Abstract
I am writing this editorial at the end of 2023, looking towards 2024 and reflecting on the past year with the Global Spine Journal. It has been an amazing year with so many accomplishments, that I would be remiss if I did not take some time to review some of the activities of the journal.
First and foremost, we always knew that we had a dedicated and passionate Managing Editor, Danielle Lieberman, who was absolutely critical to the growth and development of the journal for many years. However, when she was out for a long period of time this year on maternity leave, the entire editorial board really found out how critical she is for this important role. We had a great temporary replacement to allow the journal to run and continue through this period, and the editorial board greatly appreciates the efforts and dedication of the temporary Managing Editor. Our Managing Editor is now back, and the journal is on track to continue to grow and evolve in the coming year. We are all delighted to have Danielle back and have concluded that she is simply not replaceable.
I am so humbled by the time and efforts of our volunteer editorial board and reviewers. Global Spine Journal can only function through our dedicated volunteers, who spend an enormous amount of their personal time performing all the necessary reviews and evaluations of the manuscripts in a constructive and critical manner, to allow for the publication of the best scientific evidence in the spine arena. As I look at the final product and read the published articles online, I reflect on the journey of the original submissions, and the long laborious process those manuscripts making it through reviews and final acceptance. This painstaking progression to the final published article, can only occur with the commitment of our volunteers. In today’s world, where our time is so valuable and divided between our work and family time, I am so impressed and sincerely humbled that our editorial board and reviewers, devote their own personal time to the Global Spine Journal. I am so thankful to our volunteers for their dedication to the Global Spine Journal.
Clearly, we would not even have a journal, or be 1 of the leading spine journals with an impressive impact factor, without our authors who have chosen to submit their valuable research and studies to the Global Spine Journal. We appreciate all of you who choose to submit to our journal. Unfortunately, we cannot accept all of our submissions, and many of the thousands of submissions each year are sadly not accepted for final publication. However, we sincerely appreciate each submission, as we understand all of the hard work and passion that goes into each research project and final manuscript which is then submitted. There are many journals and options for publication, and we are honored that our authors have decided on the Global Spine Journal, and we sincerely thank you.
I also want to thank our publisher, Sage, who has been with us as a loyal and dedicated partner in our journey, with the growth and development of our journal. The advice, guidance, and ongoing monitoring of our progress has been invaluable in attaining our current status. We certainly hope to continue this professional relationship into the near future.
Lastly, I want to thank you, our readership, who are actually reading this. When I look at the numbers of the people we reach each year, I am candidly amazed. We reach over a million readers each year, who peruse, read, download, and view our content. You, our audience, is our primary focus. We strive to attract, collect, and publish the very best scientific evidence in Spine. We do this for our readership, and hope you find this valuable in your life. I attend meetings and see the Global Spine Journal being quoted and shown in so many presentations, which is particularly gratifying, and confirms our reach through our scientific publications.
I invite everyone to continue to submit, read, download, and use the evidence we publish, to help you in your daily life. We hope that our information can help you guide some of your clinical decisions, your knowledge, your teaching, and your understanding of patients with spinal disorders. Spinal disorders are a leading cause of disability and pain world-wide, and this is only growing each year. With the help of some of our knowledge that we collect and publish, we hope to help combat this growing problem. I am looking forward to a successful year in 2024, and I hope Global Spine Journal continues to play a role in the dissemination of useful information in the spine world.