Acta Medica Saliniana

Dear readers,

It is our pleasure to present you the new and refreshed Acta Medica Saliniana (AMS). There is no doubt that our journal has the tradition – it has been published continuously from 1972. Yet, during all these years that are behind us, it remained relatively unknown to the people outside the Bosnia and Herzegovina. This was the main reason that the journal published papers that were written mostly by local authors.

Well, the time has come to do something about it. In the year 2008, a new and refreshed Editorial Board was appointed. As a result of the intense 5 months work, you have the result in front of you. The hard-copy version of AMS is completely redesigned. Articles will follow a consistent format so that the visual impact will be high and equal to that of the best hard-copy publications.

We have also started with our online edition that can be found on http://saliniana.com.ba. In contrast to paper based journals, the electronic format allows the full use of digital technologies and permits the inclusion of links to other web pages, animations, slide shows, video clips and unlimited color, all at no additional charge.

Submission of new papers is also improved – papers can be submitted easily on our web page and manuscript progress can be tracked at any time from submission to publication. The online journal system we use allows us to find international reviewers more easily and moreover it speeds up the revision process. Yet, the new editorial process demands a more active role of the each submitting author and more responsibility for the contents and quality of the manuscript.

We have managed to include AMS in the Directory of Open Access Journals and Google Scholar indexation services. We are conducting our final preparations for applying to Pubmed in order to include AMS there too. This is our single most important goal in the following months.

Things we have changed forced us to make considerable changes in Editorial policies as well. Beginning with 2009 we accept submissions in English language only. Also, each submitted manuscript undergoes extensive initial screening revision by expert members of the Editorial board and/or Associate Editors in order to ensure that manuscript meets the basic scientific and methodological standards. Only after the manuscript passes the initial screening it is going to be sent to up to 4 referees – international authorities with acknowledged expertise in the field that manuscript is dealing with.

However, please be aware that if the paper does not pass the screening it is not going to be rejected without any explanation. We will make every possible effort to suggest to authors what can be changed in order to salvage the paper and make it fit to withstand a basic scientific criticism.

Everything that we have done has one sole purpose – to increase the scientific quality and international availability of Acta Medica Saliniana in order to make it one of the leading medical journals in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This will hopefully lead to the situation where AMS will indeed attract manuscripts of the highest quality which are of the greatest possible benefit to worldwide readers. On the other hand we hope to see many papers by our domestic authors – papers that will be read and given merit by the international audience.

At the end we invite you to login to our web page and explore the online version of AMS. You will find additional information on “About the Journal” section. Feel free to register and submit your manuscript. We are looking forward to your valuable submissions and future collaboration.

Prof. Fuad Brkic, MD, PhD

Editor in Chief