J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2002;124:7
© 2002 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery
The Editorial Board of The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
Andrew S. Wechlser, MD
From the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, MCP Hahnemann University, Philadelphia, Pa.
Received for publication May 13, 2002. Accepted for publication May 16, 2002.
Address for reprints: Pamela W. Fried, MCP Hahnemann University, 245 North 15th St, MS 496, Philadelphia, PA 19102-1192 (E-mail: jtcvs{at}drexel.edu).
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Introduction
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 Introduction
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In my Editor's Report for the year 2001, I indicated that we received more than 950 submissions to the Journal in our office. If you add to the workload of the editorial office and of the reviewers the fact that most articles that are published undergo at least one and frequently two revisions, it becomes apparent that we owe a huge debt of gratitude to those individuals who serve on our editorial board.
Nomination to the editorial board occurs by a process of consultation between the editor and the associate editors that results in recommendation of names to the entire Council of The American Association for Thoracic Surgery for approval. Individuals who are asked to serve on the editorial board must have displayed competence as a peer reviewer, timeliness as a peer reviewer, evidence of important contributions to our field, and good common sense. Editorial board members may review as many as 40 manuscripts a year. Most of our board members are busy clinicians who carve time from evenings and weekends to perform this vital function. I can only state, quite simply and sincerely, that the Journal and their colleagues are very much in their debt. This year we wish to note the departure from the editorial board of the following members: Fred Crawford, Jean Deslauriers, Frank Hanley, Joseph Miller, John Ochsner, Jack Roth, and Edward Verrier.
We would like to welcome to the editorial board the following individuals: Carl Backer, David Harpole, Harold Lazar, Michael Maddaus, Roger Mee, Marc Moon, Francis Spinale, Marko Turina, and Jakob Vinten-Johansen.
I have spoken with each of these individuals, all of whom have made their commitment to perform this invaluable service to the Journal. Many of you, our readers, are asked from time to time to provide peer review as a service to your colleagues. In a previous editorial, I defined some of the responsibilities and benefits for such endeavors. The high impact factor of the Journal and its prestigious position in the top 3.4% of all published journals are the consequence of a rigorous peer review process. For those readers who have not been called upon to provide peer review but who have contributed to the literature and would like to participate in the process, we encourage you to log on to our Web site (http://jtcvs.editorialmanager.com), register as a reviewer, and self-classify your interests. I offer you my thanks in advance for any help you provide to us in the future.
Our editorial board is international in scope because we are a journal with international reach. One third of our submissions are from North America, roughly another third are from Asia, and another third from Europe, with a smaller number emanating from South America. The Journal welcomes submissions from anyone who performs cardiothoracic surgery or is involved with investigational work of keen interest to cardiothoracic surgeons.
