Annals of Surgical Oncology 10:1-3 (2003)
© 2003 Society of Surgical Oncology
Annals of Surgical Oncology Impact Factor/Rating Has Dramatically Increased
Charles M. Balch, MD,
Mark S. Roh, MD,
Kirby I. Bland, MD,
Murray F. Brennan, MD,
Edward M. Copeland, III, MD,
Donald L. Morton, MD,
John E. Niederhuber, MD and
Raphael E. Pollock, MD
From the Society of Surgical Oncology, Editorial Office, Alexandria, Virginia.
Correspondence: Address correspondence to: Charles M. Balch, MD, 1900 Duke St., Suite 200, Alexandria, VA 22314; Fax: 703-299-1044; E-mail: balchc{at}asco.org
One of the most significant benchmarks of the scientific value of a medical journal is the science citation index issued each year, published by the Institute of Scientific Information. It tracks the number of times original scientific articles are cited in other journals as a reflection of the impact each article (and collectively, each journal) has on the body of scientific literature during that year. Thus, the more times a scientific article is cited from a journal, the more stature it and the journal have as a meaningful contributor to the medical and scientific literature.
Although the Annals of Surgical Oncology is still a relatively young journal, now in its 9th year, the scientific impact factor of its articles have dramatically increased each year, as reflected in the average number of citations in other journals (Fig. 1). The recently released impact factor rankings for the year 2001 show that the Annals was cited 1847 times in that year, which yields an "impact factor" of 3.308. The "impact factor," reflecting the level of academic excellence of the journal, is then ranked among all the journals in that sector of the medical field and compared year to year. Each year, the Annals has improved its percentile ranking among both the field of surgery journals (4th percentile) (Fig. 2) and among oncology journals (23rd percentile) (Fig. 3). For the year 2001, the Annals ranks 6th among 139 surgery journals (Table 1) and 25th among 107 oncology journals published throughout the world (Table 2).
This accolade for a young journal is a credit to our authors, who have contributed some of their best laboratory and clinical science to the Annals through the years! It also reinforces a perception among many surgical investigators that the field of cancer research has been burgeoning consistently over the past decade and that this new body of scientific understanding is having a dramatic effect on the whole area of cancer clinical research and ultimately on setting improved quality of patient care.
On behalf of the Annals of Surgical Oncology, we want to thank those authors who have supported the Journal through the years, both by scientific presentations at the Society of Surgical Oncology’s Annual Meeting and by publication of excellent scientific contributions to the Society’s Journal. We would like to thank the authors of the most cited article in 2001, "Complementarity of blue dye and isotope in sentinel node localization for breast cancer: univariate and multivariate analysis of 966 procedures," by H.S. Cody, J. Fey, T. Akhurst, M. Fazzari, M. Mazumdar, H. Yeung, S.D.J. Yeh, and P.I. Borgen from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.1 We want to thank the Journal’s Editorial Board and reviewers who have generously volunteered their time to make meaningful suggestions to the authors about improvements in their content. Their reviews and recommended enhancements to the manuscripts have identified those of highest scientific value.
It is indeed a very proud and distinguished achievement for the Society that represents its educational and scientific programs, for the individual investigators, and for the Annals’ Editorial Board and reviewers to be ranked among the best medical journals for the field of surgery and the field of oncology. Ken Kornfield and Melissa Nunnally in the Journal’s Editorial Office have contributed significantly by managing an efficient and streamlined process of manuscript review and coordinating the publishing activities with our publisher, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. We are pleased to announce the recent development of a new web site (www.annalssurgicaloncology.org). The site has enhanced features such as full-text online and searching capabilities and is available free of cost as a benefit to all Society members and Journal subscribers. Web users can view the full text of articles printed from 1999 to 2002 and abstracts for articles printed from 1994 to 1998. Future developments include implementing an Early Release option, where selected articles will be released on the site 3 to 4 weeks after acceptance. We thank you all for your collective efforts and contributions to the field of surgical oncology that is reflected with such great stature among our medical and scientific colleagues.
Received for publication November 13, 2002.
Accepted for publication November 13, 2002.
REFERENCE
- Cody HS, Fey J, Akhurst T, et al. Complementarity of blue dye and isotope in sentinel node localization for breast cancer: univariate and multivariate analysis of 966 procedures. Ann Surg Oncol 2001; 8: 13–9.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
