Özet:

honour and a privilege for me to be the new Editor-in-Chief of “Archives of Balkan Medical Union” journal, since October 2016. I would first of all like to extend my sincere thanks to the leadership of the national sections of Balkan Medical Union, which has entrusted me with this important duty. On behalf of the Journal, I want also to thank Prof. Vasile Candea for his achievements as Editor-in-Chief. The journal has come a long way since the apparition of the first “Bulletin de l’Union Médicale Balkanique” in 1932, in Bucharest. This contained the report that served as a basis for the foundation of Balkan Medical Union, the statute, the conclusions of the first Meeting of the General Council in Belgrade, organization and activities of the national sections of Greece, Romania, Turkey and Yougoslavia. In 1939 there were published “Archives Balkaniques de médecine, chirurgie et leurs specialités”, by J. Chryssikos, M. Joel and A. Hadjigeorges, by the publisher “Masson de Paris, Librairies de L’Académie de Médecine”. This journal appealed to all physicians from Balkan countries and served over the years as a tribune for scientific progresses of the Balkan medicine. 1962 was the year of birth of the new “Archives of Balkan Medical Union” journal, also in Bucharest, having as Editor-in Chief Dr. Mitica Popescu Buzeu, the International Secretary General of Balkan Medical Union. The National Editors were Prof. Llambi Zicishti (Albania), Prof. M. Petrov (Bulgaria), Dr. J. Kanakas (Cyprus), Dr. J. Stergioupoulos (Greece), Dr. St. Gherghiceanu (Romania) and Prof. Resat Garan (Turkey). For more than a half century, Archives of Balkan Medical Union continued to be one of the most important scientific medical journals from this part of the Europe, with continuous appearance, despite the socio-economical and political problems of the time. Editorial content includes different types of articles: original studies, reviews, metaanalyses, case reports, abstracts of the scientific meetings of Balkan Medical Union. It is indexed in international databases: SCOPUS, EMBASE Excerpta Medica, Chemical Abstracts. Now, in its sixth decade of life, the Journal has a lot of challenges ahead. My main objectives as Editor-in-Chief are to raise the visibility and to extend the reputation of the journal, to improve the scientific content by requiring authors to abide high quality standards that would advance science and to include the journal in other important international databases. The journal must modernize, to keep up with the evolution of medical scientific publishing, in the today’s highly competitive environment. In order to be indexed in more international databases, there are a lot of requirements that have to be fulfilled. Most of these requirements have already been solved, others are pending. In order to increase the visibility and the number of citations, the journal has a new website, www.balkanmedicalunion.com, with free access to the full text of all the articles and online submission system. In short time, new detailed instructions for authors will be published on the website of the journal. Being a multidisciplinary journal, it has also an extended list of distinguished peer reviewers from all the Balkan countries, with recognized expertise in all areas of medicine. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the leadership of the national sections of BMU for recruiting these reviewers for the journal. I am confident that with the continuous support of the national sections and of all the members of Balkan Medical Union, we will shape the future of the journal through commitment and hard work. The journal will continue to serve the common interests of members of BMU, authors and readers to meet the challenges ahead. Finally, I wish all the readers, authors and editorial staff of the journal, as well as all the members of Balkan Medical Union, a beautiful and prosperous New Year 2017, filled with peace and gladness. Let new beginnings signify new chapter filled with pages of success and happiness, written by the ink of hard work and intelligence!

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