A rewarding 2014 for Saudi Medical Journal

The year 2014 has certainly been a busy and rewarding year for the journal. It has been dominated by planning and organizing a journal development course for the editors and staff and the celebration of our anniversary, 35 years of continuous publication. On this occasion, we honored the historical achievements of the journal with an official ceremony in the presence of General Director of Medical Services Department our Editorial Director Dr. Saeed AlAsmary. It was attended by retired editors Dr. Ketab Al-Otaibi, Dr. Saud Al-Omani, and Rawan Yaqub on behalf of Dr. Basim Yaqub, board members Prof. Abdulmohsen Al-Elq, Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Shaer, Dr. Noura Al-Nowaiser, Dr. Haifa Al-Nasser and Pippa Smart, Heads of Department of Prince Sultan Military Medical City, and many esteemed guests. Their presence demonstrated their commitment and support for the journal. The ceremony started with a short presentation from the Editor-in-Chief, where he outlined the historical achievements of the journal, identified the present challenges, and proposed action plans to address the obstacles and accelerate progress. It was followed by congratulatory remarks from the honorary guest Dr. Saeed Al-Asmary. He took this opportunity to personally thank and recognize all who have supported the journal over the years. Previous Editorial Director retired Dr. Ketab Al-Otaibi also gave a speech about the early years of the journal; the struggles and successes. He was instrumental in the journal’s development over the years. At this occasion, the journal also hosted a short board meeting. There was a discussion and various ideas were offered. In 2014, the journal published new sections; the Brief Communication with a structured abstract to aid authors in recognition of their publications at an institutional level, and Clinical Practice Guidelines. Journal requirements for the practice guidelines were created by an assigned committee and will be published in our instructions to authors. At the moment, we are publishing local guidelines but we welcome contributions from the region. The August issue included the control guidelines for MERS-CoV infection,1 and in the December issue we published a series of oncology guidelines.2 This is a most welcome initiative as these guidelines are useful for practice in the Saudi Arabian healthcare setting. Another demonstration of our commitment to enriching local knowledge and training the younger