With this issue, we are launching a new feature called “Editors’ Note,” which will be used for occasional announcements of general interest to our readers.
First Impact Factor for the JABFM
The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine (JABFM) has received its first “Journal Impact Factor” from the Institute of Scientific Information’s Journal Citation Reports (JCR). In 2003, the JABFM approached JCR about inclusion in its annual report of bibliometric indicators, and for the past 2 years, they have been gathering data on the journal toward that end. The impact factor is the citation-based indicator of the “scientific impact” of journals1 often consulted by authors, editors, publishers, librarians, and researchers.
A journal’s impact factor for any given year is defined as the number of citations to any items in the journal over the 2 previous years divided by the number of “source” articles published in that journal over the same period. The JABFM’s impact factor in 2005 was 1.636, derived with the following formula: 
JCR defines source articles as substantive scientific articles such as original research articles and review articles. The greater the number of citations to any items in a journal, the greater the impact factor. Journals that routinely publish abstracts, letters, news stories, editorials, and opinions are advantaged because citations to these are counted in the numerator, but not in the denominator.2,3 For more information about the meaning and limitations of journal impact factors, please see the related article in this issue.4
Of course, the question is, “What is a good impact factor?” The basic science and weekly general interest journals tend to have the highest impact factors. Primary care journals have relatively low impact factors, because they are often used by practicing clinicians rather than publishing scientists. A comparison of the 2005 rank and impact factors of some primary care journals in the JCR’s category of “Medicine, General and Internal” is shown in Table 1.
Comparison of the 2005 Rank and Impact Factors in the JCR category of “Medicine, General and Internal”
Bronze Award for Best Signed Editorial
Editors Neale, Schwartz, and Bowman received the 2006 Bronze Award for “Best Signed Editorial” from the American Society of Health Care Publication Editors (ASHPE) in recognition of outstanding editorial achievement for our 2005 article “Conflict of Interest: Can We Minimize Its Influence in the Biomedical Literature?”5
The annual ASHPE competition covers a variety of categories, including Best Original Research, Best Case History, Best How-to Article, Best Special Report, etc. JABFM authors are encouraged to submit their 2006 publications for consideration in the next competition. The deadline is Feb 1, 2007. More information is available on the ASPHE website at http://www.ashpe.org/AwardsCompetition.htm.
New JABFM Online Features
In May 2005, we added three new features to JABFM Online, briefly described below.
E-mail This Article to a Friend
From each JABFM article there is now a quick and easy way to share the article with a colleague or friend, along with a personal note. Simply click on the “e-mail this article to a friend” tab on the right navigation bar under “Services.” An example is found at: http://www.jabfm.org/cgi/content/full/19/4/398.
RSS Feeds
RSS Feeds of the current and three most recent issues are now available on the JABFM website, allowing content to come to you automatically via your computer or PDA. Feeds include an article’s title, citation, and abstract. RSS feeds are an easy and convenient way to stay up to date on JABFM content, without having to initiate a search. For more information, please see http://www.jabfm.org/rss/.
Expedited International Access (EID)
EID provides faster access to JABFM Online from other countries, including Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom. EID is available by clicking on http://intl.jabfm.org, located at the bottom of the center content well on the JABFM home page.
Calls for Papers for Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development
The Council of Science Editors is organizing a Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development in October 2007. Science journals throughout the world will simultaneously publish papers on this topic of worldwide interest—to raise awareness, stimulate interest, and stimulate research into poverty and human development. JABFM authors of papers for consideration for this issue should submit their article via the Rapid Review portal on the “Journal” home page (www.jabfm.org) by May 1, 2007.
Respectfully submitted,
Notes
See related article on page 633.
Jump to section
Related Articles
Cited By...
- No citing articles found.