Marianne Trevorrow,1 MA, ND
As most of our readers will know by the time this edition goes to press, this is my last edition as Editor in Chief of CAND Journal. It’s certainly been an eventful seven and a half years; during this time, our print publication has been transformed to a fully digital, open access, peer reviewed and indexed scientific/medical publication, reflected in its new name, the Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors Journal (CANDJ), which evolved from its print predecessor, Vital Link.
It’s been no small amount of labour to get us here, certainly, and there’s no question that we would not have succeeded without the participation and support of the editors and editorial board (current and prior), and many people in senior naturopathic leadership and research who were willing to submit their clinical studies to us before we were indexed at all, as well as the numerous other colleagues who worked independently to send us case summaries, clinical reviews and commentaries on a wide variety of topics. As a scholarly journal in health care, we do not pay for content, nor do we publish interviews or book reviews, so we have relied on these colleagues to send us the results of their ongoing work for the betterment of our knowledge base, as well as the credibility of the profession as a whole. From my point of view, one of the most rewarding aspects of this work has been seeing the journal evolve into a platform that can support the continued development of naturopathic scholarship and best practices in Canada. The structures we have put in place, including open access publication, rigorous peer review, and a growing editorial community, provide a strong foundation for the next stage of the journal’s growth.
While it can be easy to assume this process has a certain forward momentum, this is only because there have been many hands behind the scenes reaching out to colleagues and co-writers, making sure that the independent, credible and science-foreword voice of CANDJ remains so, while maintaining our unique voice championing traditional, complementary and integrative medicines (TCIM) as well as planetary health. A journal is ultimately a community effort, and I remain deeply grateful to the many authors, reviewers, editors and contributors who have given their time and expertise to help sustain this work.
Overall, running a quarterly journal for a relatively small association like ours means you are always thinking about it, always thinking ahead to the next edition, worried about late reviews, late revisions, and whether you will have enough editorial and science-based articles to interest the readers. We have worked hard to maintain a rigorous and objective, yet also positive and supportive, peer-review process, particularly for early-career authors. This can be a challenging balance to negotiate, but we’ve been well supported by our growing pool of reviewers, as well as the skilled professionals on our production team at SG Publishing, who are essential in helping the editors maintain our quarterly production and publication dates. As Editor in Chief, it was also my job to make sure that no copyediting or proofreading errors (including errors in tables) slipped through to publication, and I felt blessed to have such a capable staff at SG Publishing making sure that even last-minute changes to either our content or layout were accommodated quickly and seamlessly.
It’s important to note that since our digital transition in 2021, we have consistently received strong, supportive feedback (both inside and outside the profession) about the high quality of our content, which, although it is not quite at the level of being ready for the most competitive medical indexing platforms, is well along that road. That says a lot for a profession that contains fewer than 5000 members nationally, and a journal that is still in its start-up phase. Although we have room to improve, I think we can be justifiably proud of our accomplishments, particularly our themed special editions in 2023 and 2025, and the creation of a comprehensive set of guidelines for the citation and use of Indigenous knowledge and Knowledge Keepers, completed in 2022.
I think that while we have challenges ahead of us, we can look back over the last 5 years in particular and be proud of what we have accomplished at CANDJ. And as I transition out of editorial work to focus more on writing and inter-professional collaborations (especially in the planetary health space), I look forward to seeing how the journal continues to evolve with new leadership and with new voices contributing to its pages.
Please enjoy our contributions for this edition, and consider submitting in the future.
Warm regards,
Marianne Trevorrow, MA ND MSCP
Editor in Chief, CAND Journal.
Not applicable.
I have read and understood the CAND Journal’s policy on conflicts of interest and declare that I have none.
This research did not receive any funding.
Correspondence to: Dr. Marianne Trevorrow, MA, ND, 1183 Bank Street, Ottawa, ON K1S 3X7, Canada. E-mail: drmarianne@mariannetrevorrow.ca
To cite: Trevorrow M. Saying goodbye to CANDJ. CAND Journal. 2026;33(1):1-2. https://doi.org/10.54434/candj.240
© 2025 Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors. For permissions, please contact candj@cand.ca.
CAND Journal | Volume 33, No. 1, March 2026