An international journal, Canadian style

There go the people — I must hurry and catch up with them for I am their leader.

Robert Kennedy’s words could be modified to illustrate my feelings toward becoming Editor-in-Chief of the CJO: there go the Canadian ophthalmologists — I must hurry and catch up with them, for I am the Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology.

It is with a great sense of honour and much pleasure that I take the position of Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology.

The CJO represents one of the most important forums whereby Canadian ophthalmologists obtain information concerning ophthalmology and related subspecialties. The peer-reviewed information that is published here should be disseminated, discussed and criticized, even rejected, by our readers.

The process that goes on inside a scientific journal like the CJO, from the time a particular paper is received to its final printing stage, is certainly a dynamic one. The readers are critics, contributors, reviewers — all of them full participants in every step of this complex and often difficult procedure.

It is quite clear to me that the work of the Editor-in-Chief is mainly to ensure that the whole system is working properly, giving total priority to the scientific quality of a given paper as well as to its relevance to our community. The balance between papers is quite essential: some excellent reviews in difficult clinical and surgical areas side by side with well-illustrated clinicopathological cases and clinical reports. The work of the Editor-in-Chief can and should be done not in isolation but, rather, as coordinator of a team of excellent professionals, mainly the authors, the members of the Editorial Board and the reviewers.

Let me take this opportunity, in my first editorial, to recognize the exceptional work done by my prede-cessor, Dr. Ian MacDonald, who has served a 3-year mandate as Editor-in-Chief of the CJO. Ian has improved all aspects of our Journal and has made tremendous contributions in several steps of the publishing process. His leadership skills combined with a well-organized mind made him extremely efficient as the Editor-in-Chief.

I do hope that Dr. MacDonald will continue to serve our Journal with the same enthusiasm and competence that have characterized his work as Editor-in-Chief; we will certainly find multiple tasks for him to do.

In my eagerness to begin, I have already thought of a couple of ideas, which I would like to share with you here. Some of these ideas were briefly discussed at the most recent CJO Editorial Board meeting during our very successful COS meeting in Hull, Que.

The CJO has the extraordinary mission, among others, of bringing Canadian-born scientific information to other parts of the world. That information can be either on scientific issues where we, Canadian ophthalmologists, have a great deal of expertise, or on diseases that are more prevalent in the Canadian population because of age, genetic makeup or environmental factors. It is time for an extra-special issue, a “star issue,” of our Journal, to be dedicated to such conditions or to these areas of Canadian medical knowledge.

Similarly, the star issue may be dedicated to a particular subject where Canadian and international ophthalmologists alike would share their experiences in diagnosis, treatment and research. A single author or a group of medical scientists may be invited to write on specific topics because of their particular expertise. The CJO would thus be a vehicle for disseminating globally generated scientific information.

One of the consequences of these star issues would certainly be a more international presence of our Journal, attracting papers from different parts of the world where a particular disease, because of its prevalence, can be better studied. This would result in a better understanding of the disease’s biologic mechanisms, which could not be appreciated in areas where its frequency is low.

A CJO prepared to pioneer with lucidity the role of both a true Canadian and an international journal would not only have a tremendous impact on Canadian ophthalmology, but it may also influence the way ophthalmology is practised in other areas of the world.

Most of us on the Editorial Board would like to see a clinicopathological section in the CJO to highlight important aspects of clinical–pathological correlation. I firmly believe that it is essential to teach and demonstrate certain medical conditions to our ophthalmologists. These clinical–pathological correlations should include laboratory and clinical tests, such as ocular ultrasonography and angiography. A whole spectrum of systemic diseases with ocular manifestations can be well documented with such clinicopathological case reports, namely, great cases with excellent documentation and a good take-home message.

My ideas, enthusiasm, energy and goodwill: certainly they are not enough. The CJO, more than anything else, will be whatever its authors and readers in particular, and the members of the Canadian ophthalmologic community in general, would like it to be.

The only thing I really can do — with the help and support of the members of our Editorial Board — is to try to bring together for you an even more attractive, dynamic and scientifically mature Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology.

Miguel N. Burnier, Jr., MD, PhD
Editor-in-Chief