CJS evolves
===========

* Garth L. Warnock

To advance its mission to deliver effective continuing medical education to Canadian surgical specialists, the *Canadian Journal of Surgery* has launched several new initiatives during the past 6 months. These initiatives include improved processes for manuscript submission and review, and support for increased numbers of editorial pages.

As of September 2008, the journal has proceeded to an online submission format. Aspiring authors may now upload their manuscripts through Manuscript Central ([http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cjs](http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cjs)). The aim is to improve timely turnaround from submission to publication as a service to authors and to enhance timely dissemination of knowledge to readers. Satisfaction with this process has already been expressed by contributing authors. In one author’s words, “This is so easy that I am pleased to make *CJS* my journal of choice!”

With the new online submission process, editorial board members will have enhanced responsibilities. They will now be called upon to serve as associate editors. They will see an increased volume of manuscripts for which they will be asked to seek appropriate referees. This will broaden the interaction of *CJS* with the editorial board and its community of reviewers and further reduce the time from submission to publication. This will also promote dialogue with the coeditors, who will assimilate final recommendations and continue to prepare final decisions for publication.

The journal has also received a boost of support from its 2 major supporting surgical societies, the Canadian Association of General Surgeons and the Canadian Orthopaedic Association. After careful discussion with the leaders of these 2 associations, we obtained approval for increased financial support for the journal. This support will complement the journal’s enhanced marketing and advertising efforts and deliver a greater number of editorial pages in each issue. For authors, this initiative means earlier publication of their work; for readers, it means more timely dissemination of information on important advances in surgery. The coeditors and the editorial board of the journal are most grateful to these specialty societies for supporting an increased financial commitment, and we look forward to sharing data about the improvement in quality of the journal that will result from this generous commitment.

As this editorial goes to press, Dr. James Waddell will step down after 2 outstanding terms as coeditor. Dr. Waddell has served so capably in this role, and has popularized the journal as a publication medium for high-quality articles submitted by the Canadian surgical community. Thank you Dr. Waddell for your leadership, you shall be missed! The reins of the coeditor position will be handed to Dr. Edward J. Harvey, who, as a member of the Canadian Orthopaedic Association, has capably served on the editorial board in the past. We look forward to continued leadership from Dr. Harvey as the journal continues to seek higher impact for its published articles and enhanced relevance to its readers. I will renew my 5-year commitment to continue as the other coeditor.

As *CJS* concludes the anniversary year of its half-century of service to Canadian surgeons, we look forward to the new, evolving review format, new leadership and broadened opportunity to present high-quality published data with improved turn-around. This has been a product of a dedicated editorial board and managing editorial staff in addition to solid support from the sponsoring societies.

To maintain the high quality of the journal, feedback from readers is essential. In the coming month, a readership survey will be made available to surgeons and residents. Please watch for this online survey and tell us how we are doing!

## Footnotes

*   **Competing interests:** None declared.