Recognizing the 2021 IJSS Peer Reviewers
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* Charles L. Branch, Jr

The *International Journal of Spine Surgery* (*IJSS)* wishes to acknowledge and thank all of our peer reviewers in 2021. There were 448 manuscripts submitted and 953 reviews completed from an all-volunteer team of 250 reviewers representing 40 countries. This is a major contribution to our journal, and on behalf of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery Board of Directors and the *IJSS* Editorial Board, we thank you.

As with many other journals in disparate specialty areas, 2021 brought a record number of submissions to the *IJSS*. To process these submissions, the *IJSS* relied on a group of experts in spine surgery specializing in focused areas from pediatric spinal deformities to degenerative disc disease and everything in between.

Although the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic likely contributed to the influx of submissions across the globe, it also left our reviewers overwhelmed with review requests from not only the *IJSS* but other spine journals as well. Add to this the roller coaster of COVID-19 vaccinations, infections, hospitalizations, and deaths as well as added protocols to mitigate the spread of the virus, and 2021 certainly brought its challenges. For all of these reasons, the *IJSS* is especially grateful to its talented team of expert reviewers.

The *IJSS* is also excited to announce the first annual peer reviewer recognition awards, which will be announced during the ISASS 22 Annual Meeting in the Bahamas, 1 June to 4 June 2022. We hope that you plan to attend this meeting and the special events we have planned for the *IJSS* team.

Again, thank you to all the reviewers for their contributions. To view the 2021 peer reviewer list, please visit [https://www.ijssurgery.com/content/editorial-board-0](https://www.ijssurgery.com/content/editorial-board-0).

## Footnotes

*   Funding The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

*   Disclosures The author reports no financial disclosures or conflicts of interest related to this article.

*   This manuscript is generously published free of charge by ISASS, the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery. Copyright © 2022 ISASS. To see more or order reprints or permissions, see [http://ijssurgery.com](http://ijssurgery.com).