As the IWJ continues to grow and mature, we see significant uptake of IWJ as the resource of choice for both academic and clinical groups with an interest in wound care. This year 2013 continued to demonstrate this and also our true international reach.
The year started with a significant event for our team with our Editor‐in‐Chief receiving an honour in recognition of his contribution to Medicine and Healthcare 1. This award takes into account the international profile he has and this includes the IWJ.
During the past 12 months the IWJ has published papers from the four corners of the globe ensuring its global reach and appropriateness to an international audience. China alone published six papers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 in this short time period, demonstrating the growing importance of this geographical region in our research and practice development.
The same short time period has seen the publication of several international consensus documents 8, 9, 10. The choice of the IWJ, for the dissemination of these important studies again demonstrates the value of the IWJ at a global level.
While the IWJ is proud to be international in its nature and its reach, it is also widely used to highlight local, regional initiatives and research to an international audience 11, 12, 13. Again the geographical spread of such studies goes from East to West and North to South covering all corners of the world.
Recent editorials have focused on new initiatives across the world and also touched upon the use of technology and social media to connect our world 14. These approaches are the way of the future, for the next generation of wound carers and we need to prepare our world for this evolution. In 2013 we saw the publication of important research from Iran showing an increasingly wider coverage 15.
The continuing expansion of the range of quality and quantity of papers submitted is producing added pressures for the editorial team. This, however, is a problem worth having as this can also be seen as a measure of the increasing profile and importance of the IWJ. We the editorial team are proud of the IWJ and its international standing within the wound care community. We would like to thank both our contributors and also our readership for their part in this evolutionary path and also in its success as demonstrated by yet another increase in our Impact Factor in 2013.
Here's to continued success and growth in 2014.
References
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