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With another year coming to an end, we are again on the verge of seeing off the old and bringing in the new. To succinctly define the efforts of the Journal of Korean Academy of Oral Health in the past year, we have tried to “stay true to the principle.” While some of you may wonder what exactly is the “principle,” our efforts in 2013 have converged towards keeping it alive along with our respect for academic diversity. The result of our efforts is reflected in the manuscript rejection rate-it exceeded 45% in 2013 against the average rejection rate of 25%. This does not mean that the editorial board brandished tomahawks or abused its power in any way. On the contrary, the editorial board experienced critical moments in the publication of each issue, worrying about filling the journal with a decent number of articles. We have sometimes been self-critical about reviewers` stringent standards. Each time, we have overcome our doubts with the motto “staying true to the principle,” which is the touchstone of quality assurance for our journal. Bespoke principles and regulations are hallmarks of a society, and I believe that efforts made to abide by them reflect the maturity of that society. From this perspective, I believe that the editorial board and reviewers of our journal truly present examples to be emulated by a mature society of intellectuals. The number of editorial-related regulations for academic journals has considerably increased over time. Consequently, overall journal standards have been continuously improving with the efforts of most academic journals to comply with these regulations. Unfortunately, this change in the publishing environment has not yet been understood by the researchers who submit manuscripts to their respective academic journals. They wonder why their manuscripts, the fruit of their strenuous research, are rejected by journals. For example, there were instances of questionnaire surveys or intervention studies being rejected because they violated the review regulation of the “Bioethics and Biosafety Act,” enforced on February 2, 2013, which prescribed that all research involving human subjects be approved by their respective institutional review boards. The transition period may be a mitigating factor for this, and it is regrettable that researchers had to incur losses for lack of information. The world keeps changing, just as the research environment does. It is high time that researchers attune themselves to such changes. Remembering some of the gloomier moments of writing rejections during my three-year stint with the editorial board, I take this opportunity to express my regret for disappointing many researchers-necessary, but unintentional. Finally, I sincerely hope that in the coming year, many excellent research results will be published in the Journal of Korean Academy of Oral Health.
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