Before I provide a summary of this year's accomplishments, I would like to take a moment to thank all of you who contributed papers and provided reviews in the past year. The success of this journal is ultimately the product of everyone's commitment to the journal. I want to thank the Managing Editor, Nancy Dewhirst, for her passion and dedication to the success of this journal. In addition, in this past year, we reorganized the Board to include three Senior Editors, Elizabeth Repasky, Olav Dahl and Y. Tanaka have ably served these roles, representing the three major sponsoring societies for the journal. I thank them for their support and look forward to expanding their contributions in the coming year.
The impact factor for the journal was 1.87 in 2005, which is the highest it has been since the journal inception. This doubles the impact factor of 0.9 that we experienced when I assumed the position of Senior Editor for North America, approximately 10 years ago. The current impact factor places our journal at 85/126 journals ranked in the category of ‘Oncology’, and 38/85 in the category of ‘Radiology/Nuclear Medicine/Therapeutic Radiology’. This is quite respectable for a specialty journal. It is important to recognize, however, that the impact factor is expected to climb higher in the coming years as a result of a number of initiatives undertaken by the Editorial Board as described below.
As a basis for comparison, the 2005 impact factors for Cancer Research, British Journal of Cancer, International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology and Physics, Radiation Research and Acta Oncologica were 7.66, 4.46, 4.46, 2.60 and 1.86, respectively. Several initiatives in the past few years have contributed to the rise in impact factor.
The journal manuscript submission and review process was first made available on-line in August, 2006. This change has greatly facilitated the review process. Since we transitioned to online review, the average turn around time for review has dropped below a month, at 26 days. The average time from submission to final decision is less than 50 days. The rapid turn around time is an advantage for authors.
In 2006, we initiated the Editor's Awards, for the best papers in the fields of Physics/Engineering, Biology and Medicine from young investigators. The Awards last year went to three very deserving scientists, Petra Kok (Physics/Engineering), Farzan Siddiqui (Biology) and Michail Plotkin (Clinical). Competition for these awards has risen significantly in this past year, with well over 30 papers submitted for consideration. As a reminder, the awards consist of a cash prize, free full membership in the Hyperthermia Society of choice for one year and full recognition in the journal. Details on this initiative can be found at the journal website, under Instructions to Authors, http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/02656736.asp
Special issues. In the past several years, the journal has published special issues that highlight collections of papers on a common theme. We have found that papers in these special issues are among the most highly cited in our journal. Importantly, they also serve as a catalyst to bring in manuscript submissions from new authors who might have been unfamiliar with our journal previously. Three new special issues will be published this coming year. Here are some examples of past special issues.
2007–Special issue: High intensity focused ultrasound. Guest editor: Gail ter Haar
2006–Special issue: Educational symposium on hyperthermia 2005. Guest editor: Valeria Milani
2005–Special issue: Special topic workshop–Thermal medicine, heat shock proteins and cancer. Guest editors: Peter Corry and Mark Dewhirst
2005–Special issue: Non-invasive thermometry for thermotherapy. Guest editors: Gerard van Rhoon and Peter Wust
2005–Special issue: Evolving connections between molecular chaperones and neuronal function. Guest Editor: Stuart Calderwood
2004–Special issue: Thermal ablation therapy. Guest editors: Paul Stauffer and Nahum Goldberg
2002–Special issue: Effects of hyperthermia on immunological function. Guest editors: Elizabeth Repasky and Rolf Issels
Modernization of the journal format. This past year, the journal underwent significant reformatting, going to a larger page size and a cover that features data from a paper selected from that issue. This cover is coveted, because the paper selected for this recognition is available free on-line to anyone, even without subscription. Also, the selection brings prestige to the author.
We welcome suggestions for other special issues from our readership. Please forward any suggestions to me or any of the other journal editors and your requests will be considered.
The impact of all of these initiatives has been felt in the editorial office. Last year, we received 72 papers for review, which was a record. This year, the number has almost doubled. Thus far in 2007, we have received 92 original articles, 22 reviews (for special issues), five letters to the editor and 3 hot topic papers. This growth is truly phenomenal and we hope that it is sustained over the coming year.
We encourage suggestions and criticisms from our readership. It is our goal to increase the visibility of the applications of hyperthermia for treatment of human diseases and to understand the consequences of thermal exposure on cellular, tissue, organ and whole organism function. Your thoughts on how to accomplish this goal are welcome.
Mark W. Dewhirst, DVM PhD
Editor-in-Chief