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I am honored and privileged to be selected as the new editor of the American Journal of Diseases of Children, commonly known as AJDC. Under Gil Forbes' leadership for the past decade, AJDC has established a tradition of excellence and service to pediatrics. The accompanying editorial by Hall and Sayre, his assistant chief editors, pays tribute to his effort. I will give considerable effort to sustaining this achievement.
I would be presumptuous to attempt a grandiose explanation of the role of editor. Instead I am offering a few observations as to my perception of this role, a glimpse of those who will help in the effort, and some idea of our preliminary goals.
The purpose of a professional journal is to establish a dialogue between author and reader. The author's purpose is to express ideas in one of the following forms: the results and analyses of research, clinical observations and