WOUND REPAIR AND REGENERATION · NEW EDITOR
Patricia A. Hebda, PhD

Dear Members of the ETRS,

It is my pleasure to take this opportunity to bring you an update on recent progress and the current status of your society journal Wound Repair and Regeneration. About nine months ago I took on the challenge of serving as editor-in-chief and it has been a busy time of learning and keeping up with the constant flow of manuscript submissions. I am happy to report that the current status of the journal is a healthy one, thanks in large measure to the submission of excellent work by leading wound healing investigators from Europe and around the world. I believe that WRR is the best vehicle to showcase and present the latest and most innovative research in the field of wound healing and tissue regeneration, and I regard every submitted manuscript as a valuable asset, the end product of the concerted efforts of author or authors. It is my task to assure that each submission receives a fair and timely review. It is my good fortune that I have the help of many excellent individuals, notably our publication manager, Ms Anna Salt, our managing editor, Mrs Flory Ferns-James, and the rest of the management team at Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.

Recently, we renewed our contract with our publisher, which will provide enhanced support for the editorial office and further development and expansion of the journal. This means that we will be increasing our editorial content this year and again next year, to keep pace with the increased number of submitted papers. Wiley-Blackwell is one of the leaders in scientific publications, and our continuing partnership with them will help the journal keep pace with the many changes taking place in this field.

As you may already be aware, I have enlisted the help of several outstanding individuals as section editors in basic and clinical science to participate in the editorial process. Drs Bernard Coulomb, Lillian Nanney, Alan Wells and myself comprise the editors for basic science submissions, while Drs Finn Gottrup and David Greenhalgh are the editors for clinical manuscripts. Together we are the Executive Editorial Board. This expansion of the editorial workforce has greatly helped to streamline the overall process of manuscript review. For the first half of this year, the average time to decision for new manuscripts was about six weeks for new submissions and about four-five weeks for revised papers.

With the increased number of editorial pages we are able to publish papers within a few months after final acceptance. A very recent change in production, Online Early, has just been implemented. This feature provides access to the electronic version of individual manuscripts shortly after they are accepted, in advance of publication in their assigned issue of the journal. Which means that authors will have earlier exposure of their work and readers will have access to the latest wound healing research and review articles sooner than before. According to the latest ISI Journal Citation Reports®, WRR ranks among the leading peer-reviewed journals in the fields of Dermatology, Surgery and Research & Experimental Medicine. Our impact factor of 2.230 reflects a continued positive trend in this ranking, and my goal is to raise this even higher over the next five years.

I hope and expect that these recent changes will further enhance the value of the journal for authors and readers as a leading resource in wound healing and tissue regeneration research and evidence-based advanced wound care. I thank the members of the ETRS for your support of WRR and hope that you will continue to participate in this endeavor as authors, reviewers and avid readers. I look forward to meeting many of you at the annual meeting in Southampton, UK, this Autumn.

With best regards,

Patricia A. Hebda, PhD

Editor in Chief
Wound Repair and Regeneration

Associate Professor
Department of Otolaryngology
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
USA