Changing of the Guards: 2011–2016 Gastroenterology Team

Omary, M. Bishr

doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2011.05.011

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Volume 141, Issue 1 , Pages 4-7, July 2011

Changing of the Guards: 2011–2016 Gastroenterology Team

Article Outline

For Gastroenterology, the tradition of passing the baton of editorial supervision and changing of the guards to a new team of editors occurs every 5 years. “Changing of the guard(s)” is a phrase that is used commonly in many arenas, political and otherwise. Bob Dylan even has a famous song called Changing of the Guards that was released in 1978 (hopefully our young, and younger, readers all know Bob Dylan!). I have the privilege to serve as the incoming Editor-in-Chief, together with a new team of Board of Editors and Special Section Editors that includes an Online Editor and Biostatistical Editors. We kick off our inaugural issue with a new cover look that conveys the AGA brand while visually highlighting the science published within the Journal. It will be a tall order to follow in the footsteps of Dr Anil Rustgi and his team who have taken the Journal to new heights during the past 5 years. Examples of the accomplishments shepherded by Dr Rustgi's leadership during the past 5 years include decreasing the turnaround time from completion of submission to rendering a decision from 30 to 23 days; adding a Science Editor and a Medical Illustrator to the staff; making articles available online within 7–10 days after acceptance; adding an Online Editor with subsequent extensive enrichment and user-friendliness of the Journal's digital presence; adding a group of international consultants to the Journal; increasing the visibility of hepatology-related research with an improved balance of alimentary tract, hepatology, pancreas, and biliary articles; establishing a mechanism to fast-track some of the manuscripts deemed unacceptable for Gastroenterology to Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology for clinically oriented papers or to Experimental Cell Research for basic research manuscripts (provided the authors and the editors of the respective journal concur); and increasing the number and visibility of manuscripts that report on clinical trials. We will strive to build on the successes of our predecessors, but there is no doubt that we are aided by standing on the shoulders of giants (to paraphrase Isaac Newton's famous aphorism) given the successes that the prior group of illustrious editors and their boards have been able to achieve.

The major mission of Gastroenterology continues to be the reporting of original observations and discoveries in clinical, translational, and basic digestive sciences. We will achieve this mission with rigor and objectivity that are ethically and professionally based. Maintaining a focus on this mission has allowed Gastroenterology to be the leading international journal in the field.

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Historical Perspective

The first issue of Gastroenterology was published in January 1943 (Figure 1). At that time, the editor-in-chief was Dr Walter Clement Alvarez (1884–1978), a renowned Mayo Clinic consultant and a widely syndicated newspaper columnist.¹ In fact, it is hard to ascertain who was more famous—WC Alvarez or his son Luis Walter Alvarez (1911–1988), who won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1968 for his work on elementary particles.¹ Since then, the Journal has thrived and continued to grow under the leadership of 13 previous editors (Walter C. Alvarez, Andrew C. Ivy, Abraham H. Aaron, Morton I. Grossman, Marvin H. Sleisenger, Robert M. Donaldson, John S. Fordtran, Robert K. Ockner, Raj K. Goyal, Nicholas F. LaRusso, Daniel K. Podolsky, David A. Brenner, and Anil K. Rustgi). The Journal celebrated its 65th anniversary in 2008 with a look back through the eyes of its distinguished editors starting from 1965 with Dr Marvin Sleisenger.² We look forward to providing a detailed historical perspective when Gastroenterology celebrates its 70th birthday in 2013.

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Figure 1.
The first cover of Gastroenterology, dating from January 1943.

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Meet the New Gastroenterology Board of Editors and Special Section Editors

I am blessed to share the responsibility and honor of overseeing the Journal with a broad-based group of internationally renowned experts (Table 1). The areas of expertise and biographical information pertaining to our editors is available on the Journal web site.³ The renown and expertise of our editors in overlapping areas cover all aspects of clinical and fundamental basic gastroenterology (Figure 2), and their extensive editorial qualifications will allow us to oversee and publish the appropriate balance of clinically- oriented and basic research-related manuscripts. In addition, we will rely on other experts within and outside our editorial board to assist us in evaluating the appropriateness of submitted manuscripts for publication in Gastroenterology. The 3 senior associate editors—Drs John Carethers, Anna Lok, Chung Owyang (each of whom has ample expertise to serve as an editor-in-chief on their own right)—and I are all based in the same institution (University of Michigan). Although this arrangement is not essential, it is an important advantage.

Table 1. The 2011–2016 Editors of Gastroenterology

Senior Associate Editors
John M. Carethers, MD, AGAF University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, Michigan	Anna S. Lok, MD, AGAF University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, Michigan	Chung Owyang, MD University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, Michigan
Associate Editors
Jonathan Braun, MD, PhD, AGAF University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, California David Lieberman, MD, AGAF Oregon Health and Science University Portland, Oregon Linda C. Samuelson, PhD University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, Michigan Diane M. Simeone, MD University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, Michigan	Douglas A. Corley, MD, PhD Kaiser Permanente, Division of Research Oakland, California Malcolm J. Low, MD, PhD University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, Michigan Bruce Sands, MD, AGAF Mount Sinai School of Medicine New York, NY Jerrold R. Turner, MD, PhD, AGAF The University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois	William L. Hasler, MD University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, Michigan Jean-Michel Pawlotsky, MD, PhD University of Paris-Est Créteil, France Detlef Schuppan, MD, PhD Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz Mainz, Germany John A. Williams, MD, PhD University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, Michigan
Special Section Editors
Covering the Cover Anson W. Lowe, MD, AGAF Stanford University Palo Alto, California Richard H. Moseley, MD University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, Michigan Press Highlights Grace L. Su, MD University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, Michigan Clinical Challenges and Images in GI Grace Elta, MD, AGAF & Robert J. Fontana, MD University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, Michigan	Imaging and Advanced Technology Ralf Kiesslich, MD, PhD Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz Mainz, Germany Thomas D. Wang, MD, PhD University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, Michigan Print and Digital Media Reviews Joel Rubenstein, MD, MSc University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, Michigan Reviews in Basic and Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology Robert F. Schwabe, MD Columbia University New York, NY John W. Wiley, MD University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, Michigan	Online John (Jay) Kuemmerle, MD, AGAF Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia Mentoring, Education and Training (MET) Corner John Del Valle, MD, AGAF University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, Michigan Biostatistics Julie A. Douglas, PhD University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan Cathie Spino, ScD University of Michigan School of Public Health Ann Arbor, Michigan Selected Summaries Philip S. Schoenfeld, MD, MSEd. MSc University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, Michigan

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Figure 2.
Overview of the Board of Editors and their areas of expertise.

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Current and New Features

The major contents of the Journal are described briefly below. Specific instructions to prospective authors of the relevant sections are available on our web site⁴:

Covering the Cover

This section is overseen by Drs Anson Lowe and Richard Moseley. It provides overviews of the articles that are highlighted on the cover of each issue. It is similar to the prior This Month in Gastroenterology section.

Press Highlights

This section replaces the prior Gastroenterology and Hepatology News and will be available only online. It will be overseen by Dr Grace Su with assistance by Dr Kristine Novak, the Science Editor of our journal. Breaking news of interest to our gastroenterology community will be posted on at least a weekly basis to provide up-to-date information on legislative, policy, national, and international events.

Comment From the Editor

This section offers the opportunity to our Associate Editors and possibly other joint co-authors to contribute an op-ed piece on a contemporary issue of their choice.

Editorials

We will continue to include 2–6 editorials per issue.

Clinical Challenges and Images in GI (Print and Electronic)

This section offers interesting cases, including questions, and an “Answers Section” that is located at the end of each issue.

Reviews and Perspectives

This includes full reviews, mini-reviews, and perspectives.

Original Research Articles

These are divided into Alimentary Tract, Liver, Pancreas, and Biliary Tract (“Basic and Translational” and “Clinical” for each of these 4 categories that are now highlighted individually).

Continuing Medical Education (CME)

These include questions provided by the authors of articles that are selected by the Board of Editors for CME credits.

Selected Summaries

This section includes overviews of key articles that were published within the past 6–9 months in other journals.

Print and Digital Media Reviews

This section typically reviews recently published print and digital media that are of interest to our specialty and its associated areas such as gastrointestinal pathology, radiology, or surgery.

Letters to the Editor

This section includes comments related to original research articles that appeared in Gastroenterology. The Journal only considers letters related to articles published in the last month (details are available online⁴).

Meeting or Symposia Summaries

This section is included on an intermittent basis and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

AGA Position Statements

This section is also included intermittently.

New Content

In addition, and aside from some design changes of the cover and table of contents, the 2 major new content additions are the introduction of a section called “Mentoring, Education, and Training Corner” (MET Corner) and the return of a “Brief Reports” original publication category. Instructions for the Brief Reports Section (available online⁴) include 1000-word text limit (including figure legends), ≤2 total schematics and tables, ≤15 references, and 0–6 supplemental documents (1 of the 6 documents consists of a detailed Materials and Methods section). We anticipate publishing 0–3 Brief Reports per issue as a venue to present high-impact clinical or basic science reports, such as the identification of the genetic basis of a digestive disease, description of a unique clinical case series, reporting a novel imaging technique or a new animal model of human disease, or providing a mechanistic insight regarding drug action or disease pathogenesis.

The MET Corner will be edited by John Del Valle, MD, a national leader in education and training who is Senior Associate Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine and Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at the University of Michigan, and former director of the AGA Academic Skills Workshop. Every issue will include a commentary by Dr Del Valle or, more commonly, invited expert(s) to discuss a broad range of MET issues related to academics, community practice, and trainees.

I am also delighted that Dr John Kuemmerle has agreed to remain as our Online Editor (a role he also oversees for our sister Journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology). With his oversight and input, we anticipate expanding our digital presence with a special focus on Web and mobile device content delivery.

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Gastroenterology Staff

The staff that allows the Journal to gel together so well are led by Erin Dubnanky (Senior Director of Scholarly Publishing) and includes Chris Lowe (Assistant Managing Editor); Sarah Williamson, MA (Senior Medical Illustrator); Kristine (Kris) Novak, PhD (Science Editor); Lindsey Brounstein (Publications and Graphics Manager); Laura Claus (Senior Publications Coordinator); and Linda Busha and Jennifer Tarr (Editorial Assistants). Brook Simpson also provides assistance with special sections of the Journal and manages our annual special May issue, and Thoba Khumalo oversees the “Press Highlights” and video abstracts. You can meet them and find out a bit about their backgrounds by browsing our journal website.⁵ Kris and Sarah are relatively new additions to the staff and bring unique responsibilities. For example, Kris edits the research manuscripts during the revision stage (particularly the article abstract and title) and also edits the reviews, to provide uniformity. She will also be working with Dr Grace Su to oversee the “Press Highlights” section. Kris also authors the journal's weekly blog, “The AGA Journals Blog”. Sarah oversees the artwork of each issue (eg, the cover, editorials, reviews) and helps Lindsey and Laura redraw the figures, as needed, to ensure that they match the Journal's style. I had the privilege and pleasure to work with the editorial staff during the past 5 years in my capacity as one of the associate editors, and we have worked together extremely well. Therefore, I have every confidence that, together, we will properly serve the Journal's authors, readership and reviewers.

General Manuscript Handling Policies

We will continue to uphold the highest ethical standards and to seek to provide prompt service to our authors. Manuscripts will be assessed by ≥2 members of the Board of Editors and approximately 40%–50% of the submitted original research manuscript will be sent for external review. For the remaining 50%–60% of cases, an internal decision will be made to return the manuscripts to the authors within 3–7 days of submission without outside review but with a focused general assessment as to why the manuscript is deemed better suited for an alternate journal. This practice minimizes the delay in publication of original research that is likely not to meet the bar for Gastroenterology, and avoids overburdening our superb reviewers who provide critical assistance and advice to the Journal irrespective of the Board of Editors. Given our detailed screening of original manuscripts, we are unable to evaluate presubmission inquiries. In addition, our Reviews, Mini-Reviews, and MET Corner segments are by invitation only, although we are happy to evaluate suggestions by prospective authors. All manuscripts with a decision of revision, or that are considered for acceptance or for potential rejection are discussed during a weekly conference call that involves the entire Board of Editors. This process provides unanimity and consensus regarding the decisions, and increases the probability of maintaining an even playing field and level of expectations.

Despite the regular 5-year change of the guards during prior decades, the acceptance rate of Gastroenterology's original manuscripts over the span of multiple boards of editors has not changed significantly and remains in the range of 12%–16%. We anticipate that this rate is likely to continue, because it has been relatively stable over several generations of editors. Furthermore, the tradition of not seeking to meet a particular quota of accepted manuscripts will continue.

In closing, the entire Gastroenterology team looks forward to working tirelessly to keep the Journal as the leader of all subspecialty journals and to expand its reach. We aim to publish the best work in clinical, translational, and basic research related to digestive health and disease. Our team is always open to suggestions and feedback, so please do not hesitate to contact me or any one of our editorial team at gastro@gastro.org. Words do not adequately express my appreciation and admiration of members of the 2006–2011 board of editors who have been an absolute joy to work with. My special gratitude goes to the outgoing editor-in-chief, Dr Anil Rustgi, who has been an inspiration to work with, and who together with the Journal staff made the incoming group feel incredibly welcome and the transition to the new team seamless. To our readers, authors, and reviewers, I look forward to working for you and with you during the next 5 years.

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