Editorial

August 17, 2014 — admin
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Israel Journal of Veterinary Medicine  Vol. 69 (3)  September 2014 www.ijvm.org.il 112
Edi tori al
I
n June I participated in the 11
th
International Association of Veterinary Editors (IAVE) in Split,
Croatia. Te meeting is attended by veterinary editors from all over the world and held annually. In this
editorial I report to our readers on the subjects discussed at the meeting and particularly in reference
to our journal.
Te chairperson of the group is Prof. Mary Christopher who has previously visited and lectured in Israel.
She is the past editor of the journal “Veterinary Clinical Pathology”. She was the person who started me of
as editor of the Israel Journal of Veterinary Medicine (IJVM) and remains a great source of encouragement
and support.
Among the editors, there were a few representing national journals like our own, such as ”Te Australian
Veterinary Journal”,“Te Swedish Veterinary Journal”, and “Veterinarskiarhiv” the journal of Croatian
veterinarians. Journals dealing with specifc topics included: “Veterinary Clinical Pathology”, “Veterinary
and Comparative Orthopedics and Traumatology” and “Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia”.
A signifcant part of the meeting incuded discussions on the subjects of animal ethics and welfare. Te IAVE
has previously drawn up its recommendations. Each journal was required to present its “Instructions for
Authors” with the aim of examining these aspects. Te IJVM’s approach to acceptance of articles in regard
to animal ethics and welfare was found to fulfll the requirements. Our journal’s instructions to authors states
explicitly: “All material published in the IJVM must adhere to high ethical and animal welfare standards”.
Informed Consent was another topic discussed by the group: Tis issue has largely been taken from the
human medicine standards for publication where among the enlightened nations, privacy and confdentiality
are basic human rights. Some proposed that this should also cover the publication of prospective and
retrospective veterinary studies, although the names of the clients and pets would not be mentioned in the
publication. Te question of client permission for publication of a case after an animal has been euthanized
was also discussed. Must the veterinarian obtain consent for publication from the owner under these
circumstances? Tese are issues which need to be discussed in future meetings.
Peer review practices play a very important role in achieving a high standard for the journal. Te IAVE
has adopted the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) for Peer reviewers (2013) which states in its
opening sentence: “Peer review in all its forms plays a role in ensuring the integrity of the scholarly record”,
which to me sums up the spirit of the peer review process. Te search for the appropriate reviewer for an
article is an ongoing issue and struggle. Tis is also true for the IJVM. Cooperation between journals has
been proposed. I approached Dr. Gregor Majdic, editor of the “Slovanian Veterinary Research” journal and
I hope we can fnd a common solution to this problem. Another issue discussed was “Te best practice
in the peer review process”. How should an article be judged taking into account that the reviewers may
be acquainted with the author/s? Some journals send their articles to the reviewers in a “blinded” or even
“double blinded” manner, in order to overcome any element of bias on the part of the reviewers. Te
question of review forms and checklists is interesting, and I am considering introducing this approach into
our review process.
Israel Journal of Veterinary Medicine  Vol. 69 (3)  September 2014 113 www.ijvm.org.il
Training peer reviewers is a task that I am considering. Questions regarding the peer review process were
raised, such as: How can peer reviewers gain skills? What is the best way for reviewers to receive feedback?
and the initiation of peer reviewers’ tutorials. A meeting of our reviewers to explain what is required and
in general how to review an article and what the journal expects would be a very important and valuable
dialogue.
Tese were just some of the subjects discussed. Meeting other veterinary editors is certainly a learning
process. Discussing the difculties and solutions to these obstacles by other editors has given me a new
insight of how to improve our journal.
Of course your support continues to be the basis of the journal. I continue to face the “chicken and egg”
dilemma: Authors and especially those senior acedemic veterinarians prefer to publish in jounals with a high
citation index, however if they are not prepared to contribute even to a small extent to our Israeli Journal
how can they expect the journal to meet their aspirations? Te upgrading of our journal would refect the
high standard of veterinary medicine in Israel and be a pride and source of reference for future generations
of Israeli veterinarians.
Again I appeal to those veterinarians, especially those senior veterinary researchers, who without sacrifce
to their continued professional status, could easily submit at least one article a year to the IJVM and in this
way contribute substantially to establish a journal of high standard.
Wishing all our readers a Happy, Healthy, Peaceful and Prosperous New Year
Hag Same’ach
Trevor ( Tuvi a) Waner
Editor-in Chief
Israel Journal of Veterinary Medicine
ISRAEL JOURNAL OF VETERINARY MEDICINE

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