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EDITORIAL |
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| Year : 2016 | Volume
: 11
| Issue : 1 | Page : 1 |
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The second decade
Sandip Chatterjee
Editor-in-Chief, Park Clinic, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
| Date of Web Publication | 27-Apr-2016 |
Correspondence Address:
Sandip Chatterjee
4 Gorky Terrace, Kolkata - 700 017, West Bengal
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/1817-1745.181271
How to cite this article:
Chatterjee S. The second decade. J Pediatr Neurosci 2016;11:1 |
Human minds are evolutionarily predisposed to resisting change. Change, though, is not a four letter word, conveys a lot more. Change as we know, it is the only thing that is inevitable and constant in our lives. As the Journal of Pediatric Neurosciences steps into its second decade of existence, we must be mindful of some changes not only in the editorial board of this journal, but also in pediatric neurosurgery in the world around us.
The first decade in the life of this journal has been an eventful one we can look back at with some pride. The first two editors Suresh Sankhla and V. P. Singh have raised the bar to make this now an outstanding reflection of aspirations of pediatric neurologists and neurosurgeons in this part of the world. To commemorate its 5th year, a special issue entitled, “Pediatric Neurosurgery-Indian Perspective” was published 5 years ago. It showcased the best in pediatric neurosurgical practice in this country and placed the journal at par with the best in its group. International contributions and online access have been steadily increasing, and we need to be mindful of our immense responsibilities as we step into the second decade. The change I allude to in the journal represents the change of identity of the editor, a necessary part of its evolution, but the ethos and aims of the journal continue to remain the same as envisaged by my predecessors whose role cannot be overstated.
For the pediatric neurosurgical practice in the world, there is clearly a paradigm shift away from this superspecialty in terms of choice our fresh trainees seem to like. Yet over 40% of the Indian population and well over 50% of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa by the year 2020 will be below the age of 18 years! The need of pediatric neurosurgeons is likely to increase three folds across our populous subcontinent, and this journal bears a responsibility to popularize and promote our subspecialty in these times of population change. Change is also required in the mindset of neurosurgical trainees in our part of the world, and we must all be mindful of our responsibilities to effect rather than oppose this change.
The second decade in the life of a child represents many more challenges and changes than it has encountered in its formative years, and we need to strive to make this journal more self-sustaining and progressive in its second decade of existence. A total of 176 articles were received by this journal in 2015 with an acceptance rate of 42%. The position, popularity, and prestige of this pediatric journal are steadily on the rise, and we need to be mindful of our responsibility to sustain and capitalize on this trend in the years to come.
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