This Article Full Text (PDF) eLetters: Submit a response to this article Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints/Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Murphy, M. J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Murphy, M. J., Jr.

Dream No Little Dreams

The Oncologist's sixth year is one marked by sustained growth and development of both the Journal's printed editions in English and Spanish and its online edition, www.TheOncologist.com. In a precarious medical publishing environment in which three out of four new journals die within three years of birth, The Oncologist has thrived. In its first six years, its global circulation has grown to 19,000 in its English edition. The Journal's Spanish edition is read by 2,000 physicians in Spain. Index Medicus/Medline awarded The Oncologist inclusion in its premier database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine—and it did so from the very first issue. Because the Journal's website easily enables the reader to access the world's most important medical literature with the click of a mouse, more than 75,000 read The Oncologist online each month (Fig. 1).

View larger version (20K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 1. Growth of The Oncologist online readership.

The quality of published papers is the sacred trust of our Editorial Board, and we express our gratitude to those who have concluded their tour of duty: Reinaldo Daniel Chacón, Institute Alexander Fleming, James H. Doroshow, City of Hope National Medical Center, Ernest L. Egan, University College Hospital (Galway, Ireland), Alessandro M. Gianni, Instituto Nazionale Tumori, Jean Claude Horiot, Tumor Institute Centre Georges-Francois Leclerc, Szu-Hee Lee, National University Hospital (Singapore), Michael P. Link, Stanford University Medical Center, Bob Löwenberg, University Hospital Rotterdam-Dijkzigt, Jeffrey Norton, San Francisco VA Medical Center, Makoto Ogawa, Health Promotion Foundation (Tokyo, Japan), Giovanni Pacilio, Cardarelli Hospital, David Parkinson, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Charles B. Pratt, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Ephraim Resnik, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, Frederick P. Smith, The Washington Clinic, Daniel D. Von Hoff, Arizona Cancer Center.

We are also pleased to welcome the following new members to The Oncologist's Editorial Board: Matti S. Aapro, Clinique de Genolier, Keisuke Aiba, Cancer Chemotherapy Center, Andrew Bottomley, European Organization for Treatment and Research of Cancer, Neil Clendeninn, Drug Development Consultant, Frank G. Haluska, Massachusetts General Hospital, John A. Hohneker, Novartis Oncology, William Hoskins, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Jay Loeffler, Massachusetts General Hospital, Hamza Mujagic, University of Tuzla (Bosnia), Richard Pazdur, Food and Drug Administration, Peter W. Pisters, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Marshall Posner, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Howard I. Scher, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Kenneth Offit, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

THE ONCOLOGIST'S FUTURE PLANS

In response to our physician readers who have sent us their requests that the Journal cover specific disease areas, we are pleased to welcome the following Editors of these new Sections:

ACUTE AND CHRONIC LEUKEMIAS AND MULTIPLE MYELOMA
George P. Canellos
Boston, MA

BREAST CANCER
Gabriel N.Hortobagyi
Houston, TX

CLINICAL GENETICS AND ETHICS
Kenneth Offit
New York, NY

CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY
Mace L. Rothenberg
Nashville, TN

GASTROINTESTIONAL CANCER
Patrick G. Johnston
Belfast, Northern Ireland

GENITOURINARY CANCER
Howard I. Scher
New York, NY

GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY
William Hoskins
New York, NY

HEAD AND NECK CANCERS
Marshall Posner
Boston, MA

HEPATOBILIARY
Kenneth K. Tanabe
Boston, MA

IMAGING AND DIAGNOSTICS
Fred R. Hirsch
Copenhagen, Denmark
and
Andrew T. Turrisi, III
Charleston, SC

LUNG CANCER
Thomas J. Lynch, Jr.
Boston, MA

LYMPHOMA
Michael L. Grossbard
New York, NY

MELANOMA
Frank G. Haluska
Boston, MA

NEURO-ONCOLOGY
Howard Fine
Bethesda, MD

PEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY
Susan M. Blaney
Houston, TX

SARCOMAS
Peter W. Pisters
Houston, TX

SUPPORTIVE CARE
Russell K. Portenoy
New York, NY

The Senior Editors will increase the utility of the Journal's website by adding, after careful review, additional materials of particular relevance to its global readership. Recognizing the need for both humor and beauty in our lives, the editors have added "Humor Rounds" and "Reflections" to the Journal. Early in 2002, we will also inaugurate the Continuing Medical Education credits (CME) online under the editorship of Dr. Gregory A. Curt. This CME program will use powerful but seductively simple interactive teaching tools to heighten—and enliven—the learning experience.

The Journal's critically acclaimed Supplements are carefully being expanded. Since all Supplements are peer-reviewed, they are also included in Index Medicus. Thus far this year, the Journal has published:

NEW DIRECTIONS IN THE TREATMENT OF NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER
    The Oncologist 2001;6(suppl 1):1S-27S.

ARSENIC TRIOXIDE: SCIENTIFIC AND CLINICAL PROGRESS
    The Oncologist 2001;6(suppl 2):1S-32S.

INNOVATIVE THERAPIES IN BREAST CANCER
    The Oncologist 2001;6(suppl 3):1S-44S.

INCORPORATING ORAL CAPECITABINE INTO THE TREATMENT OF COLORECTAL CANCER
    The Oncologist 2001;6(suppl 4)

In addition, the following Supplement is in preparation for publication by the end of the year:

TARGETED DRUG THERAPY: HYPOMETHYLATION, VEGF-R, AND C-MPL
    The Oncologist 2001;6(suppl 5)

A dear friend and supportive member of the Editorial Board, Dr. Rafael Rosell from Barcelona, challenged us to summarize the Journal's "secrets of success" [1]. As we analyzed the factors that have contributed to The Oncologist's prominence, we derived these salient features.

Oncologists requested a journal that is authoritative but not authoritarian; a strictly peer-reviewed forum designed to meet the special needs of the busy community-based practitioner.

A team of oncology experts representing medical, surgical, radiation, and pediatric oncologists, banded together with a commitment to craft a journal for the "physician in the trenches." In so doing, the Senior Editors have become a confraternity in which a common and important mission binds them together. The Senior Editors, in turn, have recruited superb members to the Journal's editorial board whose job it is to author and to solicit authorship and to critically review submitted manuscripts.

Enlightened corporate executives have given vital support to the journal, and they have done so without any considerations except for the gratitude with which we announce their unrestricted educational grants. They realize that enlightened physicians are essential for the furtherance of medical practice. They simply see it as "the right thing to do," whether or not it is good for business.

To single out any individuals for special credit would instantly place one in jeopardy of omitting many others who are also deserving of great credit and high praise. Nevertheless, it is easy to state that the cornerstone of the Journal's success is derived from the leadership of our Senior Editors. Realizing the great power and responsibilities of editorship, they daily rise to their tasks with a sense of dedication that makes it a joy to be in their association. They keep the Journal on course, not allowing it to stray from the mission upon which we originally embarked.

The great architect Daniel Burnham admonished us to, "Dream no little dreams, for they have no magic to move men's souls." The big dreams which the editors have dreamed for The Oncologist would never see the light of day were it not for the indefatigable support of the Journal's dedicated editorial staff led by managing editor Dr. Ann Murphy who deliver personal attention to the entreaties of authors and readers whilst meeting every deadline. Therein lies another secret of the Journal's success: a publisher dedicated to excellence. On behalf of the Senior Editors and the editorial board we express our appreciation.

Our greatest appreciation is reserved for cancer patients and you, our readers. It is, after all, to them and for you that we dedicate The Oncologist.

In the aftermath of the tragic events of September 11, The Oncologist's Editors, Editorial Board members and staff extend our deepest condolences to our colleagues, partners, friends and readers who have suffered personal losses. We pray that the international community of physicians, nurses, and other healthcare givers we serve will help renew and reshape our world into one in which such terrorism and destruction can never again happen. We invite our readers to share with us how the events of September 11 affected them and their practices.

 

Martin J. Murphy, Jr. Executive Editor

REFERENCES

1. Murphy, MJ. What does a Northern Blot have to do with my medical practice? The story of The Oncologist. Reviste de Oncologia 2000;2:229–230.

This Article Full Text (PDF) eLetters: Submit a response to this article Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints/Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Murphy, M. J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Murphy, M. J., Jr.