“Why another journal?”

Welcome to the first issue of Gynecological Surgery. Many of you might well ask why we will be publishing another journal. For example, in obstetrics and gynecology alone there are no less than 57 specialist journals indexed in Medline, as well as much relevant literature published in general journals. It was felt by many gynecologists that there was a need for a journal focussing on endoscopy, imaging and allied techniques in the field of pelvic surgery. I plan, with the help of the Editorial Board, to develop the journal into a ‘must read’ publication for clinical gynecologists, trainees, teachers and researchers in the field of gynecology and pelvic surgery. The journal’s main focus will remain the timely publication of topical papers with subjects throughout the field of pelvic surgery and covering both benign pathology and oncology. Although some of the articles may be commissioned, the main focus would be to obtain spontaneous submissions of high-quality papers in the above areas. The journal will focus and assess new practices, medical devices and possibly also pharmaceuticals. It is also likely that separate supplements will be published on conferences and workshops in key areas of interest.

I look forward to working with Professor Wallwiener in the position of Associate Editor, and currently new appointments are being made to the International Editorial Board to cover a wide geographical area. This will increase the journal’s ability to publish contributions from both a wide subject and geographical range as possible. My aim is to maintain a rigorous peer review of published material. The journal has become the official journal of the European Society of Gynecological Endoscopy, which currently has 24 national member societies with a readership of over 3,000. I do hope to attract as many papers as possible from a global authorship and would welcome manuscripts from the Americas, Africa, Australasia and Asia, including Japan, along with a strong representation from Europe.

I hope that Gynecological Surgery will present the reader with articles written by expert contributors who have drawn upon their knowledge of the state of the art in their specialist field to identify the key issues for clinicians to assimilate. Although the focus of the journal would be in the field of pelvic surgery, I would like to attract many papers from diverse areas looking at allied techniques. Furthermore, I would welcome practitioners to share personal experience that would make this journal an informative read in both established and evolving areas of our speciality.