IJMBS at the End of 2024: Progress, Obstacles, and Aspirations

Welcome to the last issue of volume 16 of the Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (IJMBS). As usual, this issue has a variety of articles, including three review articles, a single original article, and the conference abstracts of a regional cardiac conference.

The review articles covered a wide range of subjects. Maisarah Nasution Waras et al considered the issues of pesticide exposure and regulatory challenges in Malaysia by reviewing population monitoring, food residue, and environmental contamination. We trust that this would have implications for other parts of developing countries. Another review by Naina Maideen et al reviewed the enhanced risks of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome and reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome associated with the use of a commonly used medication (namely pseudoephedrine). The third review by Serdar Özdemir considered practical aspects of emergency department applications of inflammatory markers. The original article was a comprehensive systematic review of plant-based excipients in topical drug delivery by Mohammad Nammas. The remainder of the issue features abstracts of the Ninth Libyan Cardiac Society Congress held from December 29 to 31, 2023, in Benghazi, Libya.

Sadly, a few weeks ago, the Libyan medical community lost Prof. Murad Ali Lenghi, a pioneer of its modern services and educational systems, a past dean of the medical school in Benghazi, an emeritus professor of orthopaedic surgery, a mentor, a role model, and a politician who held the position of the Libyan Ministry of Health for many years. Dr. Sedig Bendalla, one of his apostles, is writing a deserving tribute.

Back to reflecting on IJMBS at the end of 2024. The Editorial Board is keeping a close watch on the journal's progress, obstacles, and aspirations. We are cognizant that the progress is slow. The journal is now 16 years old, but our achievement on the front of indexation is far from satisfactory.[1] [2] So far, the only serious index is the Web of Science, with a maiden Impact Factor of 0.3. Other entries have been achieved too.[3] [4] [5] However, our clinical readership and authorship place a greater value on PubMed indexation. This makes the main obstacle clearly defined as the vicious cycle of indexation and low rate of submissions.[6] The lack of PubMed/Medline indexation discourages submissions and a low flow of submissions makes it more difficult to achieve a favorable outcome for any indexation applications. However, we remain committed to our ambitions and aspirations to see a regional journal at an international level.[7] [8] To get there, our regional experts play a crucial role by supporting us in all aspects of the scholarly publishing process, including submitting articles, helping with the peer-reviewing process, keeping an eye on our publications, and providing feedback and guiding our future steps.

Conflict of Interest

None declared.

Author's Contribution

S.A.B. is the sole contributor of the Editorial.

• References

• 1 Elkhammas EA, Beshyah SA. Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences 2009–2019: achievements, ambitions, and challenges. Ibnosina J Med Biomed Sci 2020; 12: 1-5
• 2 Elkhammas EA, Beshyah SA. Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, 2022 and beyond. Ibnosina J Med Biomed Sci 2022; 14 (01) 1
• 3 Beshyah SA, Hajjaji IM, Elkhammas EA. A new year, a new index, and more hope. Ibnosina J Med Biomed Sci 2021; 13 (01) 1-2
• 4 Beshyah SA, Elkhammas IEA. JMBS receives its first impact factor: a new landmark. Ibnosina J Med Biomed Sci 2023; 15 (03) 105-105
• 5 Beshyah SA, Elkhammas EA. IJMBS at the end of 2023: an impact factor and a new platform. Ibnosina J Med Biomed Sci 2023; 15 (04) 151
• 6 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
• 7 Beshyah SA, Elkhammas EA. Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at fifteen years. Ibnosina J Med Biomed Sci 2023; 15 (01) 2
• 8 Elkhammas EA, Beshyah SA. From the editors: a new year's ambitions and challenges. Ibnosina J Med Biomed Sci 2023; 15 (01) 003-004

Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
27. Dezember 2024