Dear Colleagues

I am writing at a time of great hope and excitement. During the 7th Asian Congress on Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (ACOMS) held in Hong Kong last November, I was asked to serve as Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (Asian J Oral Maxillofac Surg) at the board meeting of Asian Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AsianAOMS). As is well known, outgoing Editor-in-Chief Professor Nabil Samman has made a great contribution to Asian J Oral Maxillofac Surg over the last 6 years. During his tenure, the Journal was changed to quarterly publication, and welcomed more and more authors from many countries, from the Asian region and beyond. In addition, the cover of the Journal was improved. In view of this impressive legacy, I am hesitant to take up the editorship from him. However, considering Professor Samman’s forthcoming career as President Elect of International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, I was invited to become the next Editor-in-Chief, and finally accepted.

It is well accepted that Asia is a growing focus not only for economic growth but also academic achievement in the 21st century. The field of oral and maxillofacial surgery is no exception in this regard. The 7th ACOMS in Hong Kong was a great success, and attracted distinguished oral and maxillofacial surgeons from all over the world, while the 18th International Congress of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (ICOMS) is scheduled to be held in Bangalore, India this November. Furthermore, the next ICOMS congress is to be held in Shanghai, China. From now on, more and more international events are likely to be held in Asia, and new information concerning oral and maxillofacial surgery will be produced from Asia and disseminated worldwide. These trends indicate how rapidly oral and maxillofacial surgery has developed and advanced in this region in recent years.

However, it is a regrettable that Asian J Oral Maxillofac Surg does not have a published impact factor (IF), despite its relatively long history of publication. Although the IF is not a perfect tool to measure the quality of articles, it is nevertheless a useful tool for evaluation of the scientific validity of articles. In oral and maxillofacial surgery, it has been demonstrated that levels of evidence correlate well with IF.

Our preliminary analysis indicated that Asian J Oral Maxillofac Surg is lacking in original articles compared to other international peer review journals such as the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and International Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (data to be published this year in Asian J Oral Maxillofac Surg). Therefore, we decided to take action to obtain an IF for Asian J Oral Maxillofac Surg. At the last board meeting of the AsianAOMS, it was decided that Asian J Oral Maxillofac Surg will be completely revamped, effectively becoming a new journal over the next two years. The scope of the new journal will extend not only to the field of oral and maxillofacial surgery, but to the field of oral radiology and oral pathology. Furthermore, more original research papers concerning all fields related to oral and maxillofacial science should be accepted, not only from Asia but also other areas of the world. Therefore, the new journal may be more appropriately called “Asian Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Science”.

As Editor-in-Chief, I welcome the inclusion of more biomedical original research papers covering areas such as tissue engineering, oral and maxillofacial implants, and biotechnologies. My mission as Editor-in-Chief of Asian J Oral Maxillofac Surg is to achieve an IF and to oversee its ‘rebirth’ as a new journal with wider scope. It sounds a “Mission Impossible”, but I am committed to the mission. I will definitely need a great deal of help from all of you, readers and editorial board members, and look forward to sharing the journey with you all.

Finally, we have made minor changes to the layout of the articles from this issue, coinciding with the new volume. I hope these changes will improve the academic appearance of the articles and enhance the professional image of the Journal. This is my first, small step as Editor-in-Chief of Asian J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 

Tetsu Takahashi, DDS, PhD 
Editor-in-Chief
Asian Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

Asian J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2007;19:5.