We enter 2026 with good news and much anticipation. The 2025 Journal Citation Reports released by Clarivate Plc was corrected, and the latest Journal Impact Factor for Singapore Medical Journal (SMJ) has been adjusted higher, from 1.9 to 2.2, compared to 1.7 in the preceding year. This improvement reflects the increasing quality of articles submitted to SMJ and the ongoing efforts of our editorial team. We will continue to solicit insightful state-of-the-art reviews from key domain experts and welcome original articles with robust methodology and novelty that are relevant to our readership. The themed issues planned for 2026 will focus on respiratory and critical care, geriatric emergency medicine, and resuscitation and first aid guidelines.
On a related note, we are pleased to announce that SMJ will collaborate with Agency for Care Effectiveness (ACE) to publish the ACE Clinical Guidelines (ACG) Evidence-to-Recommendation (EtR) frameworks this year. The EtR document outlines the underpinning evidence and rationale for the recommendations in the ACG. While updated evidence-based guidelines are important for busy clinicians in synthesising the current state of knowledge for care provision, it is equally important that clinicians critically appraise the soundness of the underlying scientific data and recommendations and assess how they can be individualised and applied in clinical practice. Hence, we felt that a more detailed document, rather than a concise table or flow charts, would better serve our readership. Guidelines should not be confused with legal standards of care, nor should they be taken at face value or followed indiscriminately. Critical thinking and appraisal by the individual clinician are crucial. A robust guideline development process, underpinned by explicit methodology and appropriate representation of qualified professionals, is important for credibility.
Finally, we are pleased to welcome the following new speciality editors to our editorial board in 2026: Dr Tan Li Feng (Geriatric Medicine), Dr Joanne Ngeow and Dr Kennedy Ng (Oncology), Dr Yeo See Cheng (Renal Medicine) and Dr Cyrus Ho (Psychiatry). We are also deeply grateful to our current editorial board members for continuing their dedicated service to SMJ. Last but not least, we hope that our editorial fellows will continue to grow under the mentorship of the editorial board and look forward to an exciting year ahead.