Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences 2022 and Beyond

2022 is yet another year with more enthusiasm and ambitions for the Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (IJMBS). Since its inception, the IJMBS' mission has not changed, an international journal with regional flavor. It is still the peer-reviewed journal that is very much interested in helping authors from developing countries enhance their manuscripts and expose their research to the evaluation of Western reviewers and international readers as we promised in our inaugural volume.[1] The editorial team continues to go out of its way to help young authors mature their manuscripts before presenting them to reviewers. The feedback we got indicates we did fairly well with this mission. Many of the manuscripts that were helped satisfied the peer reviewers and were eventually published. This level of commitment cannot be afforded by editors of mainline journals overwhelmed by (and spoiled for choice from) a huge number of manuscripts.[2]

As we are starting the collection of volume 14, we have decided to move to a new publisher. This was a critical strategic decision appropriate to our quest for a more internationally recognized status. The new publisher (Thieme Publishers) now lists IJMBS on its platforms worldwide with a resolute promise to enter to the appropriate indexation cherished by institutions, researchers, authors, and readers. It is a road that we are determined to walk. We rely on the new publisher to guide us and help us along the way. Despite our reservations on the issue of indexation status as the main determinant for choice of journals, we have to accept that this is the current state of play.[3]

The publishing process is a collaboration between the authors, reviewers, and editors. We are aware of the shortage of peer reviewers from developing parts of the world, particularly when asked by emerging journals.[4] Therefore, another mission of the journal was to provide opportunities for future reviewers. In this area, we had some success but were not as satisfying as we would have liked. Reviewers are usually from academic institutions and are very busy with their own abundant work. Some think that the reviewer should be compensated while others decline because the journal is not indexed in Medline yet. We will continue to recruit young reviewers and help train them. We will also stress that reviewers are pivotal for publishing meaningful science and spreading ethical research and will start documenting their number as well as a certificate of appreciation at the end of the year. Our reviewer process will continue as a rigorous process as it can be and will focus on publishing worthwhile international research efforts.

We like to thank all reviewers who took the time to review different manuscripts despite their busy schedules. Without such a dedicated group, the journal cannot proceed with high-quality scientific articles.

Conflict of Interest

None.

Authors' Contribution

Equal.

Compliance with Ethical Principles

No ethical approval is required.

• References

• 1 Elkhammas EA. New product of Ibnosina Medical Association: IJMBS. Ibnosina J Med Biomed Sci 2009; 1 (02) 44-45
• 2 Beshyah SA, Aburawi EH, Alshammakhi N, Elkhammas EA. Why should you publish in Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences?. Ibnosina J Med Biomed Sci 2017; 9 (04) 99-100
• 3 Beshyah SA. Charity starts at home: emerging journals should receive “positive discrimination” by their regional academia. Ibnosina J Med Biomed Sci 2021; 13: 156-160
• 4 Beshyah SA, Elkhammas E. Manuscript peer review for emerging journals: where we go from here?. Ibnosina J Med Biomed Sci. 2015; 7 (05) 155-157

Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
22. August 2022