SAJSM vol 18 No.1 2006 3 My attention was drawn to a paper which examined the characteristics of successful journals. 1 In the study, editors of successful journals were interviewed and questioned about their views on factors which had contributed to the success of their respective journals. Some of the main points arising from this study are listed below: • Active recruitment of high-impact article – editors personally approached leading investigators in different research areas in their quest to attract high-quality papers to their journals. • Improving services to authors – editors attempted to attract authors by speeding up the turnaround times and fast-tracking publications which had a particularly high impact. • Finding niche areas – editors attempted to make their journal the definitive journal for that particular specialist area. • Promoting the journals through media and other forms of communication – this characteristic was supported by a study which showed that research papers from the New England Journal of Medicine, which were also published and popularised in the New York Times, received more scientific citations than articles which did not receive the same treatment. 3 In other words, scientific impact was improved if the work was communicated beyond the regular scientific/ clinical community. What can the South African Journal of Sports Medicine learn from this study? While we are in a completely different league to the heavyweight journals surveyed in the study, 1 there are many practical points from the results of this study which can be considered and implemented. Firstly, we need to seek and canvass for articles from top researchers and clinicians rather than waiting for articles to be submitted. At the 2008 South African Sports Medicine Association conference in Pretoria some clinicians presented fascinating case studies. Most of these presentations have not been converted into publications. The possible reason for this is that the clinicians may not have had much research experience, and feel intimidated about writing the paper. This is something which can be addressed. We will commit to facilitate this process in an attempt to publish cutting- edge applied clinical and performance-related case studies. We already have structures in place to nurture young researchers who are attempting to publish their work and we will attempt to extend this to clinicians who have interesting case studies to report. Secondly, we need to improve our communication with our readers, informing them about the upcoming editions and interesting articles they can look forward to reading. Soon a mechanism will be in place for better communication between SASMA members, so we will be able to piggyback onto this communication structure to inform members about the journal. Thirdly, we will also attempt to make the reviewing process as seamless as possible and completed within four weeks. We will attempt to do this without compromising the standard of the review, as a high standard of review is essential for the quality of papers which are published. We have also decided to include a continuing medical education section in the journal, which will serve as an adjunct to the research papers. There are also possibilities about linking this continuing medical education to CPD points. Fourthly, we need to develop and define our niche area. Our journal needs to become the international mouthpiece for sports medicine and the allied disciplines in South Africa. I think we can assume we will have achieved this goal when the South African Journal of Sports Medicine is the first port-of-call for anyone (local or international) seeking information relevant to sports medicine in South Africa. The fact that the journal has a regional niche should not be seen as an inferior option and therefore a dumping ground for a paper which has an insufficient quality for being accepted for publication in an international journal with a higher impact factor. Rather, our goal should be to publish papers which have not only an international quality, but also a regional interest. Indeed, the ISI classification now includes a regional section catering for journals with these characteristics. Another goal should be to ensure that a high proportion of the papers published are cited by other studies. It is staggering when one considers that between 1900 and 2005, 38 million papers were published in the clinical medicine and public health field. Half of these papers were not cited at all by subsequent studies in the field. 2 Our goal should be to ensure that any paper published in the South African Journal of Sports Medicine does not become a statistic and is never cited again. These are not unrealistic goals. Certainly the points which have been outlined above can be implemented, and there is a very good chance that in so doing the quality of the journal will be increased significantly. Mike Lambert Editor-in-Chief 1. Chew M, Villanueva, Van der Weydon M. Life and times of the impact factor: retrospec- tive analysis of trends for seven medical journals (1994 - 2005) and their editors’ views. J R Soc Med 2007; 100: 142-50. 2. Garfield E. The history and meaning of the journal impact factor. JAMA 2006; 295: 90-3. 3. Phillis DP, Kanter EJ, Bednarczyk B, Tastad PL. Importance of the lay press in the transmission of medical knowledge to the scientific community. N Engl J Med 1991; 325: 1180-83. Do we have a niche market? A topic which is receiving much publicity as I write is the banning of 5 skinny models from participating in the Madrid fashion week. Madrid’s regional govern- ment imposed the rules ‘to protect the models as well as teenagers who may develop anorexia as they try to copy underweight catwalk stars’. 1 They used a body mass index of 18 as their cut- off value. The ‘anti-thin’ move has been criticised in Paris and New York, two of the world’s leading fashion centres. However, in Italy the move was supported by the mayor who intimated that she would like to apply the same rulings when the fashion show moves to Milan. The motive for imposing the ban is noble, as the ‘skinny trend’ is not showing signs of abating. A recent report by the British Medical Association identifies a link between the images of ‘abnormally thin’ models that dominate television and magazines, and the increase in cases of anorexia nervosa and bulimia. 2 The incidence of anorexia is at an all-time high with predictions of 0 - 5% of all females having eating disorders. While eating disorders were previously usually regarded as a female syndrome, the situation is changing with a steady increase in the number of men being diagnosed with eating disorders. A recent estimate predicts that of the 60 000 people with eating disorders in the UK, 10% are male. 2 This trend can most likely be explained by the contemporary lean, hungry look of male stars. To get a snapshot view of changing body beautiful images of different eras one only has to compare the ‘hunks’ of the 1960’s movies (i.e. Sean Connery as James Bond) to modern day hunks to see how the masculine image has changed. Marilyn Monroe, with her curvy body shape in the 1950s would probably be regarded as too fat for a leading role 50 years later. While the organisers of the fashion shows should be complimented for taking a bold stand against their skinny, unhealthy-looking models, they can be criticised for the way in which they have gone about it. Using a body mass index of 18 as a cut-off value is inappropriate and may penalise some models who live normal healthy lives. Instead of this approach the organisers should establish a structure that evaluates the health status of the models including their eating, sleeping and substance abuse habits and make decisions accordingly. The information on how to do this is available; it just needs to be applied. This third issue of the journal for 2006 has 4 interesting papers. The first paper by Professor Mars and colleagues examines the cooling of skin, subcutaneous fat and muscle with an icepack, at rest and after short-duration exhaustive exercise. This study produced some interesting results with important clinical applications. The next paper by Ian Cook examines the accuracy of different types of pedometers. It is well known that people who use pedometers are encouraged to be more physically active, so therefore there is great value in making pedometers available to the general public. However, the enthusiasm to make and distribute pedometers has exceeded the concern about their accuracy. This study addresses this point with a comprehensive research design. The results make a valuable contribution to the literature. The third paper, by Dr McHardy and colleagues from Macquarie Injury Management Group, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, is a clinician’s perspective of the modern and classic golf swing. This paper is relevant to sports physicians, biokineticists and physiotherapists and provides a clear analysis of the different types of golf swing and their possible link to injury, particularly lower back pain. Finally the paper by Dr Draper and her colleagues describes the state of the fitness industry in South Africa. This comprehensive study gathered data from 442 facilities around the country. The data provide an important benchmark for the state of the industry and will make a significant contribution to the development of perceived weaknesses in the industry. Mike Lambert Editor-in-Chief 1. Milan fashionistas fear Spanish skinny model ban. news.yahoo.com/s/ nm/20060914/od_nm/italy_models_dc (accessed 18 September 2006) 2. The changing shape of the model. news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/769460.stm (ac- cessed 18 September 2006) Skinny fashion – a role for sports medicine? SAJSM voL 18 No. 3 2006 57 editoriAL pg57.indd 57 9/21/06 12:15:22 PM eDitoriaL SaJSM voL 20 No. 2 2008 39 pg39 .indd 39 8/8/08 11:23:48 AM