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Anesthesia & Analgesia - Journal Update Anesthesia & Analgesia, the official Journal of the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists, has expanded the number of benefits available to SCA members. In addition to being available on-line (http://www.anesthesia-analgesia.org) with full text and graphics of each issue back to January 1999, Anesthesia & Analgesia will introduce several new features in the near future. The capability to include video supplements with articles is being added to the online journal and will be especially useful to enhance the presentation of echocardiographic images. This will be an essential component of a new publication category called "Echocardiography On-Line," which will more fully utilize the tremendous capabilities that electronic media provide for transmission of information. The intent of this new publication format is enhancement of the presentation of echocardiographic information by supplementing case reports or general articles with on-line video loops. The standard printed journal has always presented limitations to the display of echocardiographic data and images. Rather than the display of only static images with some degradation of image quality intrinsically related to the photographic process, currently available electronic technology using high quality digital video loops permits transmission of dynamic echocardiographic findings with minimal degradation of image quality. The initiative to undertake publication of "Echocardiography On-Line" has emerged from collaborative efforts of the Editorial Board of Anesthesia & Analgesia and the SCA Board of Directors. Over time, both subscribing readers as well as potential authors will see continual change and growth in the Journal's use of electronic media. Publication of "Echocardiography On-line" is an example of only one of several on-going initiatives of Anesthesia & Analgesia that will be introduced in the near future to utilize the powerful tools now readily accessible via the Internet. A new subject/key word tagging mechanism that will permit articles to have more than one section "tag" (not possible with the print journal) will also soon be implemented. For example, an article on cardiovascular anesthesia in children can be tagged for both the Cardiovascular and Pediatric sections. This will greatly enhance the ability for SCA members to track the topics and articles that they deem to be especially relevant and important. This feature will augment the currently available capability of on-line subscribers to track the topics, authors and articles important to them using the on-line CiteTrack service provided by Anesthesia & Analgesia. CiteTrack alerts subscribers by e-mail whenever new content in Anesthesia & Analgesia or another participating journal is published and matches the criteria based on topics, authors and articles specified by the subscriber. The e-mail alerts include citations (authors, title, journal name, volume and page) and URLs for articles that match the prespecified criteria. Information on this useful service is available on the journal website (http://www.anesthesia-analgesia.org). SCA members can also sign up for e-mail alerts that announce when new issues are available on-line and when future tables of contents are posted. All of these services are provided to any SCA member who is a subscriber to A & A on-line. All articles published in the Cardiovascular Anesthesia section of Anesthesia & Analgesia have been made available to the SCA for continuing medical education (CME) or other educational purposes. Any articles used for such purposes are accessible in the "members only" section of the SCA web site. Discussions between SCA and the Journal have produced a number of ideas for the potential use of material from the Cardiovascular Anesthesia section of Anesthesia & Analgesia as the basis for CME activities sponsored by SCA. In addition, the Journal will be implementing a system for web-based manuscript submission, tracking and editing that will increase the efficiency of the peer-review and publication process, a feature that will be valuable for SCA members who are potential authors. Information about this upcoming feature will be provided by the Journal prior to the anticipated time of implementation. The Cardiovascular Anesthesia section of Anesthesia & Analgesia has grown in size, quality and features over the past several years. Significant efforts to improve the efficiency of the peer-review process have been successful and will be further enhanced in the near future by the web-based manuscript submission and tracking system. The quality and importance of articles appearing in Anesthesia & Analgesia are validated by the Journal's citation index, which increased to an outstanding level last year. These attributes, as well as the innovations and responsiveness of the Journal to the needs of members and authors, should convince SCA members to consider Anesthesia & Analgesia as their first choice for submission of manuscripts and to encourage their non-member colleagues to submit manuscripts to the Journal. Additionally, any SCA member who has been reading the print version only should activate their on-line subscription and enjoy the numerous benefits provided as a consequence of the affiliation of SCA with Anesthesia & Analgesia. SCA members with questions about any aspects of the current and future benefits available to on-line subscribers of Anesthesia & Analgesia can get more information by contacting the SCA society headquarters (SCA@societyhq.com) or the A & A Editorial Office (sleepers@lmi.net).
Kenneth J. Tuman, MD |