Expansion of our editorial board

Like many journals, the IWJ has seen a significant increase in submissions, with some of it being our natural growth as an important resource for those involved in wounds. However, some of the increase is related to “papermill” type activity. This has challenged our submission and review process. To manage this, we are implementing significant back-end processes to identify and reject such content. We are also creating the largest single editorial board for any wound care journal, to strengthen our review process to enhance its effectiveness. This has become necessary to ensure the continued quality of our journal, especially considering the threat that “papermill type” activity may have on our overall subject area. This is a global challenge to the world of academic and clinical research. It is something that the IWJ does not take lightly and we are working diligently in playing our part to minimize its impact in the world of wound care.

We are pleased to announce the expansion of our editorial board (Figure 1). Our founding members who remain on our board become our senior editorial advisers. We would be remis, however, if we did not thank our retiring board members for their service and remember those who are no longer with us (Table 1).

This is the first editorial in a series where we will introduce our newly expanded editorial board. We have created the largest most internationally diverse board to greatly increase the capabilities and expertise of the journal as it moves to its third decade of life. From Figure 1, you can see we have expanded our board to include over 240 plus members. These individuals are diverse geographically, diverse in speciality, diverse in experience and gender balanced.

The first stage of our board expansion was to establish those who wished to continue and to use their experience in creating our Senior Editorial Advisors. Here you will be introduced to our founding board members who decided to continue and become the senior advisors. We are privileged and honoured to have such high-calibre members continuing on our board.

Please meet the Senior Editorial Advisors for the International Wound Journal:

Look out for a series of editorials in the coming month introducing our new board members by providing some background on their valued experiences. As the editorial team, we are excited to expand this group to help maintain the high-quality standards of the International Wound Journal moving forward into our third decade of existence.