Page 57 - IFSO-History-Book-Digital-File

CHAPTER FIVE

The Obesity Surgery Journal

Scott A. Shikora

Introduction

The journal, Obesity Surgery, was founded in 1991, predating IFSO, and has grown and matured to
become the preeminent international publication in the specialty of bariatric surgery, later,
metabolic bariatric surgery (MBS). Most of the credit for the creation and early financing and support
for the journal must be given to Mervyn Deitel, MD, a prominent gastrointestinal and MBS surgeon
[1]. Dr. Deitel fought almost singlehandedly to create a bariatric journal at a time when there were no
outlets for publishing MBS papers. The journal survived an early near bankruptcy to become a
successful global publication with a circulation over 10,000 subscribers.

Dr. Deitel first came up with the concept for a MBS journal in 1990. At that time, there were no
peer-reviewed surgical journals that recognized MBS. The traditional surgical journals often refused
to publish MBS papers. Furthermore, Deitel believed that the newly created bariatric surgical society,
the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic disorders (IFSO)—renamed in
2025 to the International Federation for the Surgery and Other Therapies for Obesity [4]— needed to
have its own journal. He believed that it should serve as a central repository in MBS for publishing
scientific evidence and clinical guidelines, and to act as a forum for surgeons to communicate with
one another. Surprisingly, at that time many senior MBS surgeons also did not support the creation
of an MBS journal; they thought that MBS was a part of general surgery and that MBS papers would
be published in established, peer-reviewed surgical journals. That turned out not to be the case.

Most peer-reviewed surgical journals did not recognize MBS papers and their editors did not think
that the field of MBS was a legitimate surgical subspecialty. For these reasons, it was increasingly
clear to Deitel that IFSO would need to create and support its own journal. Shortly thereafter he
successfully convinced the IFSO leadership to support and fund the journal to represent IFSO
members. The new journal was named Obesity Surgery (OBSU).

After creating OBSU, Dr. Deitel tried to find a suitable publisher and met with several international
publishing houses. Unfortunately, at that time, none were interested. Eventually, Rapid
Communications (RCO), a new publisher located in Oxford, England, agreed to be the official
publisher for the pioneering journal. This company had experience in medical publishing, and its
scope was predominantly international and multidisciplinary.

In the beginning, OBSU did not receive many submitted papers for publication consideration. In the
first four years, the journal only published 4 issues per year. As the journal grew in popularity, the
need for more published papers mandated that the journal be published more frequently. From
1991-1995, 4 (quarterly) issues were published; from 1996-2005, 6 (bi-monthly) issues annually, and
from 2006 to the present, 12 issues (monthly) have been published annually. Early issues covered all

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