Editor-in-chief of Veterinary Evidence journal steps down
20 July 2020
As Peter Cockcroft, Editor-in-Chief of Veterinary Evidence, steps down after three years at the helm of the journal, RCVS Knowledge thanks him for the considerable contribution he has made.
Veterinary Evidence, the open access, peer-reviewed journal published by RCVS Knowledge, launched 12 months prior to Peter’s appointment in 2017. As Editor-in-chief, Peter took on the strategic development of the journal, with ultimate responsibility for all papers submitted.
Over the course of his three-year tenure, Peter established Veterinary Evidence as a high-quality evidence-based veterinary medicine journal. He accepted 111 papers over this period, but his drive wasn’t restricted to volume of publication.
Peter created a new format for the clinical bottom line to support both authors and readers, and expanded the journal’s scope to include quality improvement case studies. He increased the international dimension of Veterinary Evidence’s editorial board; started a number of initiatives to increase the engagement and scope of topics submitted by veterinary nurses; and introduced a student competition to encourage the next generation of vets and vet nurses to practise EBVM in their future careers.
Peter has shown unwavering commitment to building the evidence base. He supported a systematic approach for generating clinical queries to help build the evidence across a number of common and important conditions, and identified the need to highlight published Knowledge Summaries that have weak or no evidence to signpost areas requiring further research. Alongside this he championed EBVM, Veterinary Evidence and the work of RCVS Knowledge at several conferences.
Peter leaves Veterinary Evidence stronger than it has ever been. The journal is now read in 150 countries, with around 3,000 users per month. 100% of authors would re-submit to the journal, and 100% of authors would recommend Veterinary Evidence to others. Further, 60% of readers in a recent survey are putting the findings from Knowledge Summaries into practice.
Bridget Sheppard, Managing Editor of Veterinary Evidence, said: “We are hugely appreciative of Peter’s leadership during his time as Editor-in-chief of Veterinary Evidence. His success within the role is illustrated by the increasing numbers of the veterinary profession around the world submitting to the journal, and applying the evidence to inform their decision-making.”
Peter Cockcroft, Editor-in-chief of Veterinary Evidence, said: “As my tenure as Editor-in-chief of Veterinary Evidence comes to an end, the journal is thriving and has a growing new authorship as the awareness of the concept of evidence-based veterinary medicine becomes embedded in the veterinary profession.
“I would like to acknowledge RCVS Knowledge in providing resources and toolkits to support practitioners in the practice of evidence-based veterinary medicine and quality improvement. I would like to thank the Associate Editors and Reviewers for their diligence, commitment and expertise in peer reviewing the submitted papers. Finally I would like to thank Bridget Sheppard (Managing Editor), Jenny Morris (Editorial and Production Assistant) and Clare Boulton (Head of Library and Knowledge Services) for their dedication and professional support.”
Chris Gush, Executive Director of RCVS Knowledge, said: “RCVS Knowledge are rightly very proud of the impact and reach of Veterinary Evidence, which is an essential part of our work to support the improvement of the quality of care delivered by veterinary professionals through the use of best available evidence.
“We would like to thank Peter for his achievements as Editor-in-chief, and wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.”