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Celebrating 50 years of our Journal
  1. Sam Rowlands
    1. Department of Medical Science & Public Health, Bournemouth University, Bournemouth, UK
    1. Correspondence to Professor Sam Rowlands; srowlands{at}bournemouth.ac.uk

    https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjsrh-2024-202394

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      The Journal has been in existence for 50 years and this semicentennial issue celebrates this special occasion. The evolution and development of the Journal mirrors that of the medical specialty of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) in the UK. Over this half century, the complexity of SRH has been reflected in the content of the Journal, with the richness of qualitative methodology joining well-established epidemiological studies. Perspectives became wider with input from the social sciences and global health. The Journal has been transformed from a cottage industry to a journal of international calibre. Looking at the sequence of seven front covers (figure 1) one can see this transformation. From the first issue, the Greek symbol denoting healthcare appeared on the front cover; this now looks rather dated. The Rod of Asclepius persisted on the cover (although relegated to the foot of the page in 2011) up until the Faculty of Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH) rebrand in 2016. The present cover is altogether more modern.

      Figure 1

      Example front covers of the Journal over 50 years

      The first edition of the Journal of Family Planning Doctors appeared in April 1975 (figure 1) and the Journal has been published quarterly ever since. From 1977 the Journal became the British Journal of Family Planning (table 1). The Journal began primarily as a means of communication to members of the National Association of Family Planning Doctors (NAFPD) – it was more like a …

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      Footnotes

      • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

      • Competing interests None declared.

      • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.