Vision, mission and formulation of newer approaches and goals at IJA: The scientific journey will continue

Scientific publication is a continual phenomenon where scholars keep on treading the difficult research paths to achieve their academic dreams and desires. In an era dominated by evidence-based medicine, adhering scientifically to research academics is becoming exceedingly difficult for an individual and one invariably requires help from the peers. Here comes the role of research 'TEAM' (Together Everyone Achieves More) which helps in various ways to accomplish the research work in a very meticulous manner over a shorter period, thereby decreasing the workload on an individual researcher. TEAM work is highly essential in a similar manner among editors and reviewers of Indian Journal of Anaesthesia (IJA) for achieving the greater heights which are further expected whenever new editorial board members take over.

A true introspection of the current IJA publication trends and academic scenario in our country is not that gratifying. We have not been able to make a sound impact on global anaesthesia standards although we have been very successful in formulating our own guidelines in many essential areas over the last few years. However, over the years, the ever improving publication of quality research articles in IJA is an indication of continual focussed efforts by Indian authors to come at par with global standards. Few of the publications in IJA over the last one decade are much better than many of the articles published in international journals with high impact factors. These efforts can be further strengthened by adopting higher research standards and treading on the right path of research methodology. Regularly attending the workshops of research methodology and scientific publication can possibly overcome this biggest limitation and will definitely create more awareness among Indian authors regarding concepts of accurate research process and designs as well as its methodological aspects. Such trends should be encouraged by making it mandatory to hold these research methodology and publication workshops during state and zonal conferences as well as making it compulsory during the postgraduate curriculum. This is very much possible as Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists (ISA) is already working hard to bring uniformity in the postgraduate anaesthesiology curriculum of our country. Involvement of ISA city, state and zonal leaders is exceedingly essential to create a positive intent of such quality research and publication standards. At present, these research methodology workshops are being conducted only on the behest of keen learners and on special requests by city and state representatives of ISA.

The increasing popularity of such workshops has made it clear that spark and ignition are there and the time is not that far when these workshops will have a bush fire impact in the entire nation. That will be the day when IJA will start having articles of highest quality matching with the best of international journals. However, such a revolution will definitely requires a lot of time, motivational efforts as well as participation of majority of anaesthesiologists, especially the young researchers and private practitioners. The leaders to bring these academic changes have to be from amongst us whether academicians or practitioners but these leaders should have a clear vision and intent irrespective of their professional working or academic background so as to accomplish this endeavour.

Change is an ever-evolving process but in academic arena it is primarily for good. We personally congratulate Dr. J. V. Divatia for carrying the flag of IJA high during his tenure. Change of guard at IJA helm of affairs may have happened but whatever good work has been accomplished till now will be carried in the same vein and more dedicated efforts will be exercised to bring further improvement in the quality of scientific publications in IJA.[1] Every new chair brings a lot of responsibilities and expectations. The change of chair at editor-in-chief position definitely stirs up many things at editorial board, publishing industry and the academic society, and last but not the least, even authors have their own reservations about it. We believe that strong editors can make drastic changes in the quality and functioning of the journal-editing process while at the same time encouraging the meritocracy and providing a new path and vision for the future progression of the journal. The conduct, behaviour, personality and discipline in daily routine of the chief editor can make a huge impact on the transitional phase of the journal to the next level. The leadership qualities and not just the academic achievements definitely have a greater influence on the journal's popularity and progression to higher standards. The world of biomedical journalism is full of such examples where the personal traits of an editor such as intensity, inspirational instincts, subtlety, intellectual attitude, pragmatic nature, analytical behaviour and power to control the publishing house have played a major role in elevation of the journal to higher impact levels. In our thinking, in spite of all these qualities of chief editor, it is the TEAM of editorial board which is equally responsible for the success of the journal and we are very pleased to have such renowned editors on our IJA editorial board.

Our first aim at editorial board will be to get the impact factor for our journal overcoming all the barriers and limitations in whatever way possible during our tenure. Lack of impact factor is one of the big reasons that many Indian and foreign authors are hesitant to submit good quality manuscripts as they feel that their work will not get appropriate credentials and visibility. Many quality systematic and narrative reviews have been published in IJA over the years but what we have seen is the absence of meta-analysis which should also be a regular feature in IJA and will be preferred over invited and voluntarily written review articles.

One of the best things happened over the years of IJA publishing is that we are not under any sort of pressure or influence from pharmaceutical companies sponsored research. If we compare the conflict of interest incidences in rest of the world, Indian publications seem more genuine. Carrying this momentum forward, we should further strive hard to bring more quality and novelty in our research work as well as publications.[2] This will not only enhance the standards of IJA publication but will also showcase the talent and dedication of our authors globally. It will further open many windows of opportunities for these talented and hard-working researchers not only at national level but at international platform also.

It has also been observed for a long time now that majority of submissions to IJA do not adhere strictly to technical guidelines. A larger number of technical limitations and errors cast a doubt in the mind of editor about the authenticity of the manuscript as well as express the lack of dedicated efforts put in by the authors during preparation of the manuscript. What we advise to our authors is that during submission of manuscripts to IJA, ensure that the article has methodological clarity, scientific validity, statistical appropriateness, novelty and avoidance of any plagiarism or falsification of data knowingly or inadvertently.[3] Such manuscripts will always have higher chances of acceptance and that too in a very short period.

In coming days we also aim to introduce statistical review stage during peer review by highly qualified biostatisticians, which is considered to be the weakest area in research work by majority of our Indian authors. This is aimed at improving the quality of manuscripts so as to enhance the visibility of the published work. Another important concern expressed by the authors over the years is the quality and lack of uniformity in peer review process. At IJA, all the manuscripts are submitted to the referees of highest repute and academic calibre. However, no two humans are exactly alike, so variation in their assessment is a part of peer review process. There is no formal training of any referee or editor but these skills are acquired over the years and we have got the best referees who are working hard for years for our IJA. Quality of many articles got improved by the constructive and guiding comments of our reviewers during the reviewing stages and many of these articles are now highly cited after getting published in IJA. Carrying the good review work of our referees forward, we aim to strengthen this aspect by introducing some formal training programs online as well as during conduct of research methodology and publication workshops. These programs will be launched in the current year, details of which are being worked upon, after spotting and identifying the talented young researchers throughout the country so as to make a large reviewer pool for the future.

The best judge of a published work is the target reader. However, these readers remain aloof to the unpublished work, which gets rejected/not published and is mainly handled by the editors and referees. This aspect will be given attention in our future publishing scenario and we aim to introduce the feedback system in which we will get the comments from authors whose articles have been rejected or not published and will try to convey how they can publish their article in some other journal after an article improvement advice besides addressing to the comments of the reviewers and editors. This will categorically encourage these researchers to do future research in a better way, thereby participating in improving the research scenario in our nation as a whole and enhancing the quality of IJA in particular so as to carry this scientific journey further in a more accomplished manner.