Farewell and Thank You

Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. — Marcel Proust As I finish my term as the seventh editor-in-chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in January of 2026, I am reminded of so many of you who have enriched my life over the past 4 years. I am honored and privileged to have served with you. Words cannot express how grateful I am for your contribution and friendship. Every day after a long workday, I sit down to adjudicate papers for PRS, and I look forward to reading new submissions, revisions, and reviews. I receive 30 to 40 papers daily in various stages of the editorial process and need to “clean my plate” each day; otherwise, it would be an unwieldy number for the next. PRS receives between 2800 and 3200 submissions each year. As of this writing, the total number of 2025 submissions is trending about 10% over that of 2024. One of my primary goals as editor-in-chief has been to encourage more full-length studies (ie, original articles, experimental studies, and special topics). This vision has been realized with strong growth across all sections. In the Cosmetic section alone, tier 1 submissions in 2025 are tracking 75% higher than in 2022. Across all sections, tier 1 submissions in 2025 are on pace for the second-highest total in our history, nearly 17.5% above my first year. Over the years, I have read every manuscript from every topical section and every peer review to provide a fair assessment and decision. I have enjoyed every minute. I have learned so much from authors around the world and from the magnificent insights of hundreds of reviewers who toiled tirelessly to provide wisdom to propel forward the science and practice of plastic surgery. During my tenure, one of the first goals we undertook was the expansion of “ahead of print” publication for nearly all article types, enabling the majority of articles to be published in a raw but discoverable and citable format within 10 business days of acceptance. This dream was realized and became fully operational in June of 2023. Our actual speed exceeded our goal: in 2024, the average time from final acceptance to publish ahead of print was 5 to 7 business days. Your PRS content is now available to the world faster than ever before. Another major accomplishment was the reduction of time from acceptance to final, in-issue publication. By increasing both the rejection rate and the size of each issue over time, while also streamlining the editorial and production process, a manuscript accepted today for any section of the Journal will be slotted for final publication within the next few available issues of PRS. Because we work 6 months in advance, we aimed to—and did successfully—reduce the wait time from acceptance to final publication from 12 to 15 months in some sections (due to the surge of submissions received during the pandemic) to the bare minimum, 6 to 7 months. During my time with PRS, I have worked with a team of editorial board members, led by co-editor Amy Colwell, MD, and staff to refine the Journal’s mission statement and to create a vision statement, updating our missive for the second quarter of the 21st century and beyond. “The vision of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery is to publish and promote the most impactful advances in the science, innovation, and practice of plastic and reconstructive surgery.”1 “The mission of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery is to drive innovation and enhance patient outcomes by carefully cultivating and dynamically delivering breakthrough research, evidence-based studies, and impactful scientific discourse in aesthetic and reconstructive surgery.”1 Alongside these accomplishments, we also fine-tuned the focus of PRS to emphasize health policy and population research.2 Our Journal is dedicated to the advocacy of our patients; by expanding our selection of health policy advancements in plastic surgery, we are now also advocating for the individual and the community. PRS also publishes a broad span of cosmetic research. To make it easier for our readers to find their topics of interest, I led our team in instituting subsectioned cosmetic content to organize face, breast, body, genital, medicine, and general cosmetic sections. Readers can now find relevant research more efficiently than ever before.3 It is difficult to reach your destination if you do not know where you are going. It is my hope that these new and revised beacons will continue to steer the Journal beyond my term. In a time of great change in academic publishing, considering the medical intersection of politics, technology, and beyond, these credos can serve as a guiding light for those in the trenches. With more than 43,400 total citations in 2024, our Journal is again the third-most cited journal in all of surgery. We were only 386 citations behind the second-most cited journal (The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery), which puts PRS in the illustrious category of top-tier journals. Of course, the impact factor, which is calculated as the average number of citations in the current year citing papers from the previous 2 years, remains a priority. Because we are an innovative specialty and PRS is the soul of the science of plastic surgery, any new ideas being proposed must be tested and shown to be effective. Therefore, it will take time for these citations to appear in the literature. I trust that our efforts to highlight key advances in our specialty will alert authors to cite our Journal, and I am constantly impressed with the quality of our submissions. We publish the best in our specialty across all sections of our Journal. I share with everyone that PRS is not simply an American journal. It is an international journal, and I have been diligent in representing the Journal around the world. Our future resides in receiving ideas and contributions from all corners of our globe. PRS is held in high esteem because excellence is the mantra that has represented it for the past 78 years. I have also been keen to promote our Journal to the younger generations of our specialty, from residents to junior faculty members. They are the future of plastic surgery; their enthusiasm and creativity are infectious. Our PRS Journal Club is led by our PRS resident ambassadors, and the new commentary discussing the monthly “picks” and classic pairings solicits viewpoints from those who normally do not get a chance to deliver their insights.3 Because our Journal contains so much scientific content, I launched the “Editor’s Perspective” series of columns, which are devoted to the philosophies and “soft sciences” that help guide the practice of plastic surgery. I have generated approximately 50 articles on diverse topics, such as branding a practice, artistry in scientific writing, and dealing with difficult people (which, interestingly, received a tremendous number of views).4–6 These articles were research papers derived from theories in business, philosophy, art, and other disciplines to which we are peripherally attached. Many of you have sent me personal emails or spoke with me in person to share how useful these articles are to your daily lives. For that, I am most appreciative. Throughout my tenure as PRS editor-in-chief, I held close the 3 fundamental principles that are sacrosanct to our Journal. First, any scientific journal must honor the peer review process and not be subjected to external influences. Our reviewers are the leading figures in our field, and their opinions must be respected. If PRS were to be controlled by external forces, the trust between PRS and the authors would be broken. As my predecessor, Dr. Rod Rohrich, told me—and as his predecessor, Dr. Robert Goldwyn, told him—I will share the same advice with my successor: Always protect the Journal. Second, we need to promote the next generation of plastic surgeons who will take over PRS, both in the United States and abroad. Plastic surgery has an immense pool of untapped talent around the world; I believe I have been successful at engaging in thoughtful dialogue with and encouraging high-quality contributions from young plastic surgeons in countries as diverse as Turkey and Indonesia, as well as many others. Third, and most importantly, PRS represents all facets of plastic surgery. We are not cosmetic PRS, we are not breast PRS, and we are not craniofacial PRS or hand PRS. We are the only organ that speaks for the entire specialty. We are all aware of encroachment on our various subspecialties; we cannot lose any of the disciplines in plastic surgery. As editor-in-chief, it is my job to safeguard all sections of PRS. From aesthetic surgery to microsurgery, they all should be cherished. Because of your help and support, the great efforts we have taken to do so are bearing fruit. This hard work must continue. There is an old saying: “You have enemies? Good. That means you have stood up for something, sometime in your life.” I do not think I have any true enemies, but I recall another piece of wisdom my predecessor, Dr. Rohrich, shared with me: “The only friends you will make as editor-in-chief are the [American Society of Plastic Surgeons] editorial team!” These quotes serve as a reminder that, in this role, it is impossible to please everyone. Nevertheless, it has been my goal to serve as PRS’s seventh editor-in-chief in an ethical, professional, scientific, collaborative, and kind fashion—always in service to our society and the field of medicine. I am proud to have worked alongside Dr. Colwell as PRS co-editor, as well as with our editorial board, publisher, staff, and all the authors who have embarked on this journey with me. In parting, I will share the key philosophy of omotenashi, the Japanese cultural concept centered around quiet, authentic care offered without any expectations of reciprocation.7 As editor-in-chief, I have humbly given to you all that I can, and more than I initially thought I would be able to. It has been an honor to serve with that spirit, aiming to selflessly treat every author, reviewer, reader, and colleague with dignity and gratitude. May PRS continue to grow and evolve and meet the needs of our entire plastic and reconstructive surgery community in this tradition of kindness and excellence. I am most grateful for your grace and graciousness. DISCLOSURE Dr. Chung is the editor-in-chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He receives funding from the National Institutes of Health and book royalties from Wolters Kluwer and Elsevier.