The Journey of Indian Journal of Nephrology

It is a matter of immense prestige for Scientific Scholar to get the opportunity to be associated with a society of high repute, such as the Indian Society of Nephrology, and to take over the publishing responsibilities of the Indian Journal of Nephrology (IJN) from Jan 2024. This will allow us to not only serve the researchers and clinical audience in Nephrology long acquainted with the journal but also bring the responsibility to further develop a journal of such a high reputation and editorial standards to new levels of competitive academic status and progression in close collaboration with the Editorial Team.

The IJN has been serving as the platform for disseminating high-quality research and showcasing clinical investigations at the forefront of all aspects of kidney health not only from India but also the wider South-East Asia over the past three decades, more so after its digital presence in 2001. Throughout its journey, the journal has received appreciation and recognition from eminent authors from across the globe. It is now listed in all prestigious bibliographic portals, including PubMed Central, SCOPUS, and Clarivate. The IJN was awarded its maiden Impact Factor in 2023. Due to the growing interest of the authors and progressively increasing submissions, the journal developed from a quarterly to a bimonthly frequency in its 22^nd Volume back in 2012. For its immense success, the management team would like to thank all its volunteer editors and reviewers who have supported the journal and kept its ethical standards high with best practices and a well-established double-blinded peer review process. The journal is indebted, especially to the authors who kept their faith and enriched the IJN with high-quality, competitive content throughout its history.

In 2023 alone, the journal has addressed key topics of healthcare awareness for the masses, such as the role and influence of social media,¹ and how the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) Guidelines for Vaccine-Induced Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia² related to kidney transplantation and organ donation. The journal also recently addressed the crucial topic of the health-care transition from pediatric-centered to adult-oriented settings.³ The topic addressed in this paper has unique relevance to India and similar health-care systems. Besides addressing essential topics of public awareness and positively influencing health-care policies and management approaches, the journal has been regularly publishing content, ranging from in vitro investigations such as role of mTOR pathway on the Th2/Treg cellular balance,⁴ homozygous SLC4A1 mutation-associated hemolytic anemia and distal renal tubular acidosis,⁵ GATA3 gene mutation in relation to hypoparathyroidism, deafness, and renal dysplasia syndrome,⁶ anti-phospholipase A2 receptor antibody immunohistochemistry,⁷ etc., to articles which bring out advances and awareness in clinically important topics like renal thrombotic microangiopathy occurring from chemotherapy,⁸ and the significance of the microbiome in chronic kidney disease and kidney transplant recipients.^9,10 The journal would encourage the publication of high-quality clinical trials that address problems of particular relevance to the Indian setting, an example being the design paper of the multi-center randomized control trials addressing the progression of chronic kidney disease in the hypothyroid population.¹¹ The retrospective, real-world, observational, and outcome analysis of peritoneal dialysis catheter tip design on technique survival addressed an issue of practical relevance to physicians and patients alike,¹² etc. The journal regularly publishes reviews on diverse topics such as chronic kidney disease, acute kidney injury, and cystic diseases of the kidneys and would like to commission high-quality reviews that discuss recent advances such as the ones on the genetic basis for rare disorders affecting renal physiology, utilization of antihypertensives and delay/prevention of kidney failure, and advances in renal replacement therapy.

The content diversification in IJN has been vast. It has been enriching the knowledge and overall approaches of students, researchers, as well as practicing clinicians in the field of nephrology and we enthusiastically look forward to publishing engaging, educative and innovative clinical content for our readers. In the journey ahead, we envision continued support from our editors and reviewers and, more so, from our authors. As publisher of the journal, Scientific Scholar will ensure that the published content reaches nooks and corners of the globe through our various social media handles. Selected original articles from the journal will also get covered in medical media, where the concerned author(s) will get the opportunity to further elaborate their research findings, which will maximize the outreach of their clinical research.

Together, we shall take the Indian Journal of Nephrology to greater recognition among kidney journals across the globe.