EDITOR’S PAGE

This issue of the JNMT is the last issue of my first term as editor. I’m happy to report that I will be starting a new 3-year term as JNMT editor in 2004. During the past 3 years we have made numerous behind-the-scenes changes to the way JNMT works. Most of these changes you wouldn’t notice but each was important to ensure the consistency of the production of the JNMT for years to come. The transition from editor-to-editor will be much easier in the future. I am looking forward to taking advantage of these changes over the next 3 years.

One change will affect all individuals that submit or review articles. In July of this year we launched our online submission and review Web site. This is a wonderful process that will allow authors to track the progress of their papers from submission through review and revision. In addition to submitting papers online, you can also sign-up online to be a reviewer. With the new Web site, the online review process is greatly streamlined. We will also track your areas of expertise. With this information you won’t be asked to review a paper on PET oncology when you are really interested in nuclear cardiology.

So how do you sign-up? Go to the online submissions Web site, http://submit-tech.snmjournals.org, and follow the instructions. Please send me an e-mail with your name and areas of expertise if you are registering to be a reviewer. The database of reviewers is quite large and having this information makes it easier to assign papers. I can be reached at BethH{at}rad.hfh.edu. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

So, what is in store for the next 3 years? Next year is the 30th anniversary of the JNMT. In conjunction with this anniversary, the JNMT will have a new look. This new design was selected to more closely align the JNMT with the JNM and we hope it will also move us closer to our goal of becoming a companion journal to JNM that focuses on the technology of nuclear medicine while JNM focuses on the medical aspects. We are also planning a variety of interesting continuing education pieces that will help readers prepare to meet the challenges of working with new technologies as well as old.

This month we have 2 continuing education articles. One is from Gina Morano who is a technologist with extensive experience in SPECT imaging of the brain. The second article is an interesting review of the different radiopharmaceuticals used for infection imaging. The remarkable thing about this paper is that it is a student research paper written by Davina Hughes when she was a student at the University of Sydney (Australia). I have to congratulate Davina on this accomplishment.

Elpida Crawford, the associate editor responsible for continuing education, sent a letter last year to nuclear medicine technology program directors soliciting papers since many programs require the students perform a literature search on a topic of current interest and write a literature review. This paper is an example of the quality work that can be done by nuclear medicine technology students. I thank Davina and her advisor, Simon Cowell, for giving us the opportunity to publish this work.