through to the current issue.In the course of its 100 volumes, the BJA has had only 10 editors, Hyman Cohen, Joseph Blomfield, E. Falkner Hill, T. Cecil Gray, J. Edmund Riding, Alastair Spence, William Fitch, Graham Smith, Jennifer Hunter, and myself. Each editor has introduced changes which have reflected the developments in anaesthesia as a specialty and the developments in publishing. This latter aspect has been most noticeable in the past 10–15 yr with the electronic developments in publishing. These have produced benefits for authors and editors at all stages of the process from submission to printing the final version. Indeed, it is now possible for manuscripts to go through the whole cycle of submission, assessment, decision, revision, re-assessment, acceptance, editing, typesetting, and proofing without ever having been in paper form. This has resulted in a much faster turn-round time for manuscripts where, in the past 2 yr, we have an average ‘time to first decision’ of around 25 days. Only 5 yr ago, before electronic submission, the ‘quicker’ journals were offering decisions in 3–5 months. Electronic submission has also had the benefit of allowing a much wider access to the journal and in each of the past few years we have received manuscripts from more than 50 countries worldwide. The BJA also has the benefit of a large international pool of assessors and the Board are extremely grateful to them all for their time and expertise in reviewing manuscripts.
The BJA has been at the forefront of introducing other electronic facilities to anaesthesia with the use of online only submission,2 electronic correspondence sections,3 and online Continuing Medical Education4 (CME). The online version of the journal on our website (http://www.bja.oxfordjournals.org) has many useful facilities. All manuscripts from 2000 onwards are linked in their online version to Highwire. This allows the reader access to what is essentially a search engine for related papers. Clicking on a reference from an online BJA manuscript links directly to the cited manuscript in its original form on its own website and a similar facility there will allow further links from the references in this article onto others. Additional useful connections available on BJA online articles include links to: related articles in the BJA, other articles by these authors, and articles that have cited this manuscript.
With the ease of electronic access, it would be simple to go to online only publication. However, an earlier exploration of this approach in 2000 by the BJA was not welcomed by our readers. Interestingly, a very recent survey of some of our readers again showed strong support for continuing with a hardcopy version of the journal and developing the online facilities. The Editorial Board of the BJA intend to continue for the foreseeable future with a hardcopy version.
Having reached three figures, it is an appropriate time to celebrate and also to reflect. To this end, in the five subsequent issues of Volume 100, members of the Board will be producing editorials examining the past and future roles of the various types of manuscripts we publish: editorials, reviews, clinical investigations, laboratory investigations, and case reports. We trust that these editorials will meet the approval of our readers and stimulate discussion—electronically, of course.
Editor-in-Chief
British Journal of Anaesthesia
Sheffield
UK
E-mail: c.s.reilly{at}sheffield.ac.uk
References
1 Smith G. Editorial changes in the British Journal of Anaesthesia. Br J Anaesth (1988) 60:1–2.
2 Hunter JM. The latest changes...no more shorts. Br J Anaesth (2004) 92:7.
3 Reilly CS. British Journal of Anaesthesia: enhancing the author and reader experience. Br J Anaesth (2006) 97:443–4.
4 Howell S, Rowbotham DJ, Reilly CS. On-line continuing education—another step forward. Br J Anaesth (2007) 98:3.
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