Changing winds, a silent return, and promises to keep: The journey resumes in an artificial intelligence era

Since its birth in 1953, the Indian Journal of Anaesthesia (IJA) has been the bundle of joy of the Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists (ISA) and has been the glorious academic face of anaesthesiology in our nation.1 Its growth has been much like that of a prince loved and respected by his kingdom, namely, the members of ISA. The innumerable hours of toil and dedication of the previous Editor-in-Chiefs and editors, thoughtful policies of the various policy makers of the ISA, sincere criticism of its reviewers, enthusiastic research inputs of its authors, and the consistency of its publishers have continued to nurture it and seen it pass through thick and thin, be it the coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 pandemic or times of disasters and war.2 Every Editor-in-Chief comes with a vision and mission to fulfill and goals to achieve. The change of guard occurs every 3 years at IJA, and editorial teams change as per the changing norms of the academic atmosphere.3 A fine bond is established over these 3 years between the editors and the journal. They part with a sense of accomplishment, and the scientific journey of IJA continues steadily along the tracks of time with the publication of the monthly issues, supplements, and thematic issues.1 However, just publishing is not enough. It has to have a strong message for the betterment of the mankind in general and the patient in particular. The editorial team needs to remain alert and grounded as if in a cockpit and has to concentrate on landing safely in the company of journals with a high impact factor and scientific credibility. In fact, a good and stable impact factor is the need of the hour, and we editors, authors, and reviewers have to work hard to establish long-term strategies that will help us achieve this. At present, there are many academic milestones in the vision, some new and some imbibed from old achievements but in a renewed manner. These goals are the lighthouse which will definitely help in taking the sail over the next few years. CHOOSING GOOD QUALITY ARTICLES AND MAINTAINING EDITORIAL RESPONSIBILITIES The publication of good quality studies that will be cited and can improve the impact factor needs silent, smart, and intelligent editorial work; policies; and concrete action. It is not possible to get landmark research articles frequently. However, even small researches sometimes make an extensive contribution to the existing literature. Authors provide us with food from their research pantry in the form of manuscripts. Just as some dishes are just palatable, some delicious, some in need of improvement by virtue of salt and pepper, and some just unpalatable, the articles submitted to IJA have a variety of consistencies, flavours, and textures and are submitted by authors from a variety of institutions and from different parts of our country. Just as food ought to have variety, be tasty, yet healthy and gut-friendly, all of it be presented in an attractive way on the platter, the research articles that are published in IJA or for that matter in any reputed journal have to be built on robust methodologies, accurate results, meticulous analysis and interpretation, and sublime presentation. Just as a gourmet relishes new and tasty foods served in elegant cutlery, the global academic community recognises and notices novel research questions and novel observations that are published in prestigious indexed journals. Nonetheless, the IJA has established its reputation now both nationally and internationally over the last two decades. An Editor-in-Chief is as good as his or her editorial board members. Proactive and sincere editorial board members who are willing to take up the challenge of handling the bulk of the workload and sparing their regular precious time daily for the progress of the journal are an asset for the journal. It is easy for any editor to reject the article on multiple grounds. However, the real challenge starts when an editor makes an effort to help the authors whose manuscript is average or just borderline. This creates a far better learning platform for the authors and improves the overall research and academic atmosphere of the nation. The standards of research with an emphasis on ethical aspects and the reproducibility of the studies, even in the lesser teaching institutes and transparent validation of data, are very important for any journal. With artificial intelligence (AI) making stronger inroads into every field, the task of the editor of a journal, especially a medical journal, has become very tough. With AI-enabled submissions picking up the momentum, it is prudent for any editor, when in doubt, especially to ask for the master charts of the research. The rising impact factor, increased citations, higher progressive ranking, and top quartile put the journal in advanced stages of popularity. It is hard work for any editor, but the effort should always be there for the progress, sometimes ignoring the complex system errors which are constitutive and unavoidable. The invasion of AI and Chat GPT into the peer review process has further compounded the challenges of an editor. AI can pick up any information available on the global virtual database without differentiating the authenticity, validity, and accuracy of the data. The novel purpose of feasibility, reproducibility, and practicality of such studies is defeated. If such factitious data become the platform of future studies and implementation into clinical practice, it can be catastrophic for the patients and the mankind. Editors and reviewers have to learn the basics and advanced modalities of AI in such a manner that whatever research data are presented to them in the manuscripts, should be validated with authenticity rather than relying on an easy process of rapidly generated reviews. The selection of quality articles for publication rests upon the chief editor and the editorial team as only good quality articles are cited in an international high impact journal. It works both ways. If an author chooses the most suitable journal for his hard work, so does the editor have the independence of choosing the right article for the journal depending upon its scope. The quality of a good research manuscript is basically determined by its novelty which is further based on a sound research question, simple yet good keywords, precisely written abstract, use of simple and jargon-free language, avoiding pompous claims, and over-inflating the findings of the study. Most importantly, it should have a robust methodology, meticulous collection and analysis of data, logically but eloquently written discussion, and the most suitable and recent references. Such a study, whether a meta-analysis or research article, will prove to be an asset for the journal and definitely enhance the citations, impact factor, and ranking of the journal apart from contributing to the patient welfare. The stricter norms of the indexing agencies may compel the editor to resort to social media coverage as well as broadcasts, so as to enhance the visibility of the journal. Such methods may appear appealing to the less academically oriented people; however, on the scientific side, such measures fail to live up to the scientific scales and are not capable enough to take the journal to a high impact score or ranking. INCREASING THE PUBLICATION OF GOOD QUALITY ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLES AND META-ANALYSES The sporadic publication of systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses that had started in IJA has now turned into an explosion with the publication of five to six meta-analyses in each issue of IJA in the last 3 years. This is certainly a matter of pride; however, at this juncture, one has to ponder and remember that though SRs and meta-analyses occupy the highest position in the pyramid of evidence-based medicine, they have a darker side to them. Are all SRs and their conclusions reliable? Can we put them into clinical practice? Nonetheless, SRs and meta-analyses have their own dark secrets and are associated with limitations about which clinicians should be aware. For an editor, it may provide an academic and publishing comfort, but their conclusions and messages delivered have to be taken with a pinch of salt.4 As there is a sheep race for writing meta-analyses nowadays, editors have to ensure that besides authenticity, the researchers should have a sound base in that particular field of research and clinical practice. The category per se does not ensure that the topmost articles of the publication pyramid need to be accepted and published every time. The mad frenzy for publications in indexed journals continues with the continuation of the National Medical Commission rule regarding publication of original research in indexed journals.5,6 Increasing the number of original articles published is possible only by increasing the number of issues. Like a child in trouble who looks up to their parents and family for support, the publication-driven medical fraternity, especially the anaesthesiology fraternity from our nation, will look up to the IJA family for help. We are happy to announce in this context the relaunching of the zonal supplements of IJA. The Northern supplement has already been launched at the North Zone ISACON on 31 January 2026. The other zonal supplements, namely, the central, western, southern, and north-eastern, will soon follow. MAKING IJA AN AUTHOR-FRIENDLY JOURNAL It is our commitment to make IJA an author-supportive journal. To do this, the provision of author support has already begun, whereby guidance is provided to amateur authors for writing articles and advice is imparted to the authors of rejected articles. It was long due, and this aspect had to be taken seriously as research needs to be refined in every corner of our nation. The provision of timely and quality peer reviews and rational editorial decisions on the submitted manuscripts will be the prime concerns of the new team which is already well experienced with the editing and the publishing standards. MAINTAINING THE EXTERNAL HEALTH OF THE JOURNAL As mentioned by the outgoing Editor-in-Chief of IJA, the last few years have seen IJA experience an increase in manuscript submissions, faster manuscript submission-decision time, broader international authorship, digital transformation, financial stability, and digital innovation.7 We congratulate him for his focused and hard work. We will continue to maintain this trend and endeavour to get a respectable place for IJA in the global academic community and on library shelves. Social media, in all its forms, has engulfed almost all walks of life including the world of publications, and this has resulted in socialisation of the research metrics.8 IJA too was a part of this socialisation, and the years 2023–25 saw the journal leap forward in its Altmetric scores.7 However, it is important to note at this juncture that the actual popularity of a journal can be judged not by the social media coverage but by the traditional indicators of scientific impact, namely, the number of citations, impact factor, quartile placement, h-index, and a few more indices. Meanwhile, the rush of authors at IJA continues. There is little respite at the IJA: manuscript submissions, technical checks, peer reviewing, re-submissions, rejections, acceptance, author-checks, proof reading, and the issue coming on line, all taking place in a continuum, with precision and in perfect rhythm. Nevertheless, the entire process starting from manuscript submission and ending with the issue coming online needs perfect coordination and cooperation between the editors, the authors, the reviewers, and the publishers. We hope to keep this rhythm afloat and row the boat of IJA even more gently, carefully, and with foresight keeping in mind the goals of reaching the rich academic and international shores that lie ahead, keeping the flag of ISA flying high. Disclosure of use of artificial intelligence (AI)-assistive or generative tools No AI-tools were used. Financial support and sponsorship Nil. Conflicts of interest There are no conflicts of interest.