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100 Years at the Archives of Internal MedicineTaking Stock and Looking Ahead
Philip Greenland, MD
Arch Intern Med. 2008;168(1):11-12.
Publication of the Archives of Internal Medicine began in 1908. The past 100 years have seen tremendous growth of the Archives to a position of international prominence. Our total circulation is approximately 90 000. International print distribution includes more than 70 countries throughout the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The journal also has worldwide reach on the Internet, and page views on the Internet now total over 2 million per yearly quarter. Over 50 000 individuals receive electronic copies of our table of contents for every issue. The Archives is routinely covered in the public media in such major publications as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and many other newspapers, as well as electronic media including television, radio, and Internet news outlets.
To celebrate these past 100 years at the Archives, we plan to publish throughout 2008 special editorials and commentaries on current articles. In the current issue of the Archives, the immediate past editor, James E. Dalen, MD, MPH, comments on the field of venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, with reference to many important articles published in this journal in its 100-year history. Dr Dalen also comments on an article published in this issue that represents the most recent contribution to this journal on this important and common topic in internal medicine. I thank Dr Dalen for his contributions to the Archives during his outstanding and long-running service as editor, and I also thank him for his contributions that continue to this day. A great deal of credit for the current success of this publication is due to his contributions during his term as editor.
I became editor of the Archives in 2004 and now begin my fifth year as editor. I have been blessed with an outstanding team of deputy editors, associate editors, and assistant editors, as well as a tremendous office staff to keep all of us on our toes. At this time, I want to provide a status report on the Archives as it enters its second 100 years as a leading medical journal.
NUMBER OF SUBMISSIONS AND ACCEPTANCE RATE
The Archives receives many more manuscripts than we can print. During 2005 and 2006, we received nearly 2000 major manuscripts per year for consideration. The overall acceptance rate for these 2 years was 16%. We have developed a system that triages papers into high likelihood of eventual acceptance, intermediate likelihood of acceptance, or no likelihood of acceptance, and these initial decisions typically are completed within 1 week after submission. Our turnaround times are, in our opinion, outstanding at this point in time owing to the triage system we have employed and the facility of our online system, which became fully operational in 2004-2005. The median number of days from submission to print publication for accepted papers is now 194 days, which includes initial reviews, revisions by authors, and editorial processing to prepare the paper for publication. The time from acceptance to publication is now averaging about 3.6 months. It is our impression that these turnaround times are highly competitive, and we are proud of the accomplishment we have made in being very responsive to the needs of authors.
International Articles
Nearly 50% of recent submissions have come from outside the United States. In 2006, we accepted manuscripts from 24 different countries outside of the United States. The Archives is obviously a journal that is receiving broad attention on the international scene, and we enthusiastically welcome contributions from our colleagues outside of the United States.
Transfers From JAMA
As many authors already know, we are a member of the JAMA-Archives consortium of journals. This allows the possibility that papers submitted to JAMA that are reviewed but rejected can be considered for transfer to the Archives Journals (including the Archives of Internal Medicine) if recommended by the JAMA editors and approved by the authors. This often streamlines the process of resubmission of a paper that misses the cut at JAMA by a small amount. In 2006, 169 papers were referred by JAMA to the Archives of Internal Medicine. Of these, 40% were eventually accepted by us. This represents 23% of all accepted papers (whereas JAMA transfers are only 9% of our total submissions). This is generally regarded as a highly desirable feature of the JAMA-Archives consortium, but the total Archives transfers represent only 7% of JAMA's rejected papers. Obviously, only the very best papers that JAMA turns down are considered for transfer, and we feel this benefits both the Archives and the authors involved. The transfer process streamlines resubmission and review because the transfer can be accomplished internally without any input from the authors, and reviews are often (although not always) adequate for decisions to be reached without additional outside reviews required.
Impact Factor
The Archives of Internal Medicine is one of the most highly cited journals in the medical field. Recent impact factor data are presented in the Table. We are the eighth highest-ranked general medical journal in the world in terms of impact factor. The impact factor has risen steadily over the past 5 years to its current level of nearly 8. As shown in the Table, we compare highly favorably with other similar journals in the field, including the Annals of Internal Medicine and the British Medical Journal.
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Table. Citation Facts About the Archives of Internal Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine, and British Medical Journal, 2001-2006a
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LOOKING AHEAD
We have made a number of decisions at our most recent editorial board meeting that we will be implementing in 2008. As noted, we will be highlighting the first 100 years at the Archives in several ways, with editorials and additional commentaries. We also have decided to allow original articles to increase in length to allow for more information content where needed. We also continue to seek the very best content from potential contributors to the Archives, and we welcome your input and feedback in this regard. Our overall mission remains the same: to publish high-quality clinical research that is relevant to the science and practice of internal medicine.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Correspondence: Dr Greenland, Departments of Preventive Medicine and Medicine, Director, Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, 750 N Lake Shore Dr, Ninth Floor, Chicago, IL 60611.
REFERENCE
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1. ISI Thomson Web of Science. Thomas Corp Web site. http://portal.isiknowledge.com/portal.cgi?DestApp=JCR&Func=Frame&Init=Yes&SID=2EgP8eL9Dop9lag7gmJ. Accessed September 23, 2007.
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