The ambition of the European Respiratory Journal: chapter 4

Abstract

@ERSpublicationsThe ERJ: publishing and contextualising the best in respiratory research and practice http://ow.ly/V1GsdAlready we are more than half-way through the current 5-year editorial cycle of the European Respiratory Journal (ERJ), and as we begin 2016 we again open our first issue of the new year with our annual round up and look to the future.Traditionally, the ERJ has been founded on exceptionally strong research content, attracting the most important, cutting-edge and novel original material from all over the world, and delivering this content to all corners of the globe; in 2015 alone we will have published 200 original research articles encompassing the full spectrum of respiratory diseases. However, we also increasingly seek to provide context to this material and enhance it as much as possible for our readers with editorial comment and discussion through correspondence. We are proud to see that the Agora section continues to develop, both augmenting our research content with short reports and also framing it with thought-provoking and perceptive correspondence, and hopefully bringing our readers to this notional meeting place so that they can participate in the discussion themselves.Some particular original research highlights from the past year include reports of clinical trial results from the study of tiotropium and olodaterol fixed-dose combination therapy in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) [1], and new results indicating that low-dose corticosteroid use may be associated with reduced 28-day mortality in patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia and septic shock [2]. Our publication of a new action framework for tuberculosis elimination in countries with low tuberculosis incidence has also generated great interest [3]. We also continue to attract the very best review articles, in total 35 were published in various guises in 2015: cutting-edge stand-alone reviews; those that appeared as part of our three excellent ongoing series, on lung physiology, controversies in thoracic oncology and rare pulmonary diseases; and of course those comprising our comprehensive "state of the art" reviews and "back to basics" translational science papers.Although original research will always be the cornerstone of the ERJ, we would also like to mention the numerous and excellent guideline documents, strategy summaries and task force reports that have been published over the past 12 months, both from the task forces established by the European Respiratory Society (ERS) and those resulting from collaborations between the ERS and colleagues representing other national societies, and which we hope will ensure that the ERJ remains an essential reference for clinicians and scientists the world over. In 2015, we published a diverse selection of task force reports, for example the

Proteomic Analysis of Humoral Immune Components in Bronchoalveolar Lavage of Patients Infected or Colonized by Aspergillus fumigatus

“…According to the French Health Public Law (CSP Art L 1121-1.1), such protocol is exempted from informed consent application. Aspergillus+ BALF were classified as (i) invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) according to EORTC/MSG consensus criteria ( 4 ), (ii) chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) according to ESCMID/ERS guidelines ( 5 ) or (iii) colonization if classification criteria were not met. Finally, all BALF from infected and colonized patients (n=10) and all control BALF (n=10) were pooled as Aspergillus + and control ( Aspergillus- ) groups, respectively; BALF from each individual were pooled in equal volume for a group.…”