At this time of year, one is inclined to look back and assess how one might better move forward. The NZMJ has been electronic since 2 July 2002. We have received 169 articles since going electronic, accepted 46 and rejected 16, while 107 are still undergoing review or revision. There have been times when a submitted original article has been reviewed by two referees and the editorial staff and accepted within a week; however there are many more instances when things take longer. The mean time from acceptance to publication currently stands at 38 days. As the new order settles, we expect this time to diminish. The impact factor1 of the NZMJ over the last few years is shown in the following table.2,3

Since the change of medium, there have been moves afoot to change what we publish. In this issue, there are a number of such changes that have made it into the Journal. We introduce three new features.

“This Issue in the Journal” is a column that briefly outlines (80 words, four sentences) the original articles in plain English. The authors write this themselves. It is recognised that though the original articles represent the “science” in the Journal, they can be the least interesting part for many readers. Others are interested to know what the articles say, but are unwilling or unable to wade through the jargon even of the tightly formatted but often difficult to follow abstract, let alone the article itself. Other journals (the BMJ, The Lancet, and the New England Journal of Medicine, for example), have found the concept of a plain English summary helpful to readers.

“Medical Images” is also launched in this issue. This feature will be under the direction of Professor Tim Buckenham, Professor of Radiology in Christchurch. The image published this week is of a watch found at endoscopy in a patient’s stomach.4 We would be interested to review any medical image submitted electronically in the normal manner. A brief caption is required as well.

The Journal has published case reports for many years (and will continue to do so), and these have been much liked by readers. An example of a conventional case report is provided in this week’s issue by Wakeman et al.5 There is, however, a role for briefer reports. As with traditional case reports, they should highlight interesting cases that have a message, be well written and well referenced. They should be 600 words maximum (plus a table, figure or image). The Journal will call this new feature “Case Notes”. We have two examples in this issue and I am hoping to expand the section to three or four items per issue.

There are two other areas that are not touched upon in this issue, but that I would hope to see appearing soon. Firstly, articles covering New Zealand audit data. Many reports are written for various groups such as ACC, HDC etc, but the data quoted are usually not relevant to New Zealand. The outcome of patients treated in many New Zealand centres doesn’t match that of the best centres in the world, nor would one expect it too, due to case mix, case volumes, resources and many other influencing factors. Many New Zealand centres produce good audit data and outcome results that are relevant to New Zealand. These data are vital to allow benchmarking for practises around New Zealand and to let us all know how outcomes of healthcare practices in New Zealand really compare.

The second area that I would like to see developed is in regard to what is best called “dusty”, or perhaps “dead”, research. Many doctors begin masters or doctorate-level research, and give up due to pressures of clinical work, home life or changes in direction. Their research, though often complete, is never published or submitted as a thesis. Others, having obtained their higher degree, find that they are sick of their thesis topic by the time it is accepted. When they eventually feel able to come back to writing papers, many find they are unable to get their research published. The NZMJ will undertake to publish this research if the methodology is good, and the papers well written. I hope to have an example in the next issue.

I had stated that it was my aim to reduce publication of the NZMJ to once a month, like The Medical Journal of Australia. After discussion with the management board we are agreed to publish 20 editions a year. This means twice a month, except for the months of December, January, February and March.

We are hoping to survey readers’ views about all the developments to the Journal over the last 12 months midway through 2003. If you have any questions that you think we should consider, please submit.

We are always happy to hear from our readers at sarah.webb@cdhb.govt.nz

Correspondence: Professor Frank A Frizelle, Department of Surgery, Christchurch Hospital, Private Bag 4710, Christchurch. Fax: (03) 364 0352; email: frank.frizelle@cdhb.govt.nz