Happy First Birthday SWJPCC!

With the end of 2011, the Southwest Journal of Pulmonary and Critical Care (SWJPCC) completed its first full year of operation. Planning for SWJPCC began in August, 2010 and our first manuscript was posted on November 11, 2010. This has been a year of growth. We posted 8 manuscripts our first year and 68 this year (Table 1).

Table 1. Postings by SWJPCC 2010 and 2011.

 

We had manuscripts submitted from each fellowship programs in the Southwest (Phoenix, Tucson, Albuquerque and Denver) but also received submissions from outside the Southwest including from foreign countries such as the UK, India and Boston (which views itself as a separate country). Our readership has also steadily grown from 30 unique IP addresses in November, 2010 to nearly 1000 during December, 2011 (Figure 1, Panel A). Accompanying this increase in uniques has been an increase in the number of page views (the number of files that are requested from a site, also known as “hits”, Figure 1, Panel B).

Figure 1. Panel A. Unique IP addresses accessing the SWJPCC site by month. Panel B. Page views accessing the SWJPCC site by month.

With the increase in manuscripts we have expanded the number of associate editors from the original 5 to 13 with representatives from each pulmonary fellowship in the Southwest. For a list of editors click here.

Overall, this has been a good start and many need to be thanked. First, thanks to our authors. You took a chance on a new journal and we appreciate the opportunity to publish your work. Second, thanks to our reviewers.  SWJPCC, like all journals, relies upon expert reviewers in order to publish the highest quality manuscripts. We thank the reviewers for their time and effort in the prompt submission of their reviews. A list of reviewers for 2011 is below.

• Owen Austrheim
• David Baratz
• Richard Gerkin
• Michael Gotway
• Manoj Mathew
• Vijaychandran Nair
• Jennie O'Hea
• Lilibeth Pineda
• Francisco Ramirez
• Robert Raschke
• Patricia Rocha
• John Roehrs
• Clement Singarajah
• Linda Snyder
• Gerald Swartzberg
• Allen Thomas
• Carolyn Welsh
• Lewis Wesselius

Several are deserving of special thanks. First, our gratitude goes to the Arizona Thoracic Society (AZTS). We are the only local thoracic society who publishes a journal and SWJPCC would have not been possible without the support of AZTS members and officers including Rick Helmers, George Parides and Mary Kurth. Second, thanks to Eric Reece, our webmaster, who set up the journal, registered the domain, etc. and who continues to serve as a consultant. Third, a personal note of appreciation to Stuart Quan whose experience as editor of Sleep has been invaluable in guiding us through the development of SWJPCC. Fourth, SWJPCC acknowledges the Phoenix Pulmonary and Critical Care Research and Education Foundation who has provided the monetary support for SWJPCC. Last, and most importantly, thanks to our readers. Please visit as often as you can and feel free to provide us with your input. The journal is for you and we will strive to do our best to fulfill your needs.

Richard A. Robbins MD, Editor, SWJPCC

Reference as: Robbins RA. Happy first birthday SWJPCC! Southwest J Pulm Crit Care 2012;4:1-3. (Click here for a PDF version)