FROM THE EDITOR

JCRS 2012: Looking

back, looking ahead

As 2013 makes its entrance, we take the opportunityto reflect on 2012 and look ahead to the challenges andopportunities of the year ahead.We begin by recogniz-ing the efforts of the enormous and ever-changing castof contributors to the Journal of Cataract & RefractiveSurgery. Our mission to disseminate knowledge thatmakes a difference in everyday clinical practice wouldgo nowhere without our dedicated authors, reviewers,editorial board members, office staff, and you, ourreaders.

The success of JCRS is measured according to a vari-ety of criteria, and each reflects a different aspect of theJournal's purpose. In the most recent report on journalimpact factors, which considers papers published in2011, JCRS had an impact factor of 2.264 and wasranked 16th of 56 journals in the ophthalmology cate-gory.While wewere disappointed by the drop in aver-age per-article impact after 8 consecutive years ofgains, the editors recognize that impact is a long-terminvestment and are undertaking efforts to enhance im-pact within the broader context of making the journalevermore useful to its readers. JCRS ranked 7th in totalnumber of citations and 3rd in number of articles pub-lished in 2011; it continues to shape the science andclinical practice of cataract and refractive surgerywhileoffering practical features such as theConsultation Sec-tion and technique reports. In the 2012 JCRS readershipsurvey, 88% of respondents agreed with the statement“The JCRS helps me to domy job better” and 79% readthe Journal because “it is useful in clinical practice.”

We extend our gratitude to Sonia Yoo, MD, andJose G€uell, MD, for their service as RefractiveSurgery section editors for the Consultation Section(CS) through 2012, and we are pleased to welcomea cohort of new CS editors. Rudy Nuijts, MD, PhD,will be joining Samuel Masket, MD, and RupertMenapace, MD, as cataract surgery CS editors, andMarcony Santhiago, MD, PhD, and Majid Moshirfar,MD, will be filling the role of refractive surgery CSeditors while extending the section's reach to includechallenging corneal surgery cases. The addition ofTom Samuelson, MD, as a sixth CS editor will helpus develop a new focus on difficult glaucoma cases.These changes reflect our broader goal of deliberately

Q 2013 ASCRS and ESCRS

Published by Elsevier Inc.

expanding the topical scope of JCRS to capture majoradvances in the rapidly evolving fields of corneal andglaucoma surgery.

In 2012, we introduced a bullet-point section that ispublished with every full-length article, techniquepaper, and laboratory science paper that highlights“what was already known” and “what this paperadds.” The purpose of the new section is (1) to encour-age authors to identify gaps in current knowledge anddesign studies to fill them, (2) to aid the editors and re-viewers in identifying the incremental value of thesubmission over work that has already been pub-lished, and (3) to guide the reader to the kernel ofnew knowledge that he or she will gain from readingthe paper. This section refines JCRS's focus on original,high-impact work and has been well received byreaders and reviewers. We also worked with our col-leagues at the Journal of Refractive Surgery and Corneato improve access to a tool for generating the standardgraphs for reporting refractive surgery results (availableatwww.standardgraphsforrefractivesurgery.com cour-tesy of D.Z. Reinstein and T. Archer). JCRS also contin-ued the tradition of organizing and sponsoring twopopular topical symposia in 2012 on “Controversies inCataract and Refractive Surgery” at ESCRS in Milanand ASCRS in Chicago. Symposia can viewed at theJCRS web site (www.jcrsjournal.org), which is continu-ally updated with in-press articles, technique videos,and much more.

Finally, we wish to thank our dedicated editorialstaff across two continentsdChristine Ford, WendyPacheco, Lou Dragon, Reva Hurtes, Louise Brennan,and Birgit Scherff, whom we will miss greatly after5 years of outstanding service. Wewelcome your feed-back on how to make the JCRS user experience betterin 2013 and in the years to come.

Best wishes in the New Year.

William J. Dupps Jr, MD, PhDThomas Kohnen, MD, PhD, FEBO

Nick Mamalis, MDEmanuel S. Rosen, MD, FRCSEd

Stephen A. Obstbaum, MDDouglas D. Koch, MD

0886-3350/$ - see front matter 1http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrs.2012.11.014