In December 2017, the first three JVIR editorial fellows—Jeremy Collins, MD, Hyo-Cheol Kim, MD, and Andrew Picel, MD—traveled to the University of Virginia Medical School in Charlottesville, Virginia—office of journal Editor-in-chief Ziv J Haskal, MD, FSIR—to begin a week-long program about scholarly journal editing and publishing. Spending three days at the University of Virginia, the participants experienced first-hand the life of a journal editor—working directly with Dr. Haskal to review and edit manuscripts using the journal’s peer-review management system.
After their time with Dr. Haskal, the fellows traveled North to the Philadelphia office of journal publisher Elsevier, stopping en route at SIR headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia. While in Fairfax, the fellows met staff and consultants who work directly and indirectly with the journal. SIR Executive Director Susan E. Sedory, MA, CAE, described the tremendous impact that JVIR has across the society’s efforts, as well as the importance SIR places on supporting the journal editors’ efforts and on ensuring the value of this highly regarded resource to members.
SIR Foundation Executive Director Carolyn Strain, CAE, explained why the leadership chose to support the effort with a generous grant, as well as the ways in which the foundation works with the journal to foster research and meet the needs of the IR research community.
In Philadelphia, Elsevier Publisher Mary Heffner discussed trends in journal publishing, detailing the rise of digital publishing as well as such business aspects as the financial relationship it holds with SIR, advertising and the importance of copyright. Elsevier leadership concluded the day with an exclusive preview of some of the exciting initiatives that SIR and Elsevier are planning.
According to Dr. Kim, his new role as JVIR associate editor prompted his interest in the program—and the program has in turn increased his interest in the journal: “The program made me more interested in serving as a JVIR reviewer and associate editor. I am also now trying to encourage young Korean IRs to become JVIR reviewers.”
Dr. Picel agreed about the value of the program: “This sounded like an ideal opportunity to become a better writer and reviewer for the journal and gain some experience to consider an editorial role in the future. The program easily met my expectations.”
Dr. Collins adds that “The JVIR fellowship afforded unique insights into the roles that the editor and associate editors serve as well as the interactions with the publisher and editorial staff that runs the journal. I highly recommend this fellowship to IRs who want to see the process of publishing a manuscript from the vantage point of an editor.”
Watch SIR and JVIR communications channels for announcements on the details of the next JVIR Editorial Fellowship, which is tentatively scheduled for fall 2018.
