© 1999 American Heart Association, Inc.
Editorial |
The Evolutionary Process, and the Process of Evolution
From the Editor in Chief and Associate Editors, Circulation Research.
Correspondence to Eduardo Marbán, MD, PhD, Institute of Molecular Cardiobiology, The Johns Hopkins University, 844 Ross Bldg, Baltimore, MD 21205. E-mail marban{at}jhmi.edu
Key Words: classification • journal article • editorial direction
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Introduction |
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 Top Introduction |
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In publishing, as in nature, evolutionary transitions take time. The Baltimore office of Circulation Research began handling new manuscript submissions on July 1, 1999, but the Pittsburgh office will continue to handle revisions of previously submitted manuscripts until September 15, 1999. Considering the lag between acceptance and publication, Circulation Research will not fully reflect the direction of the new editorship until later this year. Therein lies the resolution to the conundrum of why the journal looks only incrementally different than it did before. The July 9 issue of Circulation Research announced various new rules designed to maximize the information content of the printed page while exploiting the opportunities of online publishing.
Materials and Methods sections are to be drastically shortened in print, with relevant supplementary information posted online. The fact that such changes are not yet evident does not reflect a change of heart by the new editors; in fairness to those manuscripts prepared in good faith under the old rules, we have only enforced the new Instructions for manuscripts accepted on or after July 15, 1999. Such articles will soon begin to appear, but they will not dominate for several issues to come. Likewise, Rapid Communications will soon give way to Brief Communications. In the meantime, you will witness an evolutionary mélange. One change that does coincide with this issue occurs in the Table of Contents, where we have done away with the former distinctions between cardiac and vascular biology. We favor a classification based not on anatomy but rather on the level of integration. Accordingly, articles are now grouped in four categories: Molecular Medicine; Cellular Biology; Integrative Physiology; and Clinical Research. The divisions are only general groupings, as we recognize that modern biology often involves inquiry at multiple levels. Of course, not all issues of the journal may contain articles in each of the four categories; the last one in particular awaits appropriate submissions of cutting-edge clinical work driven by basic insights. Such studies will be enthusiastically received by the new editorship and will appear in due course as part of the evolutionary process. The Editors
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