Introduction
On behalf of the team at Taylor & Francis, and Neuro-Ophthalmology’s co-Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Walter Jay, we wish to thank Dr. Gordon Plant for his ten years of dedication and service to the journal. Dr. Plant has been a true asset to Neuro-Ophthalmology, helping to achieve goals and foster relationships that continue to support the journal today. It is our pleasure to announce that Dr. Plant will be moving to Editor Emeritus, and Dr. Simon Hickman, Associate Editor of papers from Europe, will fulfil Dr. Plant’s role as co-Editor-in-Chief beginning this year with the 43rd Volume of Neuro-Ophthalmology. We welcome Dr. Hickman and look forward to the continued success of the journal.
Editorial
It was at the EUNOS meeting in Istanbul in 2007 that I was approached by a “search committee” bearing a request to take over as Editor of Neuro-Ophthalmology. To be frank, the auguries were grim. The journal had switched publishers and had not succeeded in filling its annual quota: an entire volume had been omitted in order to catch up. When EUNOS was formed in 1993 Neuro-Ophthalmology became the “official” journal of the organisation but there was no formal agreement with the publisher to this effect: the link could not be preserved. The system for processing submitted manuscripts was in desperate need of modernising. There was neither PubMed listing nor impact factor. It seemed a task of Titanic proportions with a genuine risk of going down with the ship.
The first ray of sunshine was Walter Jay joining as co-Editor-in-Chief. What has been achieved would not have been possible without his contribution. It has taken almost the entire period of our tenure to secure our three main objectives: electronic submissions, listing on PubMed Central and becoming the official journal of EUNOS. In particular we are interested to provide a means whereby those European nations with more highly developed healthcare systems can begin to help those nations less fortunate both within and beyond the continent of Europe. The quality and quantity of submissions that the journal now receives, and their international basis, is a direct consequence of these achievements. Walter and I have continued in the firm belief that neuro-ophthalmologists need a journal with an international approach: this has been our mission throughout. Medical practice in the developed nations cannot be used as the model for the rest of the world; we remain committed to aiding the development of neuro-ophthalmology across the globe. We see no reason to doubt continuing success given the growth in interest in the journal we have witnessed.
There are many people to be thanked for the achievements. We have been fortunate to have excellent publishing teams. We have recruited an ever-growing group of hard-working Associate Editors. We have been blessed also by an enthusiastic international team of young literature reviewers, which has proven a fertile ground for Associate Editors. We must also acknowledge the essential but anonymous work carried out by our manuscript reviewers who, along with our authors, we thank for showing such loyalty to our Journal. We are also grateful for the efforts that Klara Landau has undertaken to achieve our mutual targets, as secretary and then president of EUNOS.
There is more to do. We wish to help EUNOS to grow in influence and in its role as an international forum for Neuro-Ophthalmic training, continuing professional development and for research. We are proud now to be able to move forward as partners under its incoming president Fion Bremner.
I am also delighted that Simon Hickman has agreed to take over as co-Editor-in-Chief of Neuro-Ophthalmology from January 2019. I have known Simon for over 20 years as trainee, PhD student, Consultant Neuro-ophthalmologist and as Associate Editor. I am therefore familiar with his qualities as a superb clinician, active in research. He possesses an exceptionally high level of commitment to our Speciality and to our aims in education and towards the promotion of improved patient care across the globe. Neuro-Ophthalmology will be in safe hands.
Sincerely,
Gordon Plant
Editor Emeritus
Neuro-Ophthalmology
Response
I would like to thank Gordon for his kind words about me. I would also like to thank Gordon and Walter for their sterling work in putting the journal back on track and for achieving the objectives they had set. I look forward to working with Walter, the editorial staff at Taylor and Francis, the Associate Editors, Abstract Editors and members of the Editorial board. The re-establishment of links with EUNOS is exciting and I think will benefit both the organisation and the journal. Fion is an old colleague and friend of mine and I am sure we will work well together.
I am very keen as well for the journal to remain an International Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology. We have a team of Associate Editors in all corners of the globe and we would like to hear about and publish articles outlining disease presentations and treatment in different parts of the world. In this increasingly globalised world, this knowledge is crucial to all of our practice. Walter and I would love to hear from anyone who has an idea for a case report, review or original article. We can then see what we can do to help the idea turn into a publication.
Over the next few months I will sit down with the Walter and the staff at Taylor and Francis so that we can work out our next set of objectives. Gordon will be an extremely tough act to follow. I am also very aware that the journal relies on its submissions, the quality of peer review and ultimately, having an interested readership. With all of your help I therefore hope to be able to continue the journal’s current success.
Sincerely,
Simon Hickman
co-Editor-in-Chief