Ready for the next leap.

In December 2015, J-AIM is completing six years of its publication. In the history of academic journals, six years is a very short period to expect any noticeable impact. According to the Indian tradition, the period of 12 years or one mandala of hard work is known as “Tapas.” J-AIM has just completed only half a mandala. During this period, we have tried to take baby steps toward our goal to develop a world class journal to give Ayurveda its due scientific visibility. As promised in the editorial and the thought leadership article published in the first issue, while advocating the spirit of integration, we have tried to strike a balance to ensure mutual respect to the epistemology of traditional and ancient knowledge systems.[1] The six years journey, however, has been very challenging, rewarding, and interesting.

At the end of six years, 2015, J-AIM has become a preferred journal in the disciplines of Ayurveda, integrative medicine, and traditional/complementary and alternative medicine. According to Google Scholar matrix, J-AIM is ranked on the third position in integrative medicine sector with H-index 15. This is highest for any Indian journal in this sector. J-AIM has received around 2000 manuscripts from many countries. It has involved more than 700 reviewers from 36 countries. The journal has witnessed a substantial increase in the number of manuscript submissions and online accession. The acceptance rate has declined from 14% in the year 2010 to 6% in the year 2015. J-AIM editorial team is continuously engaged in the improvement of quality and standards. The journal is a member of Committee of Publication Ethics (COPE), World Association of Medical Editors, and Indian Association of Medical Journal Editors. We also borrow a lot from global initiatives such as Equator Network and Cochrane Collaboration. J-AIM is connecting students, teachers, practitioners, and researchers from Ayurveda, Siddha, Yoga, Unani, Sowa Rigpa, and other traditional practices with their counterparts from modern science and medicine. The journal policies have been particularly encouraging for young researchers by giving them several opportunities to revise and improve the quality of manuscripts. The editorial team considers this activity as very important for capacity building for ayurvedic researchers. We support researchers from traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine to inculcate art and science of scientific writing, to report the translation of their sophisticated clinical and pharmacological theories to clinical practice.

In the Indian tradition, “Tapas” implies meditation, concentration, and hard shift. We experience this meaning when we steer clear of the polluted environment of compromised publication ethics, aggression of predatory journals, and increased desperation for publication at any cost. J-AIM editorial team has played a very constructive role to increase awareness about the importance of publication ethics.[2] The editorial team shares key cases and seeks advice of bodies such as COPE. Promoting good research is more important than mere zest of publications. Good research is a result of original ideas, conducive research environment, robust methodology, and availability of resources. Good publications need good research.[3] Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine sector, despite its inherent potential, still has a long way to go to achieve the desired transformation. J-AIM is working hard to facilitate this process by providing the right guidance and an international platform.

VALUE OF TEAMWORK

In addition to routine editing and publication activities, J-AIM has stepped out to reach to its audience. J-AIM has collaborated with reputed scientific platforms such as World Ayurveda Congress, Update Ayurveda, and Global Ayurveda Festival for organizing training workshops for researchers and students. J-AIM has also encouraged young students by publishing conference abstracts in citable form as online supplements.

Complete editorial autonomy and continuous patronage of Transdisciplinary University (TDU), Bengaluru, have remained crucial during this journey. The senior members of the editorial board who guided us, hundreds of reviewers who volunteered their time and expertise, thousands of authors who put confidence, and inquisitive global readers have strengthened J-AIM mission during half period of our Tapas. We are really grateful to our readers, authors, reviewers, editors, and well-wishers. Our special thanks to the publisher team Medknow, Wolters Kluwer, for their publication management, consistent support, and ensuring timely publications.

The journal's leadership and management are determined to take J-AIM to newer heights. We have already started working to provide a new look and to adopt more friendly manuscript processing system. We will make few important announcements soon as we enter the seventh year.

WORLD AYURVEDA FOUNDATION

We are happy to share with our readers that recently TDU and the World Ayurveda Foundation (WAF) have joined hands to promote Ayurveda research and publications at the global level. Through this collaboration, WAF will provide substantial support for J-AIM activities. As our readers would know, WAF is an initiative by Vijnana Bharati (VB), an intellectual movement for the global propagation of Indian sciences. VB is involved in motivating young scientists and students to achieve scientific temper, creativity, and originality. VB, WAF, and J-AIM share the common objective of creating a harmonious interaction between ancient and modern sciences. The WAF organizes “World Ayurveda Congress” every alternate year and steers global propagation of Ayurveda through various activities. We are confident that WAF and TDU collaboration will strengthen meaningful interactions and healthy integration between Ayurveda and modern sciences. We promise our editorial members, reviewers, authors, readers, and well-wishers that your journal will continue working toward its goal - renaissance of Ayurveda and revitalization of traditional health sciences and their profound wisdom.[4]