being on the right path

being on the right paththe 1st issue of the iranian journal of radiation research (ijrr) was published two years ago (june 2003). this journal was initiated to bring together the various disciplines of radiation oncology, radiation biology, medical physics, nuclear medicine and other related subjects to intensify the dialogue between basic and clinical researchers especially those working in iran. within the last two years, this journal has tried to offer an ideal platform for the exchange of detailed scientific information concerning the latest developments in the field of radiation research, from various institutes, hospitals or even individuals. ijrr has been one of the specialized journals when published 2 years ago. the executive committee of the journal has been anxious about the quality and quantity of papers received by the ijrr office. the reason is that, the research activities in these fields are unexplored. then, we believed that there might not be sufficient numbers of articles to be published in a specialized magazine as ijrr. now, only a little over 2 years we have realized potential peoples and centers working in this area, not only in iran but in other countries who contributed sincerely to the journal so that we are not worried about the materials to be published. we have realized that the existence of such a unique journal is a must both for iran and the researchers in the region.    shortly after publishing the 1st issue, we tried to computerize all activities in the editorial office, including online review by our reviewers. the journal’s website is one of the most complete websites among iranian journals with search capabilities and free access to abstracts and full pdf texts by readers and our visitors.   the scientific quality of the journal specifically depends on the quality of papers submitted and the keen attention of the journal’s reviewers. these efforts were led to recognition of the journal as a scientific and academic research source by the ministry of health and medical education. it has also been indexed by index medicus for eastern mediterranean region (imemr). and now, in an annual qualification of scientific medical journals, ijrr is ranked among the highest scored journals..    we are proud to publish the 3rd volume of the journal with a short delay. to fulfill the interest of our readers and taking another step toward being internationally published in the field of radiation research, we have made some changes in the structural appearance and reference citation according to vancouver’s format.      we would like to express our special thanks to our editorial board for their help and suggestions, all reviewers for their sincere help and careful review of the articles and my colleagues at the editorial and publishing office.  i doubt we could publish this journal without their interest and efforts. ijrr is looking forward to receiving the invaluable papers from iranian and foreigner scientists to be published in the forthcoming issues.