Abstract
Asia Pacific Orthopaedic Association (APOA), with its current membership of over 24 countries and a membership base of over 60,000, has its humble beginning as the Western Pacific Orthopaedic Association (WPOA) in 1962. The purpose of WPOA was to foster an enduring professional and personal relationship between countries within the Pacific regions with the values of friendship, camaraderie, cooperation and a mutual sharing of experiences, expertise and up-to-date technologies. 1 The first congress of WPOA was held in Unzen, near Nagasaki in Japan in 1965 (Figure 1). The Journal of Western Orthopaedic Association (JOWPOA) was first published in June 1964 based in Manilla, Philippines (Figure 2). The first Editor-in-Chief was Dr Arthur Hodson and Catalino Jocson (Figure 3). 2 This semi-annual publication gave a voice to WPOA surgeons, and the journal went from auspicious beginnings to being a well-respected regional journal.
First WPOA Congress in 1965 at Unzen, Japan.
1966 Edition of Journal of Western Pacific Orthopaedic Association (JOWPOA).
First Editorial Board members of JOWPOA.
In 1992, the name JOWPA was changed to Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery (JOS) to reflect the global nature of our journal and membership. Dr David Fang was the Editor-in-Chief, and the journal continues to increase in stature and readership. The journal was referenced as J Orthop Surgery (Hong Kong), not because it was a Hong Kong journal, but rather, at that time, there were two journals of the same name, and by convention the country of publication was bracketed after the name of the journal (Figure 4).
2013 Edition of Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery.
However, towards the end of 1990s, the financial success of WPOA became challenged by perceived relevance. Other organizations such as Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Orthopaedic Association had become a more important regional grouping. The regular moving of Secretariat between chapters and associated loss of corporate knowledge and the moving on of stalwart supporters and drivers such as SF Lam from Hong Kong and Deogracias Tablan from Philippines. It was a turbulence and uncertain period for the association.
Under the Presidency of Associate Professor Robert Bauze (President 1998–2001), the Secretariat moved to Adelaide. Governance and fiscal management issues were addressed, good communication between Council Members established – the culmination of expertise, financial and otherwise, of Professor John Leong of Hong Kong (President 1992–1995) and Professor Kamal Bose from Singapore (President 1989–1992) instituting constitutional changes and stronger control through a Management Committee of the APOA Executives. In 2000, WPOA Council approved admission of China, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh Chapters to the Association and to change the name from Western Pacific to APOA. The first APOA Congress was held in Adelaide in 2001 and attracted many international delegates to that meeting (Figure 5). The Secretariat was again moved after the 2001 APOA Congress to a more permanent location in Kuala Lumpur.
First APOA Congress in 2001 at Adelaide, Australia.
In September 2012, just before the Golden Jubilee Congress of APOA, Professor Kenneth Chung took over as Editor-in-Chief of JOS. Under Ken’s stewardship, he strengthened the journal further with the establishment of Section Editors to help with the review process and gave the journal a new look (Figure 6). 3 Shortly after the JOS received its first official impact factor. Since then, submissions to the journal from all over the world have further improved the prestige and impact of the journal in global orthopaedics. From a little acorn (JOWPOA), it is overtime grown into a big oak tree (JOS). 1 Special acknowledgement must be given to David Feng, Yvonne Kwok and Warren Chan for their part to have worked tirelessly for the journal during the earlier years.
New look of Journal Of Orthopaedic Surgery.
However, by late 2000, the oak tree was getting too big for its garden, and it was time for JOS to find a new home. After a tendering process, the APOA council approved JOS to partner with SAGE Publishing from January 2017 to take the journal to new heights. The publication model will change from subscription-based printed copies to open access online only. This is in part a necessary change as the Federation model was successfully introduced during Professor Ted Mah’s Presidency (2014–2016). APOA by that stage has around 20 member countries and approximately 40,000 members. The printing and postage of JOS to members were no longer financially sustainable. With the partnership with SAGE, APOA Council has undertaken to shoulder the author publication charge for the first 2 years with this new publisher. Partnering with our new international publisher come new opportunities. JOS will have access to an international online editorial and publication management system that is customized to our needs and allows easier access by authors, reviewers and editors. We will have the advantage of a larger international team to support marketing of the journal, both at meetings and via different online resources. Most important of all, the online model will support the transformation of APOA from individual membership to federation membership.
By 2018, APOA membership has grown to 24 countries and approximately 60,000 memberships strong as more orthopaedic associations join. Currently, JOS is already an international journal, and it is the Editorial Board’s aim to make this a leading international journal, publishing timely content that is relevant to the Asia–Pacific community, as well as addressing global needs. To achieve and sustain the ever increasing activity of the Editorial Board, Professor Frankie Leung was appointed as Deputy Editor in 2013 and Professor Ted Mah as additional Deputy Editor in 2018. In addition, many corresponding reviewers are regularly recruited to assist and to maintain the high standard of the peer review process, the cornerstone of the journal. Consequently, the review process has been streamlined, with meantime from submission to acceptance to around 3 months. The journal encompass all nine subspecialty sections of APOA with the appropriate Section Editors: Foot & Ankle; Hip, Knee, Infection, Paediatric, Orthopaedic Research; Spine, Sport Injury and Trauma. In addition, there are Sections Editors for Hand & Microsurgery, as well as Elbow and Shoulder, thus collectively comprehensively covers almost all aspects of Orthopaedic practices within our member countries.
Currently, JOS is indexed and searchable via most popular database such as PubMed, Medline, OVID and Sopus. 4,5 This ensures high visibility and popularity for the authors and our current impact factor is over 0.99. The journal continues to receive submissions from over 20 countries, not only from the Asia–Pacific region but also from Europe and America (both north and south). In addition, the journal has started an online first feature on the journal website, so that manuscripts that are accepted will be uploaded to the journal website and searchable via the major database and therefore quotable, without the need to wait for the printed publication.
Here are some interesting 2017 data regarding the journal: Total submission: 913 articles Total published: 217 articles Time to first decision and time to final decision for publication: average 45 weeks
JOS website usage: over 100,000 per annum Top 5 major geographic locations of website visitors: United States, India, United Kingdom, Japan and Australia
The above data confirmed the global impact of JOS in readership and authorship; and its increasing relevance to Asia–Pacific region and beyond.
The future of JOS is bright. However, with the aim of achieving financial independence, the journal has reluctantly introduced an article processing charges (APC) for submissions accepted for publication from 2019. Special provisions have been made to ensure authors from less affordable member country will be given a reduction in the APC. The Editorial Board is fully aware of the possible short-term impact of such charges in the submission rate, but this is the only way to be self-sufficient and sustainable financially in the long term. We appreciate the continued support from the APOA council, our readers and authors. Together, we will ensure JOS remains an effective official journal of APOA to disseminate important knowledge to our readers, for the benefit of patients and colleagues not only in the Asia–Pacific region but globally as well. APOA and JOS welcome and encourage all members of APOA to submit their research and clinical work for review and publication in our premium journal of the association.