Mabel’s story

NDT is a well-known outstanding international nephrology journal that publishes high quality papers. In order to maintain the high scientific level of this journal, papers -after a first triage by the editor-in-chief- are handled by theme or associate editors who assess them and may send them for peer review. In my role as NDT editorial fellow, I work with one of the eight Associate Editors Pr Michel Jadoul who is the co-chair of KDIGO, extremely knowledgeable in many areas in nephrology but who mainly handle papers on hemodialysis, which is also my area of expertise. I have the opportunity to discuss my first opinion about the submitted manuscript, focussing mainly on methodology and novelty. We discuss as well the choice of reviewers. At this point, I get the chance to learn how Pr Jadoul assesses a paper. Following the reviews, in case of contradictory feedback from reviewers, I have the role of presenting a summary of the paper and discussing its novelty, methodology and impact during the weekly editorial board meetings. The editor-in-chief often takes into consideration the fellows' comments that are based on a thorough revision of the manuscript. Sometimes we present papers handled by other theme editors who were not able to attend the meeting. Mrs Caroline Vinck, the NDT and CKJ editorial office manager, always send us the papers to be discussed to read them ahead of time. I can say that it has been a busy year, knowing that I am a full-time nephrologist, my weekends are spent at reading and reviewing but I definitely enjoy that.

Launching the NDT Editorial fellowship is an initiative of Pr Hans-Joachim Anders after his appointment as Editor-in-Chief of NDT in June 2023. Other nephrology journals had launched this kind of fellowship and it apparently was successful. I cannot say otherwise regarding the NDT editorial board fellowship. I have been a reviewer of more than 20 journals for the last 10 years, and an editor in two other journals, I attended some editorial workshops, but I haven't got the chance before this editorial fellowship to see how eminent scientists and researchers handle and look at a paper. I loved how some decision letters were written after the editorial board meeting and I kept some examples. If you are a good listener, you learn a lot from the diverse editorial board. I will always keep in mind that discussion about whether NDT should publish a paper about an innovative technique that needs a lot of vigilance of HCPs and that could be dangerous if not well applied, it was interesting to watch the decision making process of the editorial board at that moment. On the other hand, I believe that the editorial fellowship contributes also to the success of the journal. Fellows look at details and background papers and may help the editors making their minds. It is definitely a win-win situation. I applaude Pr Anders for taking this initiative, giving his time to respond to our suggestions. Whenever I write to him or Pr Jadoul, they are always there responding and this is a cornerstone for the success of this fellowship. The commitment and the availability of the editor-in-chief and associate editors are indeed mandatory. I would like to highlight as well the efforts and continuous help of Mrs Caroline Vinck who enormously contributes to the organization of the editorial board weekly meetings and is always available to provide the needed support.

Definitely, the NDT Editorial fellowship should be considered as an academic training. But I insist on the fact that the quality of this fellowship depends a lot on the professionalism and the commitment of the Editor-in-Chief and the associate editors and I hope that all future editorial boards will ensure the sustainability of this serious activity.

The impact of the NDT Editorial fellowship on one's career and education may vary from moderate to very strong depending on the degree of the fellow's involvement and willingness to get the best of it. And I decided to give it my full attention.
This fellowship opened the door for me to several amazing opportunities like having access to and reading all submitted NDT papers of the year. I had the opportunity to watch which reviewers are chosen, how reviewers respond and how editors make their decision. I felt always updated with cutting-edge research projects. I had the chance to read or review papers months ahead of their release. I was also reading what other high-impact nephrology journals were publishing about these topics. This undoubtedly had a positive impact on my clinical and teaching activity and I felt like a bridge between newly released papers and my colleagues and students. We should not forget as well that presenting the papers during the editorial board meetings is a major contributor to capacity building.
On the other hand, I grabbed the opportunity of working with two very smart and knwoledgeable nephrologists Pr Anders and Pr Jadoul to write under their guidance a review on a topic that I am very passionate about. I am very grateful for their sharp comments, their prompt reponses and their synergistic dynamism. This was an amazing experience especially when we had to cut 1000 words of the review. I can say that I learned from the best. And I am very thrilled to see this review accepted for publication.
Additionnally, this editorial fellowship provided me with the opportunity to be selected to present my first invited talk at the European Renal Association (ERA) about "Pearls of NDT". This event is not only great for my CV, but it made me read almost all the papers that were published last year in NDT. I always dreamed of contributing to ERA activities and this NDT editorial fellowship paved the way for me. Finally, with this fellowship, I became more and more convinced that a physician or a nephrologist is not only an expert in his field, but needs to find time to nurture all the other six competencies that will make him a good doctor: being a good scholar (teacher, reviewer and editor), promoting health with the updated data, focussing on communication skills, collaborating with peers, managing time and work and keeping humanity and ethics at the core of the profession.