Origins and evolution

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• Mission statement of the World Federation
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It has been more than 32 years since a neurosurgical journal was launched by a major society. The World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies represents the largest amalgam of neurosurgeons that exists today—more than 30,000 members. Arguably, it represents the only truly international group in its constituency. Given the movement toward globalism in virtually all matters of shared endeavor and experience, the Federation's leadership, led by Peter Black and Jacques Brotchi, created the initiative to establish a truly international journal that represents the global neurosurgical community—an act in concert with its long-standing mission statement.

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Mission statement of the World Federation 

At the time of the idea's inception, I was engaged as Editor of Neurosurgery but was accustomed to regular requests by neurosurgical societies to evaluate existing or contemplated journals in a critical perspective. Being approached by the Federation's leadership was not an unusual event; however, the concept was appealing and I agreed to act as a consultant in the matter. Having completed my term of service with Neurosurgery, I became more deeply engaged and ultimately reviewed possible publishers with the Federation's leadership. After much deliberation, we selected Elsevier as a principal candidate to explore. Initial discussions in New York were “electric.” We were informed that the publisher had planned to discontinue an existing title during the upcoming year and would establish World Neurosurgery within its existing catalog elements—an ideal situation for a new publication. In addition, the company offered an attractive plan for the publication's initiation, production, and dissemination. Finally, Elsevier stood with particular historical relevance for World Neurosurgery, having published the works of Erasmus, Descartes, Jules Verne, Le Corbusier, and Galileo in the past. Elsevier's history dates back more than 450 years and now is the publisher of more than 20,000 scientific medical titles. Most of the Nobel Laureates in Science and Medicine have published with the company.

After considerable deliberation, a contract was signed on August 1, 2009, creating the publication. Although initially reluctant to repeat a major editorial task, as my enthusiasm for the concept had peaked, I accepted the unique opportunity to act as Editor-in-Chief during the early development of the journal.

By agreement with Elsevier, three “transitional” issues composed of material related to the new publication's predecessor will appear in January, February, and March of 2010. Appearing in these transitional issues, material has been specifically selected by the new editorial panel from a pool of existing “accepted” manuscripts.

World Neurosurgery will have its inaugural issue in April 2010, an event that should prove to be a historically significant moment in time.