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Editorial |
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As we begin 2007, the 27th year of its publication, RadioGraphics’s external look has appropriately been refined to reflect the Journal’s continuing efforts to provide the best in quality image-based education. The new cover retains the original branding ideas from RadioGraphics of 1990 and 2000—the gray-scale pixels and the education subtitle—and yet has a contemporary look, to emphasize the tremendous advances our specialty has made in the past decade. Images that reflect some of the issue’s content will be featured on the cover. For this January-February issue, the cover images are from the AFIP Best Case authored by Dr Tyszko and colleagues. All authors will be notified in advance that some of their images will appear on a RadioGraphics cover, and I hope this will be a great way of recognizing some of the Journal’s terrific content. A question concerning the image(s) will also be posed on the cover, directing the reader to the article for the answer. The 2007 cover is accompanied by some minor redesign in the "front matter" of the Journal (the masthead, table of contents, etc), but no significant change to the internal aspects of the Journal has occurred. Despite the exciting new cover, there will be no doubt that RadioGraphics is still RG!
RadioGraphics and Education Center projects have again been extremely successful in 2006. RadioGraphics has had a banner year, publishing over 100 educational manuscripts (including exhibits, plenary sessions, and solicited articles) in 2103 pages. Many of these articles were presented for CME credit in both the print and online editions. A special monograph issue, entitled "Emerging Technologies in Neuroradiology," was published in October 2006, guest-edited by Dr Laurie Loevner. Up to 11 CME exercises are available in each print and online issue of RadioGraphics, and over 63,000 category 1 credits were awarded for completing the Journal’s CME activities in the 2005 calendar year, representing an increase of 7% compared with 2004. A similar increase is expected when 2006 statistics are assembled.
In terms of Education Center projects, the Education Portal continues to be very popular for obtaining online CME. The Portal (www.rsna.org/education/etoc.html) is designed to collect and organize all post–RSNA annual meeting continuing education activities in a single location. InteractED celebrated its sixth anniversary on August 1, 2006. The numerous programs contained in InteractED include RSNA plenary sessions, refresher courses, Cases of the Day, and education exhibits. Over 15,000 radiologists have registered on the site, and over 300 programs are currently available for viewing and CME participation. All programs are peer reviewed to ensure the best quality and are available for category 1 credit. Over 24,500 category 1 credits were awarded through the InteractED site in the first 6 months of 2006; this usage level represents an increase of 5000 credits compared with the same period in the previous year.
In response to the initiatives of the American Board of Radiology and its Maintenance of Certification (MOC) efforts for our specialty, the RSNA has developed educational materials in support of the MOC program. A major part of the education effort is the creation of self-assessment modules (SAMs) that support subspecialty education in response to an individual’s self-assessed needs. Each SAM consists of RadioGraphics articles, which are selected in all of the subspecialties, packaged with an accompanying CME test and other supporting educational materials, reviewed by RadioGraphics reviewers to ensure quality, and then qualified by the American Board of Radiology for production. Users may view SAMs and claim CME credit or choose not to do so. As of November 1, 2006, 27 SAMs were available free of charge to RSNA members, and many more SAMs are in production.
The year 2006 has brought other significant changes to RadioGraphics. From the procedural aspects of journal peer review and production, a major advancement has been the creation and use of RadioGraphics’s new online submission and review system, RGXPress. A system designed by RadioGraphics and RSNA Information Systems staffs, RGXPress brings the Journal into the 21st century in terms of some of the technical aspects of publishing. One of the valuable features of this system is that it was designed in house for RadioGraphics. Thus, it can be modified as the Journal grows and changes without the need to wade through proprietary code and issues. RGXPress will save the Journal a significant amount of carrier and mailing expense and will save authors, reviewers, and office staff considerable time in manuscript preparation and processing. In addition, more international reviewers can be included in the RadioGraphics reviewer pool. Since July 2006, virtually all Journal submissions have occurred through RGXPress. With the reviewer and manuscript revision portions of the program nearly completed, it is anticipated that all 2007 manuscripts will be handled from submission to disposition through the new online system. My congratulations to the Bethesda and Oak Brook staffs in creating our new system!
Positive changes in 2006 were not limited to RGXPress. In July 2006, a Trauma/Emergency section was started in RadioGraphics, with Dr Stuart Mirvis from the University of Maryland as editorial board member for this new section. Certainly, trauma/emergency radiology is now an essential part of our specialty, and it is important to give it the recognition it deserves. The 2006 annual meeting featured many education exhibits devoted to this subspecialty, and it will be wonderful to see some of them published in RadioGraphics. The Teaching Points feature, which has become an important and recognized enhancement in RadioGraphics Online articles, was further developed in late 2006. Initially, Teaching Points could be seen only in PDF versions of RadioGraphics articles. Now these highlighted concepts are visible in the online articles themselves. Authors are asked to identify in their articles five key concepts or teaching points, that is, those facts that best tell the reader the important educational points in the article. Teaching Points are easily identified by the call-out icon and text highlighting seen in the article. In 2006, legacy content for Journal articles became available online through the RadioGraphics home page (http://radiographics.rsnajnls.org). All content beginning with RadioGraphics Volume 1, 1981 is now available as an additional resource for readers.
In 2007, the positive trends seen in past years will continue. A new occasional section on quality issues in radiology will begin sometime in the coming year. Quality of care and the "continuous quality improvement initiative (CQII)" are becoming more important by the moment. The subject is not limited to "pay for performance" but bridges all that we do in our specialty to ensure quality care and safety for our patients. The RadioGraphics articles on quality will not duplicate those presented in other journals, but rather will deal with educating radiologists and the public in this area. In addition, there will be a RadioGraphics readership survey in 2007 to assess the Journal’s progress over the past several years. This project will be the fourth such survey since I started my editorship (similar surveys of RSNA members were conducted in 1992, 1997, and 2002). Many of the same questions will be asked, and it will be very interesting to see the longitudinal data. We want to know how we’re doing! A readership survey is important to the future and strategic planning for the Journal and the Society. Last, but certainly not least, there will be another excellent monograph issue published in October 2007 on breast imaging, guest-edited by Dr Michael Cohen from the University of Virginia. Breast imaging is a topic of huge interest to numerous RadioGraphics readers, and I know this monograph will be very popular. As usual, CME will be offered for many of the articles.
January and a new volume each year bring changes to the RadioGraphics editorial board. A time of change always brings me some sadness, since editorial board members work so hard to advance the quality of the Journal and they become real friends of RadioGraphics and RG staff, including the Editor. On the other hand, it is wonderful each year to welcome new talent with the new ideas and directions that new individuals bring. This year is no exception. Dr Bob Choplin has been a member of the RadioGraphics editorial board for chest imaging since 1997. Bob has done a terrific job in expanding this important area and was guest editor for the 2002 Thoracic Imaging monograph. I will miss Bob’s frequent interaction on current manuscripts and his great advice. Dr Jeremy Erasmus from the MD Anderson Cancer Center will replace Bob Choplin in this position. Jeremy has been a member of the Chest Imaging Panel for several years, and I know this transition will be very smooth. Dr Ferris Hall has similarly been a member of the RadioGraphics editorial board for many years (since 1994). Ferris has been a very versatile editorial board member, first leading the Breast Imaging Panel and more recently the Multisystem Radiology Panel. He has been instrumental in developing this latter area, which at the 2006 annual meeting included review of exhibits on quality. I am going to miss Ferris’s great advice on manuscripts and his innovative thinking in the areas he has covered. Dr Jonny Kruskal from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston will take over for Ferris, and I know he will continue to lead the Multisystem Radiology section forward over the next several years. Dr Paula Woodward has been a Contributing Editor for the Best Cases from the AFIP since 2002. Paula coordinated this section at its inception, and now over 60 of these wonderful cases have been published. They are collected on the Education Portal (http://rsna.org/Education/cpd.cfm). I thank Paula for organizing and developing this important section. Paula has left the AFIP as a full-time faculty member, and Dr Ellen Chung will assume the role of Contributing Editor for these cases. I am so glad that this section will continue under strong leadership. Most RSNA members and meeting attendees know about the terrific Saturday afternoon AAPM/RSNA Physics Tutorials for Residents. Each year, a different topic in medical physics is presented. For many years, these presentations have been published in RadioGraphics. Dr Mahadevappa Mahesh from the Johns Hopkins Hospital is the current coordinator of this symposium and is the main person involved in coordinating the submission of these manuscripts to RadioGraphics. It seems most appropriate to ask Dr Mahesh to become a member of the RadioGraphics editorial board as a Contributing Editor. I welcome Dr Mahesh to the board and thank him for his important past and future contributions.
As another year starts, I thank all those individuals who play such a prominent part in the evolution and development of RadioGraphics and the RSNA Education Center’s educational products, including authors, panelists, reviewers, the editorial board, the excellent RSNA staff, and the RSNA Board of Directors. I hope for a wonderful 2007 for everyone.
Reference
This article has been cited by other articles:
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  W. W. Olmsted Editor's Note: New Associate Editor for Quality Initiatives: Jonathan B. Kruskal, MD, PhD RadioGraphics, July 1, 2007; 27(4): 907 - 907. [Full Text] [PDF]
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