Saudi Medical Journal reforms 2015

Development and progress is the goal of any successful institution. Saudi Medical Journal (SMJ) has always adopted new changes in order to facilitate the search for knowledge. Beginning of 2015, the journal started assigning DOIs for the published articles. This served as a unique persistent identifier of all published content. The journal welcomed submissions of Systematic Reviews. It is hoped that this new section will enrich the journal’s content. We have also announced the inclusion of articles in PubMed Central (PMC). Full text articles are made available in PDF, HTML and EPub formats. Another significant development is the indexing of SMJ in EBSCO. EBSCO is used by thousands of institutions worldwide with millions of end-users. With the recent indexing in these databases, we anticipate enhanced visibility and accessibility of our articles. Few changes have been adopted to avoid unnecessary printing. As most turns to online reading, annual indexes will be available in the website. In the past years, the journal has experienced problems with regard to: 1) authors withdrawing their submissions after peer review and revision; 2) authors withdrawing their manuscript after provisional acceptance and when they are in proof; and lastly authors with submissions under revision not responding to communication. We think that this is unethical and a waste of effort. To address the growing number of withdrawn cases, a policy for withdrawing manuscript was established. With this new policy, we expect the number of withdrawn cases to drop in the coming months ahead. Detailed information regarding the policy is included in the Instructions to Authors. Our advocacy extends from publishing to continuous education. SMJ as a leading medical journal in the region, has carried out the responsibility of education in scientific publication, medical writing, and medical ethics, as well as educating the authors on how to avoid rejection. Thankfully, we managed to conduct the first course in November 2015 with great positive feedback from the attendees. This is a year of several significant changes in the editorial team. We would like to take this opportunity to honor Maj. Gen. Dr. Saeed M. Al-Asmary on his retirement. On