Thank you for taking the time to pick up the May-June 2017 issue of the Journal of Swine Health and Production (JSHAP) and for flipping to the message pages. I can sometimes sit for hours trying to put together my message for you and sometimes I can whip the message off like a breeze. This does often depend on my own creativity, or lack thereof. I do typically like to focus the May-June issue on the activities of the journal’s editorial board because I usually write this editorial on the heels of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) Annual Meeting. During this past AASV Annual Meeting I spoke to a few members at the meeting who were kind enough to mention to me that they enjoy reading the message pages of the journal. Thank you for that. It is nice to know, and hear, that the messages are read and enjoyed. With that in mind, if there are any topics you would like to see or read about in the message pages, please do not hesitate to contact the journal office and share your ideas. And, below, I am going to ask you to send in a note or two about your own professional and non-professional activities or stories to share with me.
But, first a quick word about the editorial board of the journal. The editorial board works hard reviewing manuscripts and I had the opportunity, once again, to meet with the editorial board members face-to-face at the AASV Annual Meeting in Denver. I cannot say thank you enough to all of our editorial board members, journal staff, and reviewers for their hard work putting together such a valuable journal. The journal had a healthy number of manuscript submissions this year and the hard work of the editorial board, journal staff, and authors is reflected in the recent increase in our impact factor rating. I have talked about the journal’s impact factor in the past and would like to bring your attention to the journal’s impact factor again. While the impact factor of a journal can sometimes be a misleading representation of a journal’s “worth,” it is nonetheless an important metric in the scientific journal world. I am pleased to share with you that again, for the current reporting period, the journal’s impact factor has increased. The current impact factor is 1.277 and represents another all-time high for impact factor rating for the journal. This now puts JSHAP’s rating in the veterinary sciences category at 38/138. If you need a refresher of how this impact factor rating is calculated, please visit my editorial from the May-June 2016 issue.1
What does 2017 have in store for your calendar? I know there are quite a few people in our membership who do exciting and challenging things within and outside of veterinary medicine that have an impact on their lives and those around them. Perhaps it ranges from being a first-time parent or grandparent, a coach, doing volunteer work or charity work, or maybe you are on some other journey of self improvement? Aside from my usual professional responsibilities, for me, late 2016 and early 2017, has started me on a journey of training for long distance running. I never thought of myself as a runner. But here I am with two ½-marathons (13.1 miles [21.1km]) under my belt with a 19-mile (31km) race coming up in 3 weeks. Yikes! Maybe I will consider putting a full marathon on my to-do list - maybe! I write quite a bit about my own experiences in my messages but I am interested in hearing about your stories, goals, and successes and how you got there or plan to get there. For me, the running started on a whim. I am an avid hockey player and equestrian and in my “spare time” I added running to the mix. What a challenge! It is so very different from participating in a team sport or from a sport such as equestrian events that involve an animal with his or her own agenda. It has been a challenge for me to chip away at this type of athletic training (I am not in my 20s anymore!) but the reward of crossing the finish line is very satisfying. If you are not too shy, share your stories and send them into the journal office!
Reference
1. O’Sullivan T. Shout-out! [editorial]. J Swine Health Prod. 2016;24:129.
Terri O’Sullivan, DVM, PhD
Executive Editor