VE turns three: some thoughts from our Managing Editor

In three short years since launching in early 2016, our in-house journal has become a mainstay of the evidence-based veterinary medicine community, guiding over 75,000 users to the evidence. Here, Managing Editor Bridget Sheppard reveals the behind-the-scenes work that goes into developing a new journal and invites readers to help shape its future.

Bridget at Veterinary Evidence Today 2016

I started working as the Managing Editor of Veterinary Evidence (VE) in March 2016. The journal was then only three months old and had just completed its very first issue. It was great that I was able to join so soon after launch, as it allowed me to really understand the journal’s aims and make changes early on to ensure it was heading in the right direction.

My role is very diverse and I get to work closely and build relationships with many groups of people, from authors, reviewers and editors, to in-house communications, digital and library teams. The purpose of my role is to develop the journal and continually enhance its content offering; to ensure that it upholds standards of ethical conduct; to raise its reach and reputation; and to manage the overall publication process.

The most rewarding aspect of the role is hearing testimonials from both readers and authors who have either put our findings into practice, or benefited from the research and writing process itself. A number of educators who have authored a Knowledge Summary have said that it enhances their teaching, and students have been in touch to say VE is their go-to resource. Knowing VE is a benefit to so many facets of the veterinary profession keeps us motivated to keep on improving.

Earlier this year, our in-house editorial team doubled with the appointment of Jenny Morris as Editorial and Production Assistant. Together we are the duo that manage the behind-the-scenes process for all the content you see in Veterinary Evidence.

There are many steps to publishing an article in a journal. We try to guide authors, editors and reviewers through the process and support them at each stage. The process starts long before an author actually submits their paper; we encourage authors to get in touch with us so that we can help them with writing and submitting their paper. Our library team is on hand to provide free search strategies and literature searches to all authors of Knowledge Summaries. Once an author is ready to submit, they upload their paper to our Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform. It then begins its journey through the publication process; first step: peer review.

Peer review was first introduced into the publication process in 1731 by the Royal Society’s journal, Philosophical Transactions, and it remains an important part of scholarly publishing. For new authors unfamiliar with the process it can sometimes be a daunting stage, as their work is being put under the microscope and critiqued, but this step adds so much value – peers are providing their expertise and feedback to make the author’s work the best it can be. This step is also a well-known challenge for editorial staff, as identifying and inviting appropriate referees who can turn a review around in a few weeks is no mean feat. This is the step that has the biggest effect on Veterinary Evidence’s turn-around time, which is nearly a month quicker than the average for many veterinary journals.

After peer review, accepted papers enter the production stage. Here we manage the copyediting, proofreading, typesetting and publishing phases. Our OJS system helps us to keep track of where each paper is in the process – whether a paper is being revised by an author, peer reviewed or copyedited. The system is invaluable in ensuring the right version is being worked upon.

VE has a come a long way since launching three years ago. I am particularly proud that the journal fulfilled the criteria to be successfully indexed in CAB Abstracts, the leading applied life sciences database, and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Not only was Veterinary Evidence successful in being indexed in DOAJ, it was also awarded the much sought after DOAJ Seal of Approval – only given to journals that achieve a high level of openness, adhere to best practice and have high publishing standards.

Our success is, in part, down to the fact that Veterinary Evidence publishes content under a Diamond Open Access policy, which allows anyone, anywhere, to not only access, but publish content for free. There are no pay walls or barriers stopping the veterinary profession from getting their hands on the evidence and making a difference in practice. Additionally, the journal operates under a continuous publication model, so papers are published as and when they’re ready, meaning evidence is always timely.

We are continually looking for ways to improve Veterinary Evidence so that the veterinary profession has access to up-to-date, evidence-based information to help inform decisions. You can help us to shape the next three years of Veterinary Evidence (and beyond) by completing a short survey to give us your much valued feedback.

We’d love it if you shared your thoughts on Veterinary Evidence with our quick reader survey.