Executive Editor’s message

New year, new ideas, new knowledge

Welcome to 2022 and to the January-February issue of JSHAP. I hope you find the information in this issue interesting and informative. We have a robust line-up of manuscripts planned for the early issues of the journal. In fact, the year is already filling up with outstanding manuscripts to inform swine health and production and will bring new ideas and knowledge to our readership. As always, the journal’s success remains possible due to the continued support of authors, reviewers, the editorial board, the AASV Industry Support Council, the staff in the AASV office, and the journal staff. Thank you for your hard work.

I introduced the topic of a digital object identifier (DOI) in my May-June 2020 message.1 I can update you to say that the journal is now moving forward with the implementation of the DOIs in 2022. You will notice a change in the citation box of each manuscript to include the DOI for the publication. As a reminder, a DOI is a digital fingerprint for an electronic object (ie, our published manuscripts) and will provide a more permanent and reliable digital link to an object in comparison to a URL. The other benefit of a DOI is the ease to accurately link an object with other digital information such as citations, article corrections or retractions, and supplementary materials, to name a few. Even though the journal has been available online since 2007, the introduction of DOIs to our publications will increase accessibility. The process of implementing DOIs for past and future publications will take some time but the process has begun. Our Webmaster, David Brown, Graphic Designer, Tina Smith, and Associate Editor, Sherrie Webb, will be busy implementing this process in the coming months.

As I write this message, I can see out my window an early, but significant, winter season snowfall is happening. It has reminded me to put my snow tires on my truck and car but also reminded me to say, “send us some winter scene swine farm photos for the journal front cover.” As you know, we publish a photo of a commercial swine barn or pigs on the front cover of each issue and the journal encourages our readers to submit photos. Tina Smith, our graphic artist, is always keen to receive some nice cold winter photos (all seasons in fact!) for our stock supply. For me, this time of year usually means taking my mittens off to get a good shot. But it is so worth the effort and appreciated by the journal staff. Our winter photo supply is lean, and so this winter I encourage you to stop and appreciate the scenery, take some pictures, and consider sending them to the journal.

I hope you enjoy this issue.

Terri O’Sullivan, DVM, PhD
Executive Editor

Reference

*1. O’Sullivan T. Digital object identifiers [Editorial]. J Swine Health Prod. 2020;28(3):117.

* Non-refereed reference.