Welcome to the December issue of the Indian Journal of Rheumatology (IJR), my final issue, as I near completing 4 years of my tenure as editor-in-chief. The last 3 years has seen an unprecedented health crisis worldwide in the form of COVID-19 pandemic. Despite that, health-care workers the world over have shown tremendous resilience and determination in carrying out their professional and academic duties. In the same breath, a tsunami of research activities were performed and published on various aspects of COVID-19 and its impact on disease management across the specialties. Authors, reviewers, and editors of all scientific journals including IJR need to be commended for carrying on with their professional duties, including care of patients, as well as publication-related activities without any interruptions.
Previous Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Vinod Ravindran, has set the template for the wider visibility worldwide and increased number of high-quality submissions to the journal by getting it indexed in Scopus and Emerging Sources Citation Index in his tenure. This has yielded results in the last 4 years during my tenure. The current impact score (IS) 2021 of IJR is 0.58, computed in May 2022, and is showing a rising trend as it was 0.2 in 2018 and 0.38 in 2020. If the current trend is maintained, then it will rise further. According to the SCImago Journal Rank, IJR is ranked 0.215. Thanks to our social media editors, the journal is visible now on Facebook and Twitter as well.
The journal continues to print four quarterly issues with two supplements every year. As part of imparting training and educating young researchers, journal editors continue to hold multiple (1–2 days) workshops on scientific writing and publication ethics across the country. All of the workshops till date were received well.
I must thank the Indian Rheumatology Association society who continued to fund the journal and helped in maintaining the platinum open-access model till date. With the trend of moving to open-access model and increased article processing charges, one can hope that IJR may start getting more and more submissions if it maintains platinum open-access model (neither the authors nor the readers are charged). However, policy toward this is best left for the succeeding Editor-in-Chief and the IRA society.
Professor Aman Sharma from Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, a renowned academician and researcher, especially in the field of small-vessel vasculitis, is going to be the new Editor-in-Chief from January 2023. He is on advisory board of many national and international committees and I am sure, given his vast experience and knowledge, the journal is going to rise high up in the next few years. My best wishes are for him.
I wish to make an appeal to all the members of the Indian Rheumatology Association and those who practice rheumatology in the country to not only submit their original research papers to the journal but also come forward voluntarily to support the journal by becoming reviewers to the journal.
I do not have enough words to thank all the associate and assistant editors and reviewers who worked tirelessly with great enthusiasm and passion without getting anything in return, except sleepless nights and cutting down on their personal and family times, for the betterment of the journal. I hope the same commitment will continue in future as well.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
