Abstract: It was Marco Leonardi who, during the summer of 1995 at the WFITN world congress in Kyoto, first had the idea of starting the Journal of Interventional Neuroradiology, and that a few weeks later became a reality. The link with the East has been one of the journal’s features ever since. In the time that has elapsed from Kyoto to Venice, as well as the Society’s meetings, we have seen:
• 52 editions of our Journal;
• of which 5 concomitant with WFITN programmes, and 8 JSNET supplements;
• 739 articles (300 on aneurysms);
• for a total of 6013 printed pages
As a vehicle of human communication, science must be intelligible to everyone while not stifling specific intellectual and cultural characteristics in the attempt. The dialectic used to convince, be convinced, assess or experiment hypotheses differs in Asian, Middle-Eastern and Western cultures.Yet the quality and commitment of research coming from other cultures are as strong as those provided by Western evidence-based medicine. Moreover, bio-ethnology, genetics, epi-genetics, risk factors or response to viruses, all make diseases, diagnoses, incidental findings and biological response to treatments different in different areas of the world.
Science must always be humble, its aim to contribute to knowledge. To be creative, the scientist must be inquisitive; otherwise he remains a mere technical expert.
What significance does a Journal or printed book have in an era of the Internet and SMS communication. “Scientific” literature has become so standard as to be disembodied: the scientific community has become a federation of interest groups that form and disband with the ebb and flow of wider strategic policies. This has led to the disappearance of innovation, creativity and altruistic research in the name of economic viability. And the applications of scientific contributions benefit solvent countries. For a scientific contribution to signify a true step forward, it has to be disseminated as something more than mere information. It is here that we see the exclusion of the have-nots, and the need and frustration this generates. These economic stakes reveal all too clearly the political role our scientific activity plays today.
The social framework and relevance of an activity will always be set by those with social and political responsibilities, and by the answers they provide to basic philosophical questions. The lack of training and practical standards in our field – and the vain attempts to achieve these, frustrated by negotiations among interest groups with little concern for the patient – are indicative of political shortcomings. In many editorials, Interventional Neuroradiology has stimulated debate on standards, ethics, its place in the clinical setting and statistical issues.WFITN’s training recommendations were first published in Interventional Neuroradiology 1 and became the basis for discussion on training in several continental organisations.
As well as providing scientific contributions, Interventional Neuroradiology also reflects the wide diversity of materials and methods.
Thanks to a core of devoted referees and Marco Leonardi’s dedicated editorial team, the Journal has been regularly published over the years, remaining dense, rich, objectively international and ethical. The Journal has steered clear of conflicts of interest.
The Journal is the mouthpiece of the World Federation of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology and of the Japanese Society of Neuroendovascular Therapy. Today it is a major, widely recognised and indexed publication, with an impact factor that, despite its revamping, remains singularly high for a journal largely ignored by free-access online databanks. Everything free has a cost is a rule that also applies to information platforms. The label conferred by the title of a journal does not guarantee the long-term interest of the publication. EMBASE 2, a more complete database than Medline, makes available a much wider and more varied series of reports in the vascular sector, of fundamental interest to Interventional Neuroradiology. Using the keywords reference system, the databases index the journal’s articles extensively while the references are also loaded by End Note ®. Unfortunately, despite the undeniable interest these contributions make to the understanding of pathologies, only reports supported by data from large patient populations are taken into consideration.Yet concern for “statistical power” is no compensation for the vague knowledge it supplies, the standardisation of the doctor-patient relationship, and the slipping from ethical considerations this encourages. It is the editorial board’s declared hope and wish to continue to promote the Journal, its high quality and open-mindedness.
• The Journal aims to bring together specialists from all over the planet, remaining international for its reviews and contributors;
• The Journal aims to demonstrate the lively curiosity required of the scientific world for all research endeavours;
• The Journal aims to oppose endogamy- the consequence of fashions in approaches and technologies - and the development of interest groups, by ensuring an ample range of contributions;
• The Journal intends to allow everyone a voice with open debates and opinions, provided these are ethically grounded;
• The Journal aims to be the vehicle for the dissemination of quality, a basic tenet of participating societies and federations.
We will never tire of recalling that science does not ask questions; it answers them. “Ph.D” stands for Doctor of Philosophy, the driver of all scientific investigations.investigations.
Founding the journal Interventional Neuroradiology: Michel Mawad, Luc Picard, Pierre L. Lasjaunias, Karel ter Brugge, Marco Leonardi; Kyoto November 21st, 1995 (photo by Nicola Leonardi).