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Interview With The Editors Of The International Journal of Epidemiology

Following the surprise resignations of the Co-Editors-in-Chief of the International Journal of Epidemiology, George Davey Smith and Shah Ebrahim, we asked the editors a series of questions via email about the journal and the reasons for their resignations. Below are their unedited responses.

EM: What is the short list of your accomplishments at the IJE?

GDS & SE:

  ♦         Commissioning contemporary commentaries on often little-known historical re-prints

  ♦         Cohort Profiles (updated as needed) which have increased the knowledge of available sources of data and improved data access for researchers

  ♦        Special issues (e.g. Mendelian Randomization; Epigenetics) and themed issues, which in some cases have kick-started interest in areas not previously seen as central to epidemiology

  ♦        Increase in commissioned material from zero to around 50% of published content, including commentaries on papers, essay length book reviews, symposia on books, “for debate” papers and our “education corner” section

  ♦        Employment of an Academic Editor (Dr. Jane Ferrie) to improve triage of submitted manuscripts and lead a range of innovations. The time and
    expertise required for this has certainly improved the quality and in particular the range of material that has got to the stage of being considered for
    inclusion 

  ♦       Innovations (many taken up by other journals) in addition to cohort profiles include: diversions; press releases; twitter; blogs; photo-essays; Health &
   Demographic Surveillance Study profiles; Data Resource Profiles; Software Application profiles; and running scientific writing courses

  ♦       Rise in annual submissions from less than 500 (2000) to around 1800 (2015) with a substantial increase in average quality

Rise in impact factor from <2 to 9+ (not a general trend among epi/public health journals) – we fully recognise the limitations of impact factors but feel that other researchers reading and using work is probably a good thing, and we have been amused by the reaction of other journals to this (e.g see the slightly humourless replies in Epidemiology to our two letters – in response to their pieces – on this):

https://tinyurl.com/zxbu9tk

And

https://tinyurl.com/h7bc9n6

  ♦       The “In Depth” network profiles which have increased the awareness of the international community of these important resources, running workshops “in country” to help authors put these together

 EM:  Succinctly stated, what has been your driving vision in bringing the journal to its current place?

GDS & SE: We stated our vision in a 2001 editorial - the first issue for which we were fully responsible for all of the content in February 2001 – titled “Epidemiology: is it time to call it a day?”
https://tinyurl.com/zo74up9


We had a clear vision of what we wanted less of: minor analyses from major studies, scientifically valid but mundane findings. And what we wanted more of: high quality research conducted in developing countries, hypothesis papers, epidemiology and effects of indications and effects of intervention (i.e. public health services research), greater interdisciplinary contributions, letters.

We also wanted to be different from conventional medical journals by broadening the scope of what we published under the umbrella of epidemiology and by regular innovation of new types of commissioned material. 

We worked together as co-editors, providing mutual support, and also involved our 40+ editors in developing proposals for new innovations.

EM:  Why did you decide to resign at this time?


GDS & SE: 
We did not plan to resign in 2016.  Early in 2015 the Executive Council of the International Epidemiology Association (IEA) determined that they could no longer finance the IJE at its current level.  The IEA, in discussion with Oxford University Press (OUP, our publishers) reduced our funding considerably without involving us in the discussions in any way or allowing any negotiation. We have received no personal remuneration for  running the journal for 16 years, and we know the journal costs are about ¼ that of the nearest comparable journal in our field, so we found this an odd decision.  The reduction in funding we were told was due to losses incurred by the 2014 Alaska World Congress of Epidemiology which had depleted the IEA’s reserves. Of course, it is ironic that IJE provides IEA with the large majority of its income and plans were in process for developing an IJE Open journal which would provide a further source of income for IEA. 


Prior to these events, we were considering resigning from editing the IJE with the retirements of Jane Ferrie (Academic Editor) and Shah Ebrahim in 2017.  Furthermore, the IJE workload has increased dramatically over the last couple of years which has made it difficult to justify the substantial commitment of GDS’s time for IJE work.   Obviously, we would have liked to leave under different circumstances and at a time of our choosing.  We have always had excellent relationships with IEA and OUP until the last couple of years, when things have become difficult as we mention above regarding funding, and have included declining services from the publishers (e.g. copy editing and proof production is now poor).

We hope that it proves possible to find Editors-in-Chief for IJE who will carry it to greater things in the future.  We have agreed to stay in post to the end of 2016 to facilitate a smooth handover.

 


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