Changes to the Journal- adapt or perish?

Extracted from text ... Like all things, the South 
African Journal of Sports 
Medicine has to evolve and 
adapt to meet ever-changing 
challenges. The first major 
challenge we are currently 
faced with is to resolve the 
conflict between keeping the 
appearance of the Journal 
professional, while meeting 
the cost of production. The 
distribution of the SAJSM is 
miniscule (? 400) compared 
with that of its big brother, the South African Medical Journal, 
which has a distribution of about 16 000. This small distribution 
raises the cost of production significantly and prevents 
the Journal from expanding much beyond its current length 
of about 30 pages ..

membership without much effort and contribute significantly to the financial status of the Journal.
The next challenge facing the Journal is to ensure that all the articles meet strict ethical standards. Most high-quality journals now require that published papers be passed by the ethics and research committees of the institutions in which they were done, and that all subjects in the studies give Informed consent. We are In the process of revising the guidelines for authors and these points will certainly be incorporated.
This Issue of the SAJSM contains an important consensus document describing methods for Injury surveillance In cricket. This Important document, which has had input from researchers In six countries, Is the first paper to describe a set of detailed guidelines for reporting injuries In a specific sport. The paper describes the definition for Injury, the definition for Injury recovery and Injury recurrence, and also the definitions for season, teams, matches and cohorts. The paper also describes the calculation of injury Incidence and Injury prevalence, followed by an Injury classification system. The descriptions are detailed and unambiguous which will make It easy for researchers around the world to adopt the guidelines In their research. The manner In which the paper has been written, and the fact that the guideline has been reached by consensus with Input from cricket researchers SAJSM VOL 17 NO. 2 2005 from different countries, will make this a classic paper referred to in all future studies on cricket and injuries. The paper has been published concurrently in three other journals (the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, and the New Zealand Journal of Sports Medicine). This is an unusual step and the fact that the editors of these journals granted permission for It to be published simultaneously in other journals, testifies to its importance. There is no doubt that this paper will accelerate the depth of cricket research and will set an example for researchers in other sports. It is very likely that in the future journals will not accept papers describing injuries in cricket unless they have subscribed to the recommendations outlined in this paper.
All the other papers published in this issue have a strong South African flavour. This is encouraging because it shows that the scope of research in South Africa is broadening and that questions specific to South African conditions are being addressed. The study by Venter eta/. profiles Boland netball players and compares their results with those of Australian under-21 players. The studies show that many of the parameters for the Boland netball players, who are representative of South African netball players, were lower than those of their Australian counterparts. The study should be useful for coaches as it shows the fitness standards needed for worldclass performances in this sport.
The study by Nortje et at. examines the views of elite swimmers on achieving swimming excellence in South Africa. It was not surprising that the elite swimmers believed that they needed to receive better funding to assist them in achieving faster times. The other points raised by the swimmers in this article make for interesting reading and provide practical information that can be acted on by the administrators in charge of swimming.
Finally, the study by Millson and co-workers examines the nature and incidence of injuries in a Currie Cup rugby team from 2001 to 2003. The study found that the number of injuries increased as the season progressed, while there was overall reduction in the injury rate over the three seasons. The authors were able to speculate that the reduction in injury rate was attributable to the continuous evaluation and management of training strategies that evolved over the study period. The study emphasises the importance of good record-keeping by the medical support staff of a team and also highlights the importance of having clear injury definitions so that the data from different studies can be compared and interpreted.
Enjoy the read!

Mike Lambert
Editor-in-Chief