With the bell of the New Year, we are about to bid farewell to the unforgettable 2022 and usher in a hopeful 2023. At this moment of saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming the new year, on behalf of Shanxi Medical Periodical Press, I would like to pay tribute to the leaders at all levels who have supported and encouraged us for a long time, and to the authors and readers who trust and care about us; I also would like to express my gratitude to the well-known experts, editorial board members, and reviewers at home and abroad who have helped and accompanied us along the way, and to the colleagues who have helped each other under the pandemic situation. I would like to extend my sincere appreciation and warmest New Year greetings to all of you. Finally, I wish you all good luck in the Year of Rabbit, good health, great progresses in work, and a happy family reunion!
Looking back on my 35-year journey of running journals, as the founder of 5 journals, a journal editor, and an ordinary editor, I can say with confidence that I have adhered to the position of “based on China’s national conditions, go to the world” as well as to the concept of building a platform for publishing scientific research results, and in discharging all my functions in the various capacities that I have had the privilege to be entrusted with, particularly that of running the journals, I have adopted a rigorous and scientific attitude. I experienced a hard time in the founding stage (1987–2000), which was followed by the stage of rapid development of the journals (2001–2011), and then the glorious time of professional leadership (2012–2022). Chinese Nursing Research (CNR) was founded in 1987 by Shanxi Provincial Nursing Association and led by President Yiqiang Wang, the headmaster of Fenyang Senior Nursing School. In the beginning, the journal was named Shanxi Nursing Journal, and it was a restricted publication. In 1992, I was transferred from Shanxi Nursing Association to the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University. At that time, the hospital arranged for Prof. Jinlian Cheng and several other excellent nurses to be the first editors. Since then, the journal’s development has been pushed onto a fast track. In 1994, it received a CN number; and in 2000, it was renamed Chinese Nursing Research (CNR), which has become a dual-core journal in China. The publication period of CNR has changed through quarterly, monthly, semi-monthly, 10 d, and again semimonthly; the staff has been expanded from the original 3 to the currently more than 50; and the number of journals has increased from the original 1 to the current 5 (including 1 of Shanxi Nursing Association).
In terms of the management system, under the leadership of the Publicity Department of the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee, Shanxi Medical Periodical Press Co., Ltd has become an experimental unit and achieved considerable success. It has developed from a single journal editorial department to a distinct high-quality journal group. The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University has become one of the top 3 units in terms of the number of journals in China, which has expanded the influence of the hospital in the fields of nursing, medicine, and integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine. Shanxi Medical Periodical Press Co., Ltd has developed from an ordinary publishing unit to the vice-chairman unit of the Medical and Health Journal Branch of the China Periodicals Association, the vice-chairman unit of the Evidence-Based Medicine Committee of the Chinese Association of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine, the standing council unit of the China Editology Society of Science Periodicals (CESSP), and the chairman unit of the Shanxi Editology Society of Science Periodicals. Linshan Jia, the director of Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine on Cardio-Cerebrovascular Disease, was nominated as Secretary-General of Shanxi Editology Society of Science Periodicals.
In terms of honors, in addition to winning many top provincial awards, Chinese Nursing Research became the only double-effect journal in the field of nursing in China in 2001. In 2021, Shanxi Medical Periodical Press Co., Ltd won the highest award in the field of national publishing – the 5th China Publishing Government Award for Advanced Publishing Unit Award, which would be the best gift for the 20th CPC National Congress.
In terms of professional guidance, Chinese Nursing Research focused on the publication of original papers on nurses’ drug prescription rights in China, and I was invited to give 3 keynote speeches at the International Nurses Conference hosted by the International Council of Nurses. At the same time, the journal supported the proposal of China’s Two Sessions in 2021 on granting nurses limited prescription rights and also registered its support, thereby serving as one of the important causative factors for the experimental legislation adopted in Shenzhen city sanctioning drug-prescription rights for nurses; the body of literature contributed by the journal over the years has also come to constitute the basis for the formulation of the code using which trainee nurses in the School of Nursing of Shanxi Medical University cultivate the characteristics needed for their effective practice in the future; this development, has, in turn, contributed to expanding the scope of nursing practice and continuous betterment of the framework of professional values of nurses.
In terms of data concerned with the journal’s quality statistics and classification position, Chinese Nursing Research has been ranked the second among professional journals in China for many consecutive years, and is located in the T1 area of the classification catalog of high-quality scientific and technological journals in the field of Chinese nursing (2022 edition); Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine on Cardio-Cerebrovascular Disease ranks the fourth among the national professional journals in China, and is located in the T3 area of the classification catalog of high-quality scientific and technological journals in the Chinese medical field (2022 edition). Frontiers of Nursing (in English) was accepted and indexed by SCOPUS, which is the only “Belt and Road scientific journal” in Shanxi.
In terms of operation and management, Chinese Medicine Research was acquired by Shanxi Medical Periodical Press in 1998 and renamed the Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine on Cardio-Cerebrovascular Disease in 2003. Shanxi Medical Periodical Press reforms the management mechanism: the cadres have the position management system, the staff is arranged at the appropriate positions according to their characteristics and abilities, and the salary level is adjusted flexibly according to the performance of the employees. These reform measures have greatly mobilized the staff’s enthusiasm and ensured the constituting of a good management mechanism. In 2011, the Shanxi Medical Periodical Press was established as a pilot unit to transform State-owned, for-profit cultural institutions into enterprises. In 2015, 2 new journals, Chinese Evidence-based Nursing and Frontiers of Nursing, were founded. In 2021, we formally renamed the concern as Shanxi Medical Periodical Press Co., Ltd.
In terms of serving society, I participated in establishing the School of Nursing of Shanxi Medical University in 2001. I took part in the establishment of the Shanxi Agricultural Science and Technology Communication Collaborative Innovation Alliance in 2020. In 2022, I participated in the application and approval of “Diet Therapy Technology Research Center of Shanxi Medical University,” “Shanxi Great Health Industry-education Integration Platform,” “Shanxi Great Health Industry-education Integration Training Base,” and “Shanxi Diet Therapy and Agricultural Products Prescription Industry Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance.” With all of these, I have expanded scientific research cooperation and contributed to the local economy’s development. As the crystallization of collective wisdom, I would like to thank the leaders, experts, and especially colleagues who have supported us for their hard work, and also thank this excellent era for bringing glory to our press.
In 2023, the series of journals of Shanxi Medical Periodical Press Co., Ltd will continue to adhere to the publishing policy of “based on China’s national conditions, go to the world,” pay attention to the frontiers of international discipline development, and be oriented by actual clinical needs and based on high-quality academic content; to strengthen the construction of publication ethics; to lead the development of scientific and technological innovation; to create a distinctive, high-quality journal publishing group; to disseminate Chinese academic achievements; and to strive to enhance the international influence and core competitiveness of journals.
Our role would be to carry forward the past and open up the future. I believe that under the background of China’s goal of building a scientific and technological powerhouse, the future of the journals will become better and better!
Prof. Shifan Han
1 January 2023
