Can you feel the real paper?

Welcome to the third annual Swedish theme issue of BJSM! The Swedish Society of Exercise and Sports Medicine (SFAIM) is proud of the ongoing collaboration with BJSM, and we are happy to continue to offer our members the journal online, as part of their national membership benefits. Today, new discoveries have many ways of finding a wide audience including through e-journals, the web, Twitter and Facebook. This maximises dissemination, which can only be a good thing. Yet in this age of new technology, a print journal such as BJSM may have more to offer than ever before. We highlight a few advantages of the old ‘paper journal’. 1. The paper journal does not need a power supply. You might say that the internet and computer can work on batteries. But, consider a nice holiday, out sunbathing in the archipelago, far from any electrical source. The batteries never run out in paper journals! 2. In addition, in the sun, on said island, without protection for your screen, the paper journal offers superior viewing; something that is always a problem with any kind of screen... 3. In case of wet weather, protecting iPads and computers is a nuisance. A few drops of rain on the iPhone, and your contact-list may be gone... and this, of course, excludes the possibility of dropping your phone/iPad in the ocean. With the paper journal, letting it dry after rain will make it perfectly readable again. 4. On the bus/train. You might argue that the iPad is OK on the bus, but still, the paper journal fares well in comparison, especially when you are carrying numerous items on your journey (it can be folded, for instance...). 5. Furthermore, the paper journal can be loaned to your research friends, which is not such a good idea with your various devices... 6. Importantly, paper journals cannot be lost due to ‘hard disk failure’ or unavailable due to a failed or lost/slow internet connection. 7. Lastly, we should not underestimate the ‘feel’ of a true paper journal. Everything from the size of the journal for viewing comfort, to the ‘smell of the ink’ and ‘feel’ of having real paper in your hand, oozes comfort. Remember, in these days of e-journals, which most of us read nowadays, there has been an upsurge in the selling of glossy paper magazines at the newsagents. People certainly miss the real thing...! That being said (tongue-in-cheek), we believe you should not miss this Swedish issue of BJSM, a smorgasbord of interesting papers, readable on the platform of your choice.