It’s been a year since we made the decision to start publishing a magazine for continuing education of doctors. The magazine was our attempt to find an adequate solution for the quick and more efficient distribution of evaluated scientific information, to those who need it in their daily work. To doctors who are far from the source of knowledge, who follow the scientific literature with effort, and who are overwhelmed by professional challenges that seek adequate, fast, and modern answers. The texts we published during the first year of work were a synthesis of the latest scientific information on the most common diagnostic and therapeutic problems of medical practice. They are written through the prism of leading experts who, themselves, deal with the problems they write about, and by the nature of their work they follow the news much more up-to-date and are closer to the sources of knowledge. With these texts, we wanted to contribute to the improvement of knowledge and enable you to receive instructions on how to apply the same in your medical practice, that is, make it even closer to the best possible practice. During the first year of existence and work, we published 4 issues of the magazine, with 60 papers, the production of which participated more than 100 authors. The magazine was published with a circulation of 20,000 copies and delivered to 20,000 readers – free of charge. The electronic edition (medicaljournal.rs) was followed by thousands of readers, without restrictions. The magazine is indexed (SCIndex), and through the CEON platform, it was read by several thousand readers from 27 countries of the world, from four continents. Based on the published texts, the authors have prepared tests to check the acquired knowledge, which are accredited, and can be used to extend the medical license. They are posted on the Academy’s platform (akademijazakme.edu.rs) and can be used – free of charge. We also organized a knowledge quiz on the sponsor’s website (medicaljournal.galenika.rs), and these days, we presented valuable prizes to the most successful participants (coverage of travel expenses and participation in an expert meeting of their choice).

Based on the interest you have shown in the magazine, as well as the reactions that followed its publication in the first year of operation – it seems that we have succeeded in properly satisfying your need for modern information from medical science and practice. Here, I would like to thank everyone who helped us with this – first of all the authors who worked on the creation of texts in accordance with the magazine’s mission; to the reviewers, who helped the authors with their suggestions to make the papers even more useful for medical practice; to the technical staff who made it possible for the magazine to reach you in the edition you like and – last but not the least – the pharmaceutical company Galenika, thanks to whose selfless and unconditional financial support the magazine is distributed – free of charge to the readers.

We entered the year 2023 with an ambitious plan to gather around this project the best in the medical profession of the region, bearing in mind that there are few of us in the whole area, compared to the health problems we face, and that connected – we can achieve more! Thanks to the understanding of the sponsor – the pharmaceutical company Galenika, this year, in addition to Serbia, we started publishing the Galenika Medical Journal in Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Montenegro, in the native language of the doctors of these countries, as well as in English. The authors of the papers will be carefully selected from among the most prominent representatives of the medical communities of these countries. The results of their engagement will be reviewed by a new review team composed of over 100 selected reviewers with a high Hirsch index. The process of editing the journal will be managed by a new International Editorial Board, composed of 29 prominent scientists from the countries of the region, Europe, and North America, who enjoy the reputation of undisputed authorities and leaders in their medical fields. Based on the published texts, we will, as before, develop tests in all the languages of the mentioned countries. After accreditation by the health authorities in the countries of the region, the tests will be available on the Academy’s platform (akademijazakme.edu.rs) as before.

In the first regional issue of the magazine that is in front of you, you will read papers prepared by Prof. Slobodan Janković, M.D, Ph.D, Prof. Maja Šurbatović, M.D, Ph.D, Prof. Marina Svetel, M.D, Ph.D, Prof. Elka Stefanova, M.D, Ph.D, Prof. Vera Zdravković, M.D, Ph.D, Prof. Dijana Jovanović, M.D, Ph.D, Assist. Maja Omčikus, M.D, Ph.D, Assist. Milan Jovanović, M.D, Ph.D (from Serbia), Prof. Allen Džubur, M.D, Ph.D, Assoc. prof. Edin Begić, M.D, Ph.D, Assoc. prof. Larisa Dizdarević Hudić, M.D, Ph.D (from Bosnia and Herzegovina), scientific associates: Dafina Nikolova, M.D, Ph.D and Emilija Nikolovska Trpčevska, M.D, Ph.D (from North Macedonia), as well as Mirjana Bakić, M.D, Ph.D (from Montenegro). This number will be published in a much larger circulation. This year, 32,000 copies of the magazine will be delivered free of charge to doctors in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Montenegro. Doctors of all the mentioned countries, who have not received the printed edition, will be able to follow and review the latest editions of the journal on the website (medicaljournal.rs), now also in their native language! By meeting the strict criteria of the publishing community, we will do our best to ensure an appropriate impact factor.

Next year we are planning to go one step further. But about that – when the time comes! We should not wait for the right time to come, we should create it. Let this step forward of ours, with your help and support, go in that direction!

I invite you to join us – as readers or authors of original scientific research articles, previous or short announcements, review papers, systematic literature reviews, meta-analyses, case reports, medical history articles, comments on already published papers, letters to the editor, reports from scientific and professional gatherings, book presentations… Your discoveries, experiences and observations can be valuable for other colleagues, who live and work throughout the area where the magazine is read. Share them with us!

Preference for publication is given to works created as a result of ongoing doctoral and postdoctoral studies, works resulting from already defended doctoral theses, as well as works resulting from research financed from scientific funds or domestic/foreign grants.

The papers you send for publication in Galenika Medical Journal should be written in your native language (Serbian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Montenegrin) and English. Once the paper has passed the plagiarism check and peer review, we will translate it into other languages and publish it in all editions of the journal. On the last pages of the contents of this issue and on the journal’s website (medicaljournal.rs) you will find Instructions for Authors, which specify the formal requirements that the text you send must meet. Before submitting the work, I recommend that you study the reviewer’s report form, which specifies the criteria by which the works are evaluated and correct any deficiencies. Along with the text of the paper, you need to send all accompanying attachments (tables, pictures, graphs), as well as declarations (that the paper has not been published or accepted for publication in another journal, about the contribution of each author and co-author in the preparation of the paper, about the absence of conflicts of interest). You will find the statement forms on the Galenika Medical Journal website.

Papers that are best rated by reviewers and editors, as well as papers commissioned by the editor-in-chief, are remunerated.

Papers are submitted in two ways: by online journal submission system on the ASEESTANT website (aseestant.ceon.rs) or by mail, to the address of the editorial office (Galenika Medical Journal, Uredništvo, Belgrade, Južni bulevar 55/1) or electronically (info@medicaljournal.rs).

For any additional questions, you can contact us by calling +381 11/6184998 and/or +381 60/1485511.
We look forward to future cooperation with you.
Welcome to Galenika Medical Journal!

Prof. dr. Dragoljub Đokić, 
editor-in-chief of the magazine Galenika Medical Journal 
Galenika Medical Journal, 
founder of the Academy for continuous 
medical education