In the first issue of ‘The Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation’ (SJCLI) it was stated that ‘The scientific material which will be published in the journal must be closely associated with clinical research and must be based on laboratory investigations’. This premise has to a large extent been fulfilled during all 70 years. SJCLI has been an important link between clinical research, basic research and laboratory medicine in the Nordic countries as well as internationally. SJCLI has in particular been important for the scientific development of clinical chemistry in the Nordic countries. It has often been said that the journal is the most successful example of good cooperation within the field of clinical chemistry between these countries.
As for many successful stories, the history of SJCLI started by an informal discussion in-between sessions and at the dinner table during a conference in the mid-fourties. The idea of establishing an international journal for clinical chemistry was discussed formally for the first time at ‘The II Nordic Congress in Clinical Chemistry’ in 1947, but there was no general enthusiasm for the plan at that time, mainly due to financial concerns. A group of colleagues did however manage to raise the necessary amount of money from governmental sources, scientific societies, industries, and they even donated private money in order to establish a foundation (Medisinsk Fysiologisk Forenings Forlag) with the only purpose of publishing SJCLI. Today SJCLI is one of the few scientific journals not owned by a publishing company and is thus financially independent. SJCLI was the very first international medical journal with Editorial Office located in Norway. The first Managing Editor was Svein Sveinsson, followed by Lorentz Eldjarn, Oddvar Stokke and Tor-Arne Hagve. They held the position for 18, 13, 18 and 10 years respectively. Today’s Managing Editor is Jens Petter Berg.
SJCLI is edited by the Nordic Society of Clinical Chemistry. The editorial work is organized at three levels: The Editorial Office (Editorial Secretary), Editors and the Managing Editor. There are two-three Editors from each of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, selected by the national societies of clinical chemistry with much emphasize on covering most of the various scientific fields of clinical chemistry and clinical physiology. Eight issues are being published each year. Current Impact factor is approximately 1.5. All articles accepted in SJCLI are immediately available electronically in full text. All articles published from the very first issue in 1949 until today are available electronically on https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/iclb20.
The number of manuscripts submitted for publication in SJCLI was doubled from 2005 to 2009. Similar increases were observed in other journals and were mainly due to an increased number of manuscripts from large countries with an increasing scientific production, such as China and India. The increase may also to some extent have been due to the introduction of an electronic handling system 2006. The last ten years the annual number of submitted manuscripts has been fairly stable.
During the years the Editorial Board has been involved in several other activities than the routinely editing of the journal. Editors do have an obvious responsibility to improve the standard of scientific writing and traditionally their contributions are related to the peer review process, giving advices on how to improve both the presentation of the scientific content as well as the writing and the style of the manuscript. The Editorial Board of SJCLI has for many years been involved as lecturers in various post-graduate courses and also published short articles focusing on specific challenges within the art of scientific writing.
SJCLI has the last twelve years arranged an extensive course in scientific writing each second year. The course is organized for four days, both as lectures and work in groups, at a remote location in the high mountains of Norway.
The main challenge of the participants is to write a manuscript based on given data from an evaluation of the analytical performance of a new instrument. Each group of participants write a complete manuscript based on the same data resulting in three to four manuscripts.
In order to give the participants experience not only in writing a manuscript, but also in the publishing process, the various manuscripts are merged to one which is subsequently submitted as a regular paper for publication in SJCLI. The participants receive copies of all correspondence related to the reviewing process and all have equal opportunities to involve themselves in the revision process of the manuscript.
Since 2010 a prize competition has been connected to SJCLI. The former Managing Editor of SJCLI, Lorentz Eldjarn donated a significant sum of money dedicated to a prize for the best manuscripts published in SJCLI. ‘The Lorentz Eldjarn Prize Competition for Best Publication’ is awarded each second year to the first author of the best article published in SJCLI during the five years proceeding the prize year. The twenty most cited articles during the actual five-year period are pre-selected (by the number of citations) for further evaluation by a Prize Committee. The Prize Committee nominates three of the pre-selected articles to be presented at the forthcoming Nordic Congress in Clinical Chemistry, especially focusing on the scientific impact of the study on the development within the actual field of research.
What about the future? Different from other similar journals, SJCLI is owned by a non-profit foundation and therefore has an unusual freedom related to both the editorial activity as well as to practical issues. The economy is sound, the number of manuscripts received for possible publication is stable, the editorial work is well organized, and the Editorial Board is represented by competent and enthusiastic people.
Taken together, SJCLI will for sure continue in the service of clinical chemistry in the years to come.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.