This month represents a significant milestone in the history of the Journal of Vascular Surgery (JVS). Founded in 1984 to help frame vascular surgery as a distinct practice discipline, the Journal has expanded its focus and structure to now encompass four distinct publications – the original JVS, the JVS Venous and Lymphatic Disorders (JVS-VL), JVS Cases, Innovations & Techniques (JVS-CIT), and JVS-Vascular Science (JVS-VS). This expanded portfolio recognizes and promotes the diverse and vibrant specialty that is vascular surgery.

Beginning with this issue, each of the component JVS journals has its own respective Editor-in-Chief (EIC): Thomas Forbes for the JVS, Ruth L. Bush for the JVS-VL, Matthew Smeds for the JVS-CIT, and Alan Dardik will continue as EIC for JVS-VS. Each EIC has reorganized their Associate and Assistant Editor positions to reflect the workflow they envision for their teams, with guidance and brand synergy provided by Ronald L. Dalman in the newly created Executive Editor position. As recommended by the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Publications Committee, and ratified by the SVS Executive Board, we believe that this diversified and distributive leadership structure will provide the flexibility and attention required by each JVS publication to meet the needs of their respective authors and readership.

The vision and commitment of the emeritus editorial leadership team of Peter Gloviczki and Peter Lawrence has brought the JVS publishing enterprise to this momentous transition. Together over the last 6 years, “Peter and Peter” have devoted countless hours to further development of the existing JVS journals while launching its newest publication, JVS-VS. In partnership with Jessica McEwan, who recently retired after 14 years as JVS Managing Editor, the emeritus editorial team drove the continued growth of the JVS publications as measured by manuscript submissions, page counts, national and international influence, and impact factor – in the latter case, achieving the highest on record for JVS this year. If we can see further into the future of academic publishing in 2022, it is because we are standing on the shoulders of generations of giants extending back to the JVS Founding Editor, Michael DeBakey, and subsequent editors and editorial teams.

It takes more than a village to produce high-quality, high-impact scientific journals such as the JVS portfolio, and our specialty and society are indebted to the following Associate and Assistant editors whose terms ended this month. They include Keith Calligaro and Greg Moneta – both of whom have devoted many years of service to the JVS. In addition, Fred Weaver and Cynthia Shortell, both also completing terms as major contributors, will continue through the next few months to assist in the transition.

The JVS, “The Premier International Journal of Medical, Endovascular and Surgical Care of Vascular Diseases,” approaches its 40th anniversary with Thomas Forbes as EIC. Dr Forbes brings his considerable experience as Associate Editor to the EIC role. In coordination with its sister publications, Dr Forbes plans to develop new publishing and knowledge translation platforms to extend our leadership as the “go-to” journal for high-impact manuscripts. While embracing change, the JVS will continue to emphasize the quality, innovation, inclusion, and excellence that authors and audiences have come to expect from us.

Ruth L. Bush is leading the JVS-VL into its 10th year of publication. Founded during the tenure of Anton (Tony) Sidawy and Bruce Perler as EIC and Senior Editor, respectively, JVS-VL is recognized as the premier resource for cutting edge venous and lymphatic science and interventions. As a joint venture of the American Venous Forum (AVF) and the SVS, the JVS-VL readership spans many medical and surgical disciplines, including vascular surgery, vascular medicine, dermatology, cardiology, and more. As Vice-President of the American Venous Forum, Dr Bush brings broad familiarity with the readership of JVS-VL and a commitment to engage all disciplines in improving care for patients with venous and lymphatic diseases.

Regarding the JVS-CIT, since its inception, this quarterly publication has become the reference journal for reporting unique cases, new techniques, and clinical videos and images in vascular surgery. According to EIC Matt Smeds, the issues facing JVS-CIT can be summed up as the 3 “Rs” – Relevance, Readership, and Ratings. Submissions to this journal have increased to nearly 400 annually on average since its inception. Dr Smeds’ focus will be to expand the impact of the JVS-CIT as the first choice for communication of novel ideas and reports worldwide.

Alan Dardik is continuing in his role as Founding Editor of the JVS-VS. The JVS-VS mission statement nicely summarizes its focus: “to be the premier international journal publishing ‘bench to bedside’ experimental and translational research underlying modern medical, endovascular and surgical investigation and management of vascular diseases.” JVS-VS will continue to promote the best research in the field of translational vascular science as it moves into its third year of publication, with articles now indexed in PubMed Central as well as SCOPUS. Dr Dardik notes: “The JVS-VS recognizes its place as the newest and smallest member of the JVS family; in this position, we may be able to pilot and perfect new publishing initiatives on behalf of the whole. For example, expanding the popular webinar series as well as allowing authors to submit video abstracts are practices which may benefit all JVS journals.”

Together, the JVS Journals begin this new era with an enhanced focus on authors and promotion of clinical and scientific best practices. We expect to expand traditional impact assessment to include social media metrics across several platforms. We are taking this opportunity to diversify our editorial teams in all regards – intellectual focus, career stage, and ethnic and racial backgrounds in order to build a “bench” for future leaders for the Journals and the SVS. We will embrace the future of open access and hybrid publishing while exploring ways to spread publication expenses across all stakeholders, not just authors, to optimize equity and sustainability as well as impact.

Some familiar aspects of the Journals, including abstraction of articles published in other journals, will sunset with this transition. Others, including the popular JVS Journal Clubs and social medial promotions such as TweetChats, will continue with enhanced focus and resourcing. Many new initiatives are planned for the next several years as we use this opportunity to rethink the Journals and their impact on the specialty. Throughout it all, we will continue to rely on our 700+ pool of editorial board members and reviewers to help us vet submitted manuscripts and shape vascular practice in the coming decade.

Thank you for your confidence and support as we transition into the fifth decade of JVS publications. And, keep those manuscripts and suggestions coming!

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvsv.2022.05.001

© 2022 by the Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc.