Radiography (2009) 15, 275

ava i lab le at www.sc ienced i rec t . com

journa l homepage : www.e lsev ie r . com/ loca te / rad i

EDITORIAL

From the past to the present

Next year is a significant one for the Society of Radiogra-phers. The Society will be celebrating its 90th anniversary.The Society of Radiographers was registered on 6th August1920 as a limited company by the Board of Trade althoughthe word ‘‘limited’’ was omitted from the title by specialdispensation. Rolletson1 claimed that ‘‘the aim of theSociety was to give a definite professional status to thosewho certified non-medical assistants who work in X-ray andelectro-therapeutic departments.’’ Although Hernaman-Johnson2 a leading radiologist of the day expresseda different view:

‘‘We should welcome lay assistance, and seek to orga-nise and guide it. It is too late in the day to makea mystery of taking plates but the interpretation is oursfor ever.’’

His view reflected the struggle over the ownership of‘X-ray work’, which was to dominate the early years ofradiography and radiology.3,4 However, to view the distantpast through our experience of the present is unfair tothose who practised in different times and with differentpressures and without the luxury of hindsight. Neverthe-less, events from the past are our history and have helpedshaped the profession to what it is today. Indeed, theprofessionalisation of radiography is so inextricably inter-woven with past developments that we can hardly expectto understand the present and plan for the future unless weknow our past. It is timely, therefore, that we havea special virtual online history edition being published inDecember. This has been edited by Dr Pauline Reeves, alsoone of our review editors, who has worked tirelessly on thisspecial edition. Additionally, over the next 12 months viathe editorial I will take the opportunity to highlight some ofthe landmark events that have shaped our profession.

Moving to the present, the journal has certainly enteredthe modern age with more and more refinements beingadded to Elsevier’s Editorial System, which makes it easierfor authors and reviewers to communicate with the Journaland vice versa. Our journal’s home page at http://ees.

1078-8174/$ - see front matter ª 2009 The College of Radiographers. Pdoi:10.1016/j.radi.2009.08.001

elsevier.com/radiography/ provides an array of informa-tion for our readers especially authors and reviewers. If youare a novice author especially or wish to become a reviewerthen you will find the online tutorials helpful. In addition tothis we are also able to provide workshops for groups ofpotential reviewers and authors; if you would like to knowmore about this service please feel free to contact me viaemail.

Finally, we will see some changes to the editorial teamover the coming months; elsewhere in this edition there isan advertisement for three associate editors. One associateeditor will lead on clinical imaging, another on radio-therapy and oncology and as befits an international journalwe are seeking to appoint an international editor. Theinternational editor will be an explicit recognition of thegrowing interest in our journal worldwide. If you areinterested in one of the new roles and would like to makea valuable contribution to your journal and profession wewill very be pleased to hear from you.

References

1. Rolletson H. Presidential address to the British institute ofradiology. Br J Radiol 1928;1:1e7.

2. Hernaman-Johnson F. The place of the radiologist and hiskindred in the world of medicine. Arch Radiol Electrother 1919;24:181e7.

3. Larkin GV. Occupational monopoly in modern medicine. Lon-don: Tavistock; 1983.

4. Price RC. Radiographer reporting: origins, demise, and revival ofplain film reporting. Radiography 2001;7:105e17.

Richard PriceUniversity of Hertfordshire,

School of Health and Emergency Professions, College Lane,Hatfield AL10 9AB, United Kingdom

E-mail address: radiographyjournal@sor.org

Available online 4 September 2009

ublished by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.