Greetings from the Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology

Greetings, esteemed friends and colleagues. In the last issue of the Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (JPAG) in 2016, after serving nearly 30 years as the journal's Editor-in-Chief, Dr Joe Sanfilippo published his last editorial as Editor-in-Chief of JPAG. He graciously thanked the many others who have contributed to the journal's growth and success. He described the vision of the founding fathers and mothers of the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (aka NASPAG) that the society needed a journal. He wrote of the mentoring from Dr Paul McDonough. He left out a lot of the hard work and growing pains between the journals' founding and its form today, as the journal changed names from Adolescent and Pediatric Gynecology to its current title, and changed publishers to Elsevier. He modestly did not describe the hard work that he put in to bring the journal to its inclusion as a journal indexed at the National Library of Medicine in MedLine. These were challenges that Joe admirably navigated. Many, many individuals worked hard to support the journal, including authors of the manuscripts submitted to the journal over the years, the reviewers who volunteered their time and expertise to promote the quality of the work ultimately published, the section editors, the editorial board members, the managing editors, the associate editors over the years, and the journal publishers from Elsevier. But through those years, Joe has been the face and the continuity of the journal.

And now, it is with humility that I step into Joe's shoes as Editor-in-Chief. The NASPAG Board and Selection Committee has expressed confidence in my abilities to do the job, and I am ready and eager, but a little daunted with the task of continuing the upward trajectory and growth of the journal. Joe was present at its birth, functioning as the obstetrician (“birthin’ the journal”), was patient and hard-working during its childhood, and has weathered the journal's adolescence. It is a cliché to talk about big shoes to fill, but Joe's shoes are large indeed. I take seriously the Board's trust and the trust that you, the audience and contributors of JPAG, place in me to continue the journal's progress though its young adulthood and developing maturity.

I look toward JPAG's future and growth with eagerness that I would describe as similar to planning a big Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, I really do enjoy planning the dinner, but I do so with the anticipation that many other family members and friends will participate with their contributions of the turkey, dressing, veggies, salad, condiments, pies, table-setting, dish-washing, etc. So too, there are many who work behind the scenes to bring you our journal.

NASPAG has hired a new managing editorial company, SteIlar, founded and run by David Newcombe. David has many years of experience as a managing editor, and he will be instrumental in the day to day management of submitted manuscripts, supporting leaders in the field who agree to provide in-depth and meaningful reviews that help authors to publish good science, and helping to assure that authors get timely updates about their submissions. David will be working with a brand new Elsevier manuscript management program, EVISE. While transitioning to any new program is not without potential for glitches, the hope is that EVISE will ultimately make it easier for authors and reviewers to navigate manuscript submission and review. As an FYI, the first time that you log in to EVISE as a journal reviewer or as an author uploading a manuscript, you will need to register with the new system, even if you have submitted to JPAG many times previously, and even if you've reviewed many articles.

I will rely on Deputy Editor Eduardo Lara-Torre and Associate Editors Jen Dietrich, Hina Talib, and Paul Wood to provide continuity and experience during my transition to the new position. It is apparent to me how diligent and conscientious they are, as we seek to find reviewers whose expertise fits the content of each submitted manuscript. They and I are immensely grateful for the willingness of busy clinicians and academics to carefully read and provide meaningful feedback (reinforcing feedback—the term I prefer to the commonly used term, positive feedback, as well as corrective or negative feedback) to authors in an effort to improve the quality and way in which a report communicates and describes the science. Ultimately, the quality of the journal is the product. We aim not just to maintain the journal quality, but to grow and improve the quantity and quality of submissions and articles published.

It is thus with a huge measure of excitement and anticipation, the support of a cast of many who work behind the scenes, several cups full of passion for publishing our journal, a modicum of anxiety, a dash of daring, and an occasional sip of the dinner wine, that I plan and prepare to edit the Thanksgiving feast that is each issue of the journal. Please feel free to give me your input—reinforcing or corrective—about what you like about the journal as well as things that you'd suggest we change—either to start or to stop doing. Your engagement—as readers, clinicians, scientists, reviewers, and critics—will be what brings the journal to its next level of excellence. Please e-mail your thoughts!