Reflecting on the achievements and looking to the future of an established rheumatology journal

Excerpt

Rheumatology is one of the rapidly developing clinical disciplines, which is actively contributing to interdisciplinary research. The innovation and knowledge accumulation in this field may impress any specialists, who encounter patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal disorders. Modern rheumatologists are privileged since they are supplied with regularly updated clinical recommendations, reflecting the enhanced armamentarium for diagnosis and management of rheumatic diseases. All these recommendations result from concerted action of expert rheumatologists, who systematically process evidence-based data, take advice of allied specialists, analyze patient responses, and target highly cited and widely promoted rheumatology journals [1]. The scientific prestige of these journals, which is partly due to the endorsements of professional societies and high number and ‘weight’ of citations, attracts elite authors and reviewers. Consequently, the best quality research, reviews, and clinical recommendations often appear in the same journals. Top rheumatology journals with their exemplary online platforms, regularly updated instructions, publishing strategies, and format of articles are models for lower-rank indexed and emerging periodicals in the same subject category. …