Canadian Journal Addiction Medicine - Canadian Harm Reduction ...

Message from the Editor: Revamping our Journal!
Last year, at the last meeting of our Board in Vancouver, I was approached to assume the duties
of Chief Editor. I have no illusion that editing our fledging Journal has its promises but also its
challenges.
First I would like to thank our founding Editor, Dr. Michael Varenbut who after enhancing the visual
and content qualities of our Bulletin, had the vision to complement it with a scientific publication as
an added membership benefit. I am glad that we will still be able to rely on his “can do” attitude as
well as organizational skills as he oversees the rapid evolution of our Bulletin and remains an active
member of our Journal’s Editorial Board
The Journal’s Functions- Seeking a niche for our publication, I was fortunate to come across two
editorials in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) who has just completed an editorial
change. Richard Smith, former editor of the British Medical Journal (BMJ) was quoted to have suggested several functions for
a medical journal, some may be relevant to our Journal.
1. Information- keeping our membership abreast of the news relevant to our practice is a task we will share with the Bulletin
2. Reform and community debates- our Journal should foster informed debates about contentious issues that abound in our field.
Ideally, papers presenting the pros and cons of an issue should stimulate constructive feedback from our readership.
3. Scientific dissemination- our Journal should be a platform for Canadian based research as well as international research of
relevance to our practice.
4. Education- continuing medical education (CME) credits is becoming a must for our licensing process. Increasingly Journals
have featured a CME article as part of their offerings. We shall explore the process of securing credits for our readership.
Diversifying the submission - In an effort to promote our journal, we have updated our online submission and renewal
system and diversified the types of articles to be submitted. Please peruse the latest draft of our process on the website: www.
csam.org.
In conclusion, revamping our Journal requires a group effort from the editors but also very much from you, our authors and
readers. We look forward to a Journal with interactive participation and feedback.
Nady el-Guebaly, MD
Chief Editor
November 2012
Submissions to the Journal
Instructions to Authors for submission to the journal are located on the CSAM webpages (www.csam.org) under the sidebar:
CSAM Journal & Weekly Bulletin.