Editorial

Dear colleagues,

This edition of Acta chirurgiae plasticae, which you are now holding in your hands or reading on the Internet, has the working name “mega edition”. We have picked this name to compensate the missing issues of the journal with a bulky one and to continue the tradition of publishing this journal. We are devoted to preserve and foster the good tradition and reputation of the magazine, which has been published since 1959 and which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. The magazine was founded by academician František Burian, one of the world-renowned founders of plastic surgery, and regularly published by all his followers headed by Professor Karfík. This tradition has been continuing till these days. The journal has always tried to present current knowledge not only in the field of plastic surgery, but also in other surgical fields, especially in burn medicine, maxillofacial, aesthetic, and hand surgery.

We live in times not very favourable to publication of a local professional journal. Our journal has had good and not so good years, but in recent years, various professional journals have been increasingly appearing on the market, fighting for readers and professional contributors. Unfortunately, there is also a group of so-called “predatory journals” that tries to publish professional articles only to make a profit, regardless of the quality of the published work and labelling themselves with peculiar indexes and “impact factors”. Open access magazines are also becoming an important group, they are often available only online and enable instant publication of accepted articles – not mentioning all the other options of publishing on the Internet. The competition for readers and contributors is thus increasing. Nevertheless, we believe that Acta chirurgiae plasticae has a good potential due to its modernization in recent years. Open access to published articles on www.prolekare.cz and publication of the journal in English language opens the opportunities to publish articles from foreign contributors which help the journal to gain an international significance and character.

In 2019, the editorial board and the team involved in the production of the magazine changed again. A new editor-in-chief was appointed and the former one became his deputy. The current editorial team strives to keep the journal in printed form, further broaden the scope of the journal´s focus, introduce online submission of papers and online administration of peer reviews. Editorial team also continues to increase the impact factor. The aim is to shift the journal from the local one to the Central European one focused on plastic, reconstructive, burn, aesthetic, maxillofacial, and hand surgery.

Our intention is to preserve the best from the history of the magazine, build on it and develop it with respect. Next year we would like to re-publish the magazine with four issues a year and we will gradually focus each issue on a certain topic. In the following year, we will also work on the economic stabilization of the magazine, which now works thanks to the support of sponsors, advertisers and the Czech Medical Association J. E. Purkyně. We thank all readers of our magazine for their continuous interest and invite them to become proud contributors as well. We strive to achieve the best quality of review process, which helps to publish high-quality articles.

Thank you for your continuous support and please keep your favour!

Zdeněk Dvořák, PhD

Editor-in-chief

Acta chirurgiae plasticae