Ken M. Madden, Editor-in-Chief
Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.
Richard Hooker, as quoted in the preface of Samuel Johnson’s
A Dictionary of the English Language
Oh, so they have internet on computers now!
Homer Simpson
It is with great pleasure that I announce the rebirth of the former print journal of the Canadian Geriatrics Society as a new online publication, the Canadian Geriatrics Journal. Formerly the Canadian Journal of Geriatrics, our mandate remains unchanged: to provide a “home for innovative aging research of a high quality aimed at improving the health and the care provided to older persons residing in Canada and outside our borders.”
The stimulus for change was unfortunately rooted in upheaval, when our publisher ceased operations last year. This has resulted in an opportunity to reinvent the journal, and we appreciate the strong support given by the membership of the Canadian Geriatrics Society (both cognitively and financially). In the face of short-term setbacks, practitioners of geriatrics have always demonstrated an ability to hold the long view, and your support for our journal is yet another example.
I am delighted at the prospect of a new online journal, and I feel our new medium will provide many advantages:
While avoiding the trap of “techno-utopianism” it has become crystal clear over the last several years that a small print journal will be read by almost no-one, while a “small” online journal will be internationally visible.
Our online submission process (through Open Journal Systems, the most common software used for online publication) will speed our review, editing, and copyediting turnaround.
All work on our journal is available through a Creative Commons license, which means each scholar retains the copyright to his or her own work. This was a conscious decision on the part of the Journal, as we felt that it was unfair to make researchers have to pay for or ask permission to disseminate the fruits of their own labor.
I am honored by the opportunity to assume the role of Editor-in-Chief from our previous editor, Dr. David Hogan. Dr. Mark Rapoport (Associate Editor, Geriatric Psychiatry) and I are excited by the new submissions we are receiving, and also hope our membership will be patient as both Mark and I pester you for reviews. As demonstrated at our last national conference, there is brilliant gerontological research being undertaken by our society’s members, and I am pleased to offer the Canadian Geriatrics Journal as a potential platform for this work.
Canadian Geriatrics Journal, Volume 14, Issue 2, June 2011