It is a practice to draft an editorial at the start of a volume of a journal, but I am writing it to mark the closing of the current volume. It provides me the opportunity to reflect on and analyze the editorial activities, achievements, and failures occurring throughout the year. The year 2020 has been quite rancorous because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that persists as the second wave in many countries. It has been a year since I took the charge of the editorial office. The first most daunting challenge confronted was the lag of 3 issues of the 2019 year. It took us 6 months to clear the backlog. In July 2020 we were able to publish the current volume of JNS.

The other task was to revamp the JNS website. The latest code of the open journal system (OJS) was acquired, and many sections of the journal were updated. This initially developed a few technical glitches, but they are sorted out and corrected in due course. The latest code gives a great new look and enhanced functionality to the JNS website for our readers, authors, reviewers, and editorial team members. Similarly, the publication model was also changed to issue-free continuous publishing which I believe reflects the true electronic journal publication model. Now as an article is accepted and finalized, it is published online. This avoided a delay in publication, and we were able to publish over 30 manuscripts in 4-5 months.

Timely editorial processing and publication of the manuscripts also increased submissions to the JNS. We are quite grateful to our authors who submitted quality research from across the globe. The wide geographical submission base indicates the extent of the reach of the JNS. The editorial processes of the journal have been upgraded to improve the quality of the content. Every manuscript is screened for plagiarism. The authors have to declare taking consent for publication of the clinical photographs. Every manuscript published statements on conflict of interest and funding sources. The authors have to declare the authorship role of each author in the manuscript at the time of submission of the manuscript.

The other equally exigent task was to get a functional editorial team. Many of the members of the editorial team were not participating in the editorial activities therefore, the management decided to drop such members. At the same time, an assistant editor certificate course was designed and launched to train the future editor work-force. Quite committed editors are being trained through a curriculum, designed in a way to give a guided editorial experience to the assistant editors. Many of the enrolled editors will work for the JNS and other journals in the future. This is a very gratifying task that will benefit the medical literature and literary fraternity.

The role of peer reviewers in quality publishing is well established. We are indebted to our valuable reviewers who spared their quality time for the peer review of manuscripts. We have started issuing certificates of the peer-review activity to credit our reviewers. Also, the list of reviewers of the JNS is now available on our website to appreciate their efforts for quality publishing.

Finally, the recognition of the journal with various indexing bodies is quite vital for the survival of the journal. It further enhances the trust of the authors and readers in the journal besides increasing its visibility. This year we got indexed with PKP index (digitally archived on PKP PN), Index Copernicus, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ Seal), and recently the JNS has been accepted in SCOPUS. Soon we will also hear a few more good news in this regard. We are striving hard to improve the quality of our publications. We are committed to accomplishing the main aim of the creation of the JNS. Let’s head to the year 2021 with a hope to accomplish more endeavors in a Corona virus free world.