ASJ Now Indexed in MEDLINE/PubMed

It gives me extreme pleasure to announce that Aesthetic Surgery Journal has been accepted for indexing in MEDLINE and will be accessible via PubMed (www.pubmed.gov). Indexing using the US National Library of Medicine's (NLM) advanced MeSH terminology will be retroactive, beginning with the January/February 2008 issue of the journal. MeSH is the NLM's controlled vocabulary thesaurus and permits searching at various levels of specificity. While pre-2008 content will not be indexed using MeSH terms, content from 1995–2007 will be included in PubMed search results and will be retrievable for all typical purposes. As you probably know, MEDLINE is the US NLM's premier bibliographic database that contains references to journal articles in the life sciences with a concentration on biomedicine. The database contains citations from 1950 to the present, with some older material. PubMed includes more than 18 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals. It includes links to full text articles and other related resources. Our acceptance for indexing in MEDLINE/PubMed represents the achievement of a long-time goal. Until now, ASJ has been indexed in a number of databases, including two of the world's most comprehensive indexing and abstracting databases: EMBASE and Scopus. However, these databases are available by subscription only and, therefore, are not widely accessible to clinicians and researchers. In contrast, PubMed is freely accessible and is the most widely used medical database. Achieving recognition by MEDLINE means that the contributions of authors submitting their work to ASJ will be viewed and cited more widely than ever before. Acceptance in MEDLINE also indicates the scientific merit of the Journal and its contribution to the field of aesthetic surgery. We anticipate that our indexed status will have a very positive impact on manuscript submissions and international readership. Most importantly, clinicians and researchers around the world will have the opportunity to increase their knowledge and understanding of safe and effective aesthetic surgical practices and techniques, thereby enhancing patient care. We eagerly look forward to the full and rapid inclusion of ASJ in MEDLINE/PubMed.