The Annals of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, which had been published for 34 years, mailed its last issue in December. The 8-times-a-year journal had a circulation of 33 000 medical and surgical specialists.
Dr. William Feldman, the editor, would not comment on the journal's demise, but a former editor told CMAJ he was stunned by the cease-publication order. Dr. John Last, the editor from 1990–98, thinks the journal got caught in a turf war between the specialties and Royal College, and simply lost the battle. “I'm just shocked by this,” said Last, who felt the Annals occupied an important niche in Canadian medicine. “I tried to emphasize broad issues that crossed over specialties, such as bioethics and economics, while I was there, and I think Bill Feldman tried to continue that.”
Another observer, who requested anonymity, said the “writing had been on the wall” for the Annals for several years. “There was really no raison d'être for it,” he said. “Many of the specialties already had their own journals, and it had been costing the college a lot of money because of the tight advertising market.”
Physician ambivalence about the journal was clear in recent letters to the editor. In August, Toronto gynecologist Michael Silver called for an open debate on the Annals' future. “If there was an option not to receive it and be credited with the real cost, I would take that option.”
This sentiment was also expressed in the final issue. “I support the idea of not receiving the journal, and being credited for the cost,” wrote Dr. Marius Pienaar, an obstetrician from Prince Rupert, BC.
However, another doctor warned that the Annals must be re-established quickly in some format. “Without an identifying publication,” warned Dr. Nis Schmidt of Vancouver, “the Royal College will diminish in influence.”
Dr. James Hickey, the college's director of fellowship affairs, says options for an alternative publication are being considered. — Patrick Sullivan, CMAJ
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