editorial

From the foundation of the Société Belge de Chirurgie Orthopédique by Albin Lambotte, the Belgian orthopaedic surgeons published their articles first in the Archives Franco-Belges de Chirurgie and starting in 1929 in the Archives et Bulletins de la Société belge de Chirurgie which became in 1936 the Bulletin de la Société Belge de Chirurgie Orthopédique.

The Acta Orthopaedica Belgica was born in 1945 together with other Belgian medical journals, joined for their administration and direction in the Association of the Belgian Medical Societies, which was started by Georges Brohée.

Paul Kempeneers was already editor in 1932 and continued the job until 1953. André Walch succeeded him. During the period after World War II, the Belgian orthopaedic community became gradually better organized at the academic and society level. The Board was restructured.

The journal began accepting publications from foreign countries, especially from France and to a lesser extent from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

In 1962 Georges Calberg reorganized the editorial office and took many initiatives, for instance the publication of abstracts of the main articles published in foreign journals. The number of publications in English was growing. This was partly the result of the international congresses which English-speaking colleagues increasingly attended. After the foundation of the Belgische Vereniging voor Orthopedie in 1963 the number of publications in English by Dutch-speaking orthopaedic surgeons increased. In 1984 the editorial office was directed by Paul Coutelier and Hector Kinzinger, who were assisted by an English speaking associate editor, Ralph Dolkart. This retired professor from the University of Chicago contributed to the international expansion of the Acta Orthopaedica Belgica. Since 1984 "peer review" has been used. The journal submitted the articles to an increasing number of national and international authorities. The result was an increasing number of rejected articles (currently 35 %) and a more thorough study of the manuscripts submitted, which usually needed several rewrites. In 1988 Ann Owen replaced Prof. Dolkart; she is native English speaking, very creative, and is assisted by English-speaking proofreaders. Quality and presentation improved. Since 1990 the level of the international journals has been achieved.

Since 1993 Roger Lemaire, professor in Liège, has been associated with the editorial office. His contribution to the improvement of quality is very important. The current editorial board is composed of representatives of the Dutch-speaking Universities, Michel Hoogmartens and Luc De Smet, and of the French-speaking Universities, Roger Lemaire and Philippe Putz.

Since 1992 the non-profit organization Acta Orthopaedica Belgica has directed the journal. The board is composed of delegates from French- and Dutch-speaking orthopaedic associations. The members of the Editorial Board are appointed for 4 years.

The journal now has a circulation of 2000, with 4 issues a year and one meeting supplement with articles or abstracts of the papers presented at the yearly congress of the Society.

Since September 1996 the journal has been associated with Belgian Orthoweb, Internet website for orthopaedic surgery.