Navigating the future: Ensuring quality research with open access

Embracing challenges provides any journal with the potential for immense growth.¹ In the fast-paced and competitive publishing field, getting the right publishing partner can transform a journal akin to a molting caterpillar. It gives me immense pleasure to write this editorial as we release our new-look journal with our new publisher, Scientific Scholar.

Publishing and maintaining standards in scientific research are challenging. Our journal’s increasing reach, wide readership, and ability to maintain open access have been a result of intense backend work put in by the editorial board and the office bearers of our parent association, the Association of Cutaneous Surgeons (India) (ACS[I]). Our Scimago journal ranking is up from 0.244 (2022) and presently ranks at (0.283).

Journal of Cutaneous and Aesthetic Surgery has been at the forefront of publishing research on its scope with a few outstanding articles in core dermatology. Our last year issues have reflected increased analytical objectives of research topics^2-4, increased research interest in regenerative modalities in esthetics,^5, and a renewed interest in therapeutic esthetics.^4,6-8 International contributions to defining new techniques in fillers and dermal threads have added to our research repertoire.^9-11 A comparative study on Indian-manufactured botulinum toxin was one of the first for JCAS, especially so, in view of the limited homegrown production of niche products in esthetics.¹² We have also had some exceptional innovations published.^13-15 Innovations in surgical techniques and those in our day-to-day surgeries, although seemingly simple, have helped transform our practice. We thank these authors and welcome others to share their ideas with us.

What is next? The upcoming year brings in new challenges. We look forward to bringing in guest editorials from the experts in their fields of esthetics and surgery. Our first guest editorial dwells on the use of artificial intelligence in cutaneous and aesthetic surgery. Revision of existing guidelines and guidelines for newer procedures are already in process, under the aegis of the ACS(I). There are a few surprises planned to make the journal reading even more interesting!

I take this opportunity to invite authors to submit their research, thank reviewers for their immense support, my editorial board, the wings of this journal and the President ACS(I) and his team for holding our hand in this difficult past year.

We look to the next year, publishing the highest quality research in cutaneous and aesthetic surgery.

Happy reading!