• surveillance
• conflicts of interest

To paraphrase Gilbert and Sullivan, “An editor's lot is not an easy one”. In truth, it is usually stimulating but at times, it can be challenging. One such occasion arises when faced with situations that may appear to present a conflict of interest. In this issue, I am the second author of two papers.

Clearly, this is open to question. To help allay concerns and set my conscience at rest, I want to explain to readers how we handle any circumstance like this. The problem arises, of course, because the senior (corresponding) author usually has the final word about the journal to which a paper is sent. Naturally, any sensible author with a good paper in the injury prevention field would first consider sending it to this journal. It would be wrong to deny them the opportunity to do so.

It would be foolish to pretend coauthors are not influenced by my role as editor, although (as I …