Elsevier collaborates with Royal colleges to publish ‘The Surgeon’

The STM (scientific, technical and medical) information publisher Elsevier has formed a publishing partnership with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland to publish The Surgeon, their official journal.

Starting from January 2010, the publisher will work with the journal’s editor-in-chief Professor Austin Leahy and his team to develop it and ensure it stays at the forefront of surgical research and education, in the UK, Ireland and worldwide.

As part of the deal, the journal content will also be made accessible electronically. In addition, the submission and the reviewing of all manuscripts will be web-based, supported by Elsevier’s online submission system. This new procedure is expected to drastically reduce the reviewing turnaround time and will therefore encourage more authors to submit their best work to the journal.

Henry Spilberg, senior publishing editor for Elsevier’s surgery journals in the UK, said: “This is a crucial time for the journal as it increases its visibility and relevance to surgeons and other professionals, and we are proud to be in partnership with both colleges on this venture.”

The Surgeon is published for 18,000 members and fellows of both colleges and also for the global surgical community. It contains articles from surgery, dentistry and related specialties and aims to educate, entertain and give insight into new techniques and technology. It aims at providing a forum for debate and discussion among senior practitioners as well as trainees.

Other online features for readers will include a comprehensive search engine, allowing users to search The Surgeon alone, or to include hundreds of other Elsevier journals in a single query; options to sign up for e-mail alerts; and more. The journal will be accessible through Elsevier's online platform, ScienceDirect, the largest electronic collection of science, technology and medicine full text and bibliographic information.

According to Professor Leahy, this partnership will enable the journal to reach a wider audience of surgical specialists, strengthening its reputation.