From the LipidSpin Editor: A Look at the LipidSpin Process

Welcome to another Potpourri issue of LipidSpin. As you can see for yourself, this issue is a “grab-bag” of different lipid topics from clinicians, researchers, active NLA members and rising leaders.

I’d like to take this opportunity to review the overriding purpose and process of our journal. There are two NLA journals — the Journal of Clinical Lipidology is peer-reviewed with oversight by Editor-in-Chief John R. Guyton, MD, FNLA, and a “who’s who” of clinical lipidology as associate editors. While LipidSpin is peer-edited, with oversight by the principle editors, Kaye-Eileen Willard, MD, FNLA and myself. LipidSpin published five times a year with four issues sponsored by NLA chapters on a rotating schedule and the fifth is a Potpourri issue.

The LipidSpin mission is:

1. to represent the contributions and vision of its members, foster the education of the NLA membership and
2. to provide an opportunity for senior authors and NLA leaders to mentor junior authors in a protected environment.

The editorial content from each non-Potpourri issue is curated by the executive boards of the assigned region. There is a more complicated hands-on editorial process than with other journals because of the rotating editorial team and also because of the desire to use this as a platform for authors who have not written for journals before.

In advance of each issue, there is a planning meeting between the editorial staff and the President and President-Elect from the sponsoring region. At that meeting, the general topic is determined and the publication process reviewed. The leaders can then go back to their region where authors and topics can be discussed in more detail, and invitations to authors will be extended with details about format and timelines clarified. It should be said that individuals are always welcome to reach out to their respective chapter board leaders to express interest in future authorship even if not invited.

Because one of the primary missions of the journal is to enable opportunities for less experienced authors, there are multiple submissions and potential rewrites. Articles are initially submitted to chapter leaders and our copy editor, then to volunteer members of the Publications Committee and then to the journal editors. At each step, there are opportunities for revising style, format, content and tone, with final approval by the authors and editors. There are times where the authors and editors cannot come to an agreement, but that is a rare occurrence. Some articles require no editing, while others require entire rewrites. 

There are many moving parts to the creative process as described below. For some authors, this complicated process will seem cumbersome and redundant, but for less experienced authors, this is meant to be nurturing and educational. The additional editing also enables the senior author to leave some of that responsibility to the LipidSpin team and enables members of the Publications Committee team to have a role in production of the journal and in the NLA.

The result of the LipidSpin process is a chance for the senior regional leaders to lead, to nurture and mentor less-experienced authors, to write and share their knowledge, to reach out to others in the region and to learn from the editorial staff. Hopefully, the finished product is one which will make you proud and you will share with your colleagues, friends and even family. It can be an educational showcase that helps attract new readers and new NLA members. And one of the most useful aspects of the journal are the patient-focused “tear-off” sheets that can be used in real life clinical practice.

For those of you who are rising chapter executives, I hope you will see this task as one of the most important of your tenure. I challenge you to take the extra time to think critically about a cohesive topic, identify passionate well-spoken authors within your region, and remind them of the identified mission of using this as an opportunity to include those with less writing experience. Please do not hesitate to reach out us with questions/concerns. You do not have to do this alone; we are enthusiastic collaborators.

Enthusiastically yours,
Dan