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Some Changes in Annals

The beginning of a new volume of Annals is the occasion to tell readers about the changes that we made during the past 6 months. All of these changes ultimately benefit our readers, if only by making Annals a more attractive place for authors to publish their best work. Most of these changes will enable us to publish more material without increasing the number of pages in the print version of Annals. We are limited in the number of pages we publish because each page costs about $25 000 per year, a charge that members of the American College of PhysiciansAmerican Society of Internal Medicine and our subscribers would support through higher membership dues and subscription fees. The most important change is one we hope you don't even notice. We have slightly reduced the font size and the space between adjacent lines in order to increase the amount of information on each page. We estimate that this change will enable us to publish the equivalent of about 15 more pages in each issue without increasing our production costs. More pages mean more articles for readers and a shorter wait for authors to see their work in print. The second change will lead to shorter, more readable articles. We have set page limits that will reduce the length of articles. Few will be longer than 10 Annals pages. Because authors must deal with page limits rather than limits on the number of words in the body of the article, they must decide on the mix of text, tables, and figures that will convey their message most effectively. We are learning to use the electronic version of Annals to give us greater flexibility. We want to meet the needs of the majority of our readers, who are practicing internists, while still being a journal in which researchers can find the details that are important to them. Very long tables and technical appendices often contain information that is important only to a minority of readers. We will often publish this material only on www.annals.org. Likewise, some Letters to the Editor will appear in electronic form only, which means that we can publish more letters and will have more flexibility to encourage dialogue among readers, authors, and editors. There are many other exciting possibilities for the electronic version of the journal. An article about a rule for estimating breast cancer risk could include a computer program that a clinician could download to a palmtop device and use when discussing breast cancer chemoprevention with a patient. An article about a movement disorder could include a video of a patient with the disorder. The electronic form of Annals has become the official journal of record for the U.S. National Library of Medicine and MEDLINE, which means that an electronic literature search will find articles and letters that appear only in electronic form. Finally, we have taken two steps that we hope will help readers put original articles into a clearer context. The most visible change is the introduction of Editors' Notes, which accompany every Article and Brief Communication. The deputy editors write these 100-word summaries to explain why we believe that the article represents a valuable contribution to knowledge. The Editors' Notes also serve as a very concise bottom line for the reader. The second change is the insertion of a brief commentary immediately after selected articles. Its purpose is to explain some of the limitations or implications of the major findings in greater depth than is possible in the Editors' Notes. These commentaries will appear when we publish articles that lend themselves to this form of context setting. A journal should be an organic entity that responds to its environment. You, the reader, are an important part of the environment of Annals. In fact, it's your journal. So, let us know what you think about what we're doing.