The past two years (spanning the COVID-19 pandemic) have been interesting and challenging times in the journal publishing arena in general and for the Journal of Arthroplasty specifically. As with many journals, the number of submissions increased tremendously from 2180 in 2019 to 2979 in 2020 (Fig. 1 ). Thanks to our committed Journal editorial staff and reviewers, as well as the staff at Elsevier, Aegis Peer Review Management, and American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, the Journal did not skip a beat.
Fig. 1.
Manuscript submissions to Journal of Arthroplasty over the last decade by year.
Over the last decade, our editors and reviewers have developed a nimble, efficient, and punctual culture and infrastructure which allowed the Journal to process the accelerated volume of submissions, while maintaining the timeliness and quality of the review process (eg, 16 days to first decision, 57 days from acceptance to e-publication, and 120 days from acceptance to print publication). During that time, the Journal has remained committed to publishing all manuscripts that have met our stringent peer review process. Hopefully, the readers have noticed the robust numbers of pages and articles per volume that were required to accomplish this monumental task (Fig. 2 ). The Journal accomplished this without losing sight of its strategic initiatives, which include the following: developing a robust social media platform; providing editor specialization to insure expertise in important content areas such as large databases, machine learning and artificial intelligence, systematic reviews and meta analyses, and proceedings of meetings; and the development of a visual abstract program that has been highlighted in the October issue. In addition, Journal of Arthroplasty is pursuing novel content to enhance the field of hip and knee arthroplasty. Finally, the Journal is developing strategies to further incorporate diversity in its editorial and reviewer staff as well as in its review of publications. Many of these improvements and strategies have contributed to the improvement of the Journal of Arthroplasty impact factor over the last decade (Fig. 3 ).
Fig. 2.
Number of papers and pages published in Journal of Arthroplasty over the last decade by year.
Fig. 3.
Change in Impact Factor of the Journal over the last decade.
Consistent with the continuous improvement process at the Journal, a well-thought-out succession plan has been implemented. John J. Callaghan will be retiring as the Editor-in-Chief and turn over the baton to the Assistant Editor-in-Chief, Michael A. Mont, starting with this January 2022 issue. The Journal of Arthroplasty and its readership owe a real debt of gratitude to Dr. Callaghan for his tireless leadership and efforts, which have resulted in the Journal becoming the premier publication in the area of hip and knee arthroplasty as well as preservation surgery. John will move on to emeritus status and will be greatly missed. Michael Mont, as Assistant Editor-in-Chief, has been extensively involved in all aspects of the Journal peer review process for several years now. Like John, he not only has stayed involved in the editorial aspects of hip and knee surgery, but also continues to perform research, review, and publish in the field. The leadership at the Journal of Arthroplasty has developed a thoughtful succession plan which will be seamless to the reviewers, readership, and the arthroplasty and hip and knee community of editors, researchers, reviewers, readers, and the public. We thank John for his service, leadership, and accomplishments. We wish Michael the best of luck in this new endeavor and offer him our full support.
Footnotes
One or more of the authors of this paper have disclosed potential or pertinent conflicts of interest, which may include receipt of payment, either direct or indirect, institutional support, or association with an entity in the biomedical field which may be perceived to have potential conflict of interest with this work. For full disclosure statements refer to https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arth.2021.11.005.
Appendix A. Supplementary Data
Associated Data
This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.