RESTON, Va.—The quality and influence of SNM’s Journal of Nuclear Medicine climbed this past year, placing the society’s flagship publication in fourth place among 85 nuclear medicine, radiology and medical imaging journals, according to results from the Thomson Institute for Scientific Information’s Journal Citation Report.
JNM is ranked in the top 5 percent of all imaging journals based on its impact factor, which rose to 4.986 from 4.684 in 2005, placing it ahead of other imaging journals such as Human Brain Mapping, Seminars in Nuclear Medicine, the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging and Radiotherapy and Oncology. The impact factor is a direct measure of the number of times material in a particular journal is cited in relation to the total number of manuscripts a journal publishes. It is a way to estimate the frequency with which an average article in a journal is cited.
“The Journal of Nuclear Medicine’s high impact factor confirms that it is very well respected by physicians and researchers and is the place for authors to submit important molecular imaging and nuclear medicine clinical, translational and clinical research findings,” said SNM President Alexander J. McEwan, who speaks for the society’s 16,000 physician, technologist and scientist members. “The high journal impact factor and manuscript submission rate demonstrate that the scientific community values the quality of JNM articles,” he added.
“I want to emphasize that the achievements of JNM extend well beyond the publication of papers with favorable citation statistics,” said Heinrich R. Schelbert, JNM’s editor in chief. “JNM—the profession’s most important and influential international journal—delivers significant, scholarly, peer-reviewed scientific and clinical research,” noted the professor of molecular and medical pharmacology at the University of California at Los Angeles and the George V. Taplin professor at the university’s David Geffen School of Medicine. That research is now provided even faster since the society initiated publish ahead of print—publishing articles online in advance of the print version—and free, open access to full-text online articles 12 months after publication, he added. “I applaud the efforts of our editorial board members who identify those manuscripts worthy of publication, assist authors in publishing clear and succinct papers and provide readers with essential articles on molecular imaging and nuclear medicine,” said Schelbert.
JNM’s 2006 impact factor is its second highest rating in the past five years. During this time period, JNM has consistently remained in the top four of all nuclear medicine, radiology and medical imaging journals, has consistently achieved more than 14,000 annual citations and has averaged about 256 published articles each year. Other journals listed with JNM in the top four are Seminars in Radiation Oncology, Neuroimage and Radiology.
The Journal Citation Report also publishes an immediacy index for journals as an indicator of the speed with which citations to a specific journal appear in published literature. JNM’s immediacy index rose to 1.004, moving the journal to third place in its category. The total number of JNM citations grew to 14,605 for 2006.
One of the most important recent uses of the impact factor is in the process of academic evaluation. The impact factor is often used as a measure of the quality and influence of the journals in which researchers have been published. Impact factors also provide librarians with a tool to help them manage journal collections and make purchasing decisions. ISI has presented quantifiable statistical data to provide a systematic, objective way to evaluate the world’s leading journals and their impact and influence in the global research community for more than 45 years.
The Journal of Nuclear Medicine can be viewed online at http://jnm.snmjournals.org. SNM members who would like to know more about the journal may contact Susan Alexander, associate director, communications department, by sending an e-mail to salexand@snm.org or by calling (703) 326-1185. Print copies are available for $20 per copy by sending an e-mail to the SNM Service Center at servicecenter@snm.org or by calling (703) 326-1186. A yearly subscription to the journal is $243 for individuals and $483 for institutions. A free journal subscription is a benefit of SNM membership.
About SNM—Advancing Molecular Imaging and Therapy
SNM is an international scientific and professional organization of more than 16,000 members dedicated to promoting the science, technology and practical applications of molecular imaging and nuclear medicine to diagnose, manage and treat diseases in women, men and children. Founded more than 50 years ago, SNM continues to provide essential resources for health care practitioners and patients; publish the most prominent peer-reviewed journal in the field (the Journal of Nuclear Medicine); host the premier annual meeting for medical imaging; sponsor research grants, fellowships and awards; and train physicians, technologists, scientists, physicists, chemists and radiopharmacists in state-of-the-art imaging procedures and advances. SNM members have introduced—and continue to explore—biological and technological innovations in medicine that noninvasively investigate the molecular basis of diseases, benefiting countless generations of patients. SNM is based in Reston, Va.; additional information can be found online at http://www.snm.org.