I would like to introduce to you the Internet Journal of Minimally Invasive Spinal Technology (IJ MIST), the official journal for ISMISS/SICOT http://www.ismiss.com (International Society for Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery), AAMISMS http://www.aamisms.com (American Academy of Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery and Medicine) and the ACP&S http://spineupdate.com (American College of Physicians & Surgeons). IJ MIST is a new online, peer-reviewed journal that will be published on a tri-annual basis starting in mid-March 2007.

The goal of this journal is to publish the most up-to-date clinical and scientific developments, in Minimally Invasive Spinal Technology (MIST) and biotechnological innovations related to minimally invasive spinal surgery (MISS).

As Editor-in-Chief, I am especially interested in clinical data-driven manuscripts reporting on the rationale, indications, operative techniques, complications, outcomes, and follow-up data for MIST procedures. Additionally, we are interested in manuscripts that provide commentary on new developments in the diagnosis and treatment of spinal and other surgical disorders.

For manuscript submission and for any other inquiries, please contact the Managing Editor Dr. Olivier Wenker, M.D. at wenker@ispub.com. Also you may contact me and/or Co-editors, PD Dr.med. Hansjoerg Leu and Dr. Merrill Reuter, M.D. for any additional assistance.

All paper manuscripts must be written in standard grammatical English. All manuscripts should conform to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (Ann Intern Med 1997;126:36-47). We can provide help and support if needed: wenker@ispub.com

The manuscript should be arranged in the following order:

• name of the journal to which you are submitting the paper

• title of the paper

• the first name(s) and last name of each author and his or her highest academic degree(s) and institutional affiliation

• name of the department and institution or hospital where the work was done

• the source of any financial support received

• the document abstract (no more than 250 words) REQUIRED

• up to 6 key words (terms from the medical subject headings of Index Medicus should be used whenever possible)

• text – no more than 2,500 words

• acknowledgments

• references

Please include graphics and tables 'inline' in electronic documents. Images can be sent attached to an e-mail as JPEGs or GIFs.

Please visit our journal IJ MIST after March 20, 2007. Thank you for participating in this new internet journal! Again, you are invited to submit your manuscript for the next publication!

John C. Chiu, M.D., FRCS, D.Sc. Editor in Chief Director, Neurospine Surgery UnitCalifornia Spine Institute Medical Center, IncPresident, ISMISS/SICOT Chairman AAMISMS