“Is that all there is?” – As Peggy Lee sang in 1969...I asked myself after attending my last annual Editorial Board meeting of The Canadian Journal of Cardiology.
Robert B Kalina, Publisher
The Canadian Journal of Cardiology, the first of many journals launched by Pulsus Group, has now been sold to the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS). As of January 2011, it will be published by the Dutch-based corporation Elsevier, with copyediting being done in the United States.
The Canadian Journal of Cardiology has defined my life since its inception 26 years ago. It all began when I was attending rounds at St Michael’s Hospital (Toronto, Ontario) in 1984, and I asked a resident who was presenting a paper where he was going to publish it. He replied that no one would publish his Canadian study. I simply could not believe that Canadian researchers could not publish their work in a Canadian journal with a Canadian publisher. It was an incredibly strong motivator.
I was fortunate to be able to launch the Journal with the help of our first Editor-in-Chief, Dr Robert E Beamish, along with Dr Naranjan Dhalla, and all those who believed in the concept and agreed to sit on the Editorial Board. You can rest assured that in 1984, there were many who were not believers.
It was a risky venture. I borrowed money from the bank and from my parents. I was fortunate that my wife was willing and able to support the family during the unprofitable years and that my father-in-law, Dr Edwin Blakley, helped with the editing.
The first issue came out in January 1985, and it was not easy. In the early years, we did not have the support of the CCS and advertisers were reluctant to advertise in peer-reviewed journals. The Journal eked out a profit in the third year and eventually, after six years, became the official journal of the CCS. At that time, my friend, the late Dr Robert J Burns, sent me a letter from which I quote, “This was an obvious need and I want to congratulate you on your vision and persistence in achieving this”.
Advertisers slowly began to realize the value in reaching specialists and – by every measure – The Canadian Journal of Cardiology became a success. It is well read and highly respected, both here and abroad. It has a respectable impact factor and it serves as an excellent vehicle for publication of Canadian cardiovascular research.
Its success was largely due to the two Editors-in-Chief, Dr Robert Beamish and Dr Eldon Smith, the editorial boards, the authors, the readers, those pharmaceutical companies providing support and the strong Pulsus team headed first by Janet O’Flaherty and then by Ann LeBlanc. I thank you all.
These past 26 years have seen enormous changes both in the science of publishing and published science. They have been very rewarding for me, and I trust they have been just as rewarding for everyone associated with the Journal.
While I strongly believe that this was the right time for the sale of the Journal to the CCS, I cannot help feeling pangs of loss. These pangs come as a result of knowing that our esteemed journal will now be published by a non-Canadian publisher. Rather like the parents of an adolescent going off to university, I am reluctant to let go. However, we have done this knowing that the CCS is the right home for this journal, and that it will be supported and nurtured for years to come.
So, as I write this, my last Letter from the Publisher, I bid farewell to The Canadian Journal of Cardiology, comforted by the knowledge that I have placed my first-born (journal) in hands I trust.