Platelets editorial 2022: transitioning

The first edition of Platelets was in 1990 and for the first 25 years, Professor Stan Heptinstall was the Editor-in-Chief, running the journal single-handedly. Stan appointed an international Editorial Board many of whom were still on the Board when Paul and Steve took over in 2015. The reputation of Platelets grew steadily over Stan’s time and it achieved its highest impact factor in Stan’s final year with a healthy 15 month back-log of papers.

Paul and Steve’s first and most important decision was to appoint Gayle Halford as the Editorial Assistant, and the journal would not be where it is today without her dedication and support. At the time of handover, an increase in editions from 6 to 8 per year was agreed, new members of the Editorial Board were appointed, and a major thank you was given to the editors who were standing down and who had served the journal so well over the years. There is no doubt that the hardest job that Paul and Steve had was to thank Professor Koneti Rao from Temple University for his support of the journal. Koneti had joined the journal before Stan and had been a major influence and supporter of Steve in his early career. It took over three years before Paul and Steve summoned up the courage to ask Koneti to step down, and celebrated with him and the Editorial Board with a fantastic luncheon at the Melbourne ISTH in 2019 and awarded him a plaque. On the day, Gayle interviewed Koneti about his experience in Platelets and the resulting article illustrates his warmth and feelings for the journal and community [1].

Another key decision was to appoint new Editors and to introduce a structure such that they serve for two 4-year terms unless they hold a specific role in the journal. The majority of appointments were made in the first few years with more recent appointments made to address submission topic areas of growth. We are very pleased with the international excellence and breadth of knowledge in the Board. The Annual Editorial Board luncheon is a family get together and the only ‘reward’ for all of their hard work. Truly, there is no such thing as a free lunch! The following editors are due to step down at the end of 2022 (unless appointed to a new post in the journal) and we would like to express our gratitude for their support: Wolfgang Bergmeier, Larry Frelinger, Kathleen Freson, Liz Gardiner (see below), Cedric Ghevaert, Benoit Ho-Tin-Noé, Suzanne Korporaal, Marie Lordkipanidzé, Khalid Naseem, and Katsue Suzuki-Inoue.

A number of specific editorial roles have been introduced: Reviews (Matthew Harper), Systematic Reviews (Marie Lordkipanidzé), Methods and Methods Development (Liz Gardiner), Clinical Trial Protocols (Mark Thomas), and Gene-of-the-Issue (Neil Morgan and Kathleen Freson), as well as statistical experts in discovery (Gavin Jarvis) and population-based (Mark Thomas) studies. Kelly Machlus and Craig Hughes took on the new role of Social Media Editors, with Craig having since handed over to Kirk Taylor in 2021.

Several new categories of manuscript have been introduced over the last 7 years:

Special Review Series are composed of several short reviews on a single topic with authors encouraged to challenge previously accepted ideas and concepts. These have been edited by members of the editorial board and outside experts. In the last year we have published the following Special Review Series:

• New targets for anti-platelet agents – Series Editors: Drs Mark Thomas and Pip Nicolson

• Structure-function relationships of platelet glycoprotein receptors – Series Editor: Professor Steve Watson

• Ion channels and ion homeostasis in platelet and megakaryocytes – Series Editors: Professor Martyn Mahaut-Smith and Dr Kirk Taylor

• Platelets: bridging thrombosis and inflammation – Series Editors Drs Craig Jenne and Julie Rayes

• The state of the art and future of platelet rich plasma (PRP) therapy – Series Editors: Drs Paul Harrison and Joseph Alsousou

We have commissioned the following Series in 2022:

• Platelet blood banking and transfusion – Series Editors: Drs Jose Rivera and Joan Cid

• Viruses and platelets – Series Editor: Dr Matthew Rondina

• Biomarkers of platelet activation – Series Editors: Dr Jianlin Qiao and Professor Elizabeth Gardiner

• GPIb-IX-V – Series Editor: Dr Renhao Li

The Gene-of-the-Issue series summarizes the genetic variation in key platelet genes authored by leaders in the field. We anticipated that this would be accompanied by a large increase in submissions of manuscripts on new variants in platelet genes, but there has only been a steady number of submissions reflecting the polygenic nature of nearly all platelet disorders and the challenge in identifying the causative defects.

Opinion Articles have been introduced to discuss controversies and new interpretations in the field, and may include results as exemplified by an article platelet glycoprotein receptors as pattern recognition receptors in the October issue (Montague et al., 2021).

Interviews with emeritus platelets researchers have been written by Gayle and colleagues, and have included an interview with Gus Born in his early nineties [2] that was accompanied by a series of articles summarizing his many contributions to the field.

Commentaries have been introduced to provide an opportunity for early researchers to write an overview of a recent publication in the platelet field. The jury is out as to whether these will remain as we have not received many submissions, and encourage students and postdocs to consider writing these.

We have also introduced video and graphical abstracts and are pleased to see the increasing uptake of these.

One of most enjoyable events is the annual front cover competition where submitted images are voted on by the Editorial Board. We are pleased to announce the winner for the 2022 front cover as Dr Joseph E. Italiano Jr, Harvard Medical School for his stunning image entitled “The Birth of a Platelet.”

The Editorial Board chooses a Plenary Paper for each issue from all types of submitted manuscripts. In the September issue this was awarded to a Case Report for this first time “Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis associated with spontaneous heparin-induced thrombocytopenia syndrome after total knee arthroplasty” by Hwang [3] and colleagues.

Winners of the front cover competitions and the Plenary Paper corresponding authors receive framed prints.

This year we have replaced Short Communications with Definitive Reports which have an increase in word count of 2000 and up to 4 figures. This change reflects requests from referees for more information, and to distinguish these from Letters which have 1200 words.

One of the most important and over-due additions is the appointment of an EDI Officer, Dr Kirk Taylor in 2021. This as a critical and challenging role given the inequalities in research across the globe, and one that will develop over time. Kirk introduced this position in his editorial [4] in 2021 and has been working closely with the Editors-in-Chief and the Publishers, Taylor and Francis, over the last year to review best-practice in publishing and to advise on policy. In concert with other journals this has led to recognition of the importance of name change for authors without having to go through a process of corrigendum. The importance of this role will increase with the transition to new Editors-in-Chief and open access.

As mentioned, an increase to 8 issues a year was agreed in 2015 to reduce the back-log of manuscripts. Two years ago, the content of each issue was increased by 25%, and this year it has been increased by a further 25%, reflecting the growth in high quality submissions. Platelets receives between 400–450 submissions per year, with the exception of the last extraordinary year where this grew to 600 submissions. While these are encouraging figures, the number of discovery research manuscripts has remained constant reflecting the ever-increasing standards and the challenge of making new discoveries.

The major criteria for acceptance remain the quality and originality of the work, and its relevance to the platelet field. Manuscripts overlooked by other journals are welcomed, and we fast-track submissions that are accompanied with a response to comments.

The impact factor of Platelets has steadily increased over the last seven years and is now at a high of 3.9. This increase has opposed the decrease in impact factors of most of the other leading journals in the field over this period, and reflects the high quality of published articles. We are confident that the impact factor will increase even further as the journal transitions to open access.

We are delighted that Liz Gardiner (Canberra, Australia) and Will Parker (Sheffield, UK) have agreed to take on the role of Editors-in-Chief from 2023. Liz is known to all in the platelet community, and was awarded an ISTH Esteemed Researcher Award in 2020. Liz joined the Editorial Board in 2015 and has held the position of Methods and Methods Development Editor. Liz brings considerable editorial expertise in working with other Journals and Societies. Liz’s experience as a discovery scientist is complemented by the clinical expertise of Will Parker who joined the Editorial Board earlier this year and has handled over 20 manuscripts in this short time. Liz and Will also see the transition to Open Access in 2022 and will write more on this later this year.

We have appointed Professor Thierry Burnouf from Taipei Medical University, Taiwan, to the Editorial Board, to strengthens our expertise in platelet-rich plasma studies.

In closing, Paul and Steve would like to say that they are proud to have been Editors-in-Chief of Platelets and have enjoyed this role enormously. There have been many highlights. They could not have done this without the support of Gayle and our fantastic Editorial Board.

From 2023, they will continue to support the journal as referees and as avid readers.

Steve, Paul, Kirk and Gayle, January 2022