“Rarely do we start an issue of the JACR® with a trigger warning,” write the editors of the journal’s January special issue. However, the articles in the January special issue are meant to spark debate around some of radiology’s most fraught topics. Editors Caroline Chung, MD, Reed A. Omary, MD, MS, FACR, and Christoph I. Lee, MD, MS, MBA, have pulled together perspectives from across radiology to start the conversations that will move the specialty forward.

Representing the diversity of perspectives, including those that may be controversial, strengthens the specialty. The journal’s mission is to continually earn reader trust and engagement by publishing content that educates, engages, entertains, and occasionally provokes.

Confronting preconceived notions is uncomfortable. This special issue will present controversial ideas across the five pillars of the journal — health services research and policy, clinical practice management, leadership, data science, and training and education. By presenting a variety of perspectives, these articles will provide an opportunity for the journal’s readership to discuss potential out-of-the-box approaches for expanding the reach of the specialty.

It’s also worth pointing out that the views presented in the special issue are entirely those of the individual authors and do not reflect the views or positions of the ACR. “Although associated with the College by its name, the journal was established with editorial independence as a core concept,” writes Howard B. Fleishon, MD, MMM, FACR, chair of the ACR BOC, in his January editorial. “This is by design.”