Abstract
Should Veterinary Pathology cease to publish in hard-copy format? Should the Journal be open source? How can the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP) justify that the Journal is probably irrelevant to roughly half its members? Should Veterinary Pathology strive to be the leader in the molecular biology–based “New Taxonomy of Disease 1 ” for animals? Can the needs of veterinary pathologists practicing in academic and research laboratories, industry and government, and challenging environments in developing areas of the world be met by the same journal? How can electronic and digital tools be harnessed best to meet the needs of ACVP and European College of Veterinary Pathologists (ECVP) members and Japanese College of Veterinary Pathologists (JCVP) members and all readers of Veterinary Pathology?
Do we have your attention yet? Good!
These and other major issues are the focus of the Journal Strategic Planning Task Force, recently appointed by the ACVP Council at the recommendation of Carl Alden, Editor-in-Chief, and veterinary pathology’s Editorial Staff and Board (EB). As a preliminary step to beginning its work, it seems relevant to ask why the ACVP, along with the ECVP and JCVP, publishes a journal and why they should continue to do so in some form or forms. The reasons include the following:
The Journal is one of the 3 pillars, along with the certifying examinations and the annual meetings, by which the Colleges set and maintain the standards of excellence required for leadership in the pursuit of knowledge. From its inception, Veterinary Pathology has demanded and delivered the very best in scientific content, quality of illustrations, and clarity of expression. 3
The Journal is a service to ACVP, ECVP, and JCVP members. It is a vehicle for publication of important information in veterinary pathology and related disciplines that should be relevant to the profession. This is especially true for content that deals with diagnostic Veterinary Pathology and the related teaching and training activities. This has been the mission since the first issue 49 years ago. 3
The Journal is a service to the greater scientific and veterinary communities. For example, it provides a vehicle for dissemination of information about animal models of disease, newly emerging diseases, studies on comparative and experimental pathology, phenotyping of genetically modified animals, and a host of other contributions that are important in biomedicine.
The Journal increases the visibility and prestige of the 3 supporting Colleges and veterinary pathology in general.
The Journal provides an important link to the global community of veterinary pathologists.
Most of these reasons were noted by Saunders 3 in his Foreword to the first issue of the first edition of Veterinary Pathology (then called Pathologia Veterinaria) in January 1964. Attention to how we address these issues has helped the Journal progress to its present point, but now there are new (and old) critical issues that must be faced. In addition to the somewhat exaggerated but only partially rhetorical questions raised above, a report from Alden and the Journal EB to the ACVP Council (ACVP Council, personal communication) raised several important issues. For example, dramatic growth in knowledge and subspecialization requires new tools for collecting and connecting information with ACVP/ECVP/JCVP members and all readers of Veterinary Pathology. Substantive and useful content exists that probably should be published but does not rise to the level of impact required for publication in Veterinary Pathology. The Journal has an inordinately weak impact factor, which can be a major deterrent to authors contemplating submittals. The Journal may well fail to present sufficient publications of relevance for major subsets of readers. Veterinary pathologists whose major professional efforts are directed toward toxicologic pathology and veterinary clinical pathology are 2 obvious examples (ACVP Council, personal communication).
In response to a specific recommendation in the Alden/EB report, the ACVP Council appointed a Journal Strategic Planning Task Force. Composed of 15 members (including representatives from the ECVP and JCVP) and 3 liaisons, the task force has set as its goal to produce a strategic plan that
articulates a compelling vision for the future of Veterinary Pathology;
addresses new opportunities and needs;
includes the creative use of electronic means of communication and dissemination of knowledge as these apply to the mission of the Journal;
reaches out to our “sister” journals such as Toxicologic Pathology, Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation, and Veterinary Clinical Pathology. The task force hopes to work together with our colleagues in the Society of Toxicologic Pathology (STP), American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD), and the American Society of Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ASVCP) to offer ideas or even specific plans (if possible) to enhance and complement each of our missions;
acknowledges the global impact of the Journal and includes plans to enhance and extend the worldwide value of the Journal;
analyzes the issue of impact factor and makes recommendations on how to address it. Presently our impact factor is 1.33. By way of comparison, the impact factor of Toxicologic Pathology is 2.17, and the American Journal of Pathology is 5.22. (Impact factor is “a measure of the frequency with which the ‘average article’ in a journal has been cited in a particular year or period” [thomsonreuters.com/products_services/science/free/essays/impact_factor/].)
If we succeed, implementation of the plan will continuously improve the current quality and standards of excellence that characterize the Journal and the ACVP/ECVP/JCVP. In addition, a good plan successfully implemented will expand the impact and importance of the Journal in basic and applied science in veterinary pathology, diagnostic veterinary pathology, the teaching of veterinary pathology and increase the global importance and impact of the Journal. The strategies and methods used to achieve these challenging goals are left to the task force to determine. A wide array of issues will be debated, including the use of digital tools, social media, collaborations with other scientific societies and journals, and the role of Veterinary Pathology in developing countries, to name but a few.
But at the end of the day, it’s your journal. You, our readers, determine whether you find our content valuable, whether you submit your best work to Veterinary Pathology, whether we lead or follow as our discipline evolves, and, ultimately, what Veterinary Pathology is in 5 or 10 years and beyond.
Please let us hear from you. Send us your thoughts, be they provocative, outrageous, barely achievable, or easily within reach. We already asked College members about some of the features of the Journal in the form of a survey that, we sincerely hope, you completed earlier this year. Now we need your creative ideas. Should we strive to become the key publication vehicle for phenotyping genetically manipulated animals 6 ? Should we be the leading veterinary voice in the new, molecular biology–based taxonomy of disease 1 —an effort already under way in human medicine? Should we publish more than one journal, such as one for researchers, one for teachers, one for diagnosticians, and one for veterinary pathologists on the frontiers of the globe? Or, maybe these should all be one coordinated electronic journal extensively cross-linked? Should we strive to become the most appropriate journal in which to publish papers that describe molecular mechanisms of disease, virulence, and resistance like the recent paper on Salmonella pathogenesis 2 ? (Interestingly, a companion study 5 was designated “the most important paper in biology for 2010” by The Faculty of 1000 4 .) Should we expand our scope, publish once a month or more, and/or offer the Journal as open source for the world, both of which would increase the cost to members? What are the best ways for the Journal to address the needs in teaching at all levels, including continuing education in developing countries?
You get the picture! Have at it…and thank you.
Your thoughts may be submitted either via e-mail that includes an authentic name and physical address to commentaries@acvp.org or as a letter written to the editor. (See vet.sagepub.com/. Click on “submit a manuscript” in the right column and scroll down to Letters to the Editor for submittal instructions.)