Anesth Analg 2006;102:982-983
© 2006 International Anesthesia Research Society
doi: 10.1213/01.ANE.0000214178.05889.8B
EDITORIAL
Thank You, Ron Miller
Steven L. Shafer, MD
Editor-in-Chief, Anesthesia & Analgesia, San Francisco, CA
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Steven L. Shafer, MD, Department of Anesthesia, SUMC 5640, Stanford, CA 94305. Address e-mail to steven.shafer{at}stanford.edu.
Ronald Miller, MD, is among the most accomplished and influential anesthesiologists in the world. He is Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of California San Francisco, considered by many (including me) to be the premier academic department. He is editor of the eponymous "Miller’s Anesthesia," the definitive textbook for our specialty. Lastly, he has been the Editor-in-Chief of Anesthesia & Analgesia from March 1991 through March 2006, during which time he was elected into the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science. In every aspect of his work, Dr. Miller’s legacy is one of tenacious commitment to excellence.
Dr. Miller assumed the role of Editor-in-Chief from Dr. Nicholas M. Greene in 1991. Dr. Greene had transformed Anesthesia & Analgesia into a prominent and influential journal in our specialty, increasing the quality of manuscripts, and focusing the journal on providing scientific evidence to support the clinical practice of anesthesiology. Building on this foundation, Dr. Miller advanced Anesthesia & Analgesia to the next level of excellence. He organized the journal into subspecialty sections. Five of these sections evolved into "journals within a journal," making Anesthesia & Analgesia the official journal for specialty societies within our discipline. His vision led to the affiliation of Anesthesia & Analgesia with the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists, the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia, the Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia, the Society for Technology in Anesthesia, and the International Society for Anaesthetic Pharmacology. Dr. Miller appreciated the mutual benefits of these affiliations: the journal gained access to the extensive intellectual firepower within these subspecialty societies, while the societies gained a broader forum for their academic output than would be accomplished in a narrower subspecialty journal.
Dr. Miller’s tenure as Editor-in-Chief is also marked by the tone he set for the journal: rigorous, honest, respectful, and civil. This tone is evident in the manuscripts and letters published in Anesthesia & Analgesia, as well as the private communications among authors, reviewers, and editors that occurred throughout the peer-review and editing process.
Under Dr. Miller’s leadership, Anesthesia & Analgesia grew to become the largest journal in our specialty. Whereas in 1990 the journal published 1389 pages, excluding advertising, in 2005 it published 648 articles in 3819 pages. Manuscript submissions have grown by similar percentages, from 750 in 1991 to 1650 last year.
Last year, readers of Anesthesia & Analgesia’s online journal, published by HighWire Press, downloaded over 17,000 manuscripts every week. Of HighWire Press’s nearly 900 online medical journals, our journal ranked 15th in activity—an impressive accomplishment, especially because half of the 200 medical journals with the highest impact factors are published online by HighWire Press.
One of Dr. Miller’s stated goals was "creating a truly international editorial capability for Anesthesia & Analgesia." When he started, there was an editor from Scotland, and an editor from England, and the rest were from the United States. He has been notably successful in this regard; 10 current members of the Editorial Board, including 3 section editors, are from outside the United States. Dr. Miller also emphasized the need for Anesthesia & Analgesia to connect with the global anesthesiology community. As a result, the journal continues to see strong growth in foreign countries—the recently introduced Chinese language version of Anesthesia & Analgesia is vibrant and rapidly growing.
March 2006 also marked the end of five section editors’ terms: Steven Barker (Technology, Computing, and Simulation), Christoph Stein (Pain Medicine), Ken Tuman (Cardiovascular Anesthesia), David Warner (Neurosurgical Anesthesia), and Paul White (Ambulatory Anesthesia). All five labored diligently over many years to create sections of outstanding scholarship and international prominence. Their dedication and accomplishments are very much appreciated.
Anesthesia & Analgesia is not about the International Anesthesia Research Society, our affiliated societies, our editorial board, our authors, or even our readers. Medical journals, including Anesthesia & Analgesia, ultimately exist for patients. By vetting and documenting advances in medical science, they foster new discovery and innovation that will benefit patients. By bringing advances in medical science to practicing clinicians, they turn scientific discoveries into advances in medical practice. Most patients will never see an issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia. All will benefit from it.
Ron, on behalf of readers, authors, reviewers, editors, and, most importantly, our patients, I extend a hearty "Thank you!" for 15 years of outstanding service as Editor-in-Chief of Anesthesia & Analgesia.
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Footnotes
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Dr. Steven Shafer is Professor of Anesthesia, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, and Adjunct Professor of Biopharmaceutical Sciences, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
Accepted for publication January 16, 2006.
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104(2):
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[Full Text]
[PDF]
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