https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1030-5903
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, it leaves its mark on the publishing world. The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine (JSCM) is among the journals that saw an increase in submissions during the lockdown years of 2020 and 2021.
Pauses in research studies gave sidelined scientists time to write, and busy clinicians were motivated to share their knowledge of the impact of COVID-19 on their patients with spinal cord injury. In 2022, the flow of submissions began to slow, but remained above pre-pandemic levels.
In 2020 and 2021, JSCM also saw substantial increases in other journal activity and metrics. Subscriptions rose globally and full-text downloads went up by 70 percent, reaching more than 105,000 annually. The 2-year and 5-year Impact Factors, which measure how often a journal’s articles are cited in peer-reviewed journals, also increased, to 2.040 and 2.511, respectively, according to 2021 data released by the Journal Citation Reports. The CiteScore reached a new high of 3.2.
Five articles published in JSCM have been downloaded more than 1,000 times,Citation1–5 and five have been cited more than ten times.Citation5,Citation6–9 These data show which articles are of interest to our readers as well as researchers studying injuries and dysfunction of the spinal cord. Pandemic-related topics are among the current top-downloadedCitation2,Citation5 and top-cited articles.Citation5,Citation7 Altmetric scores provide real-time article-level feedback about recent publications that are topics of discussion in news items, blogs, and social media platforms. The top articles by Altmetric scores span a range of topics, including outcomes of firearm-related injuries,Citation10 a trial combining traditional Chinese medicine with neurorehabilitation (SATURN study),Citation11 and regenerative rehabilitation research for shoulder pain in wheelchair users.Citation12,Citation13
We remind our readers that JSCM is the official journal of the Academy of Spinal Cord Injury Professionals (ASCIP). Membership in the Academy includes a subscription to JSCM, as well as other valuable benefits. Members access Journal content on Taylor & Francis online through their member portal on the ASCIP website (academyscipro.org).
From JSCM’s homepage (https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/yscm20), users can activate alerts for New Content (when a new issue posts online) and Latest Articles (when individual articles are first published online). Of special interest to authors are Citation Alerts, which can be activated for a particular article from the article’s page by clicking on Subscribe to citation updates.
Providing editorial content that meets the needs of our readership and features new avenues of research is a team effort. JSCM’s success can be attributed to the dedication and commitment of our Editorial Board, ASCIP’s Board of Governance, and the association management services of The Firm, Inc.
We encourage our readers to share their expertise with the greater community of spinal cord injury professionals through the Journal. To learn more about ways to contribute to JSCM, contact the Assistant Editor at [email protected].
References
- Hitzig SL, Jeyathevan G, Farahani F, Noonan VK, Linassi G, Routhier F, Jetha A, McCauley D, Mohammad Alavinia S, Omidvar M, et al. Development of community participation indicators to advance the quality of spinal cord injury rehabilitation: SCI-High Project. J Spinal Cord Med 2021;44(sup1):S79–S93. doi: 10.1080/10790268.2021.1955204.
- Hearn JH, Rohn EJ, Monden KR. Isolated and anxious: a qualitative exploration of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals living with spinal cord injury in the UK. J Spinal Cord Med 2022;45(5):691–699. doi: 10.1080/10790268.2021.1949562.
- Jo HJ, Richardson MSA, Oudega M, Perez MA. Paired corticospinal-motoneuronal stimulation and exercise after spinal cord injury. J Spinal Cord Med 2021;44(sup1):S23–S27. doi: 10.1080/10790268.2021.1970908.
- Murphy C, Thomas FP. Evidence-based care for individuals with spinal cord injury: role of the Clinical Practice Guidelines. J Spinal Cord Med 2021;44(4):511–512. doi: 10.1080/10790268.2021.1943291.
- Marco-Ahulló A, Montesinos-Magraner L, González L-M, Morales J, Bernabéu-García JA, García-Massó X. Impact of COVID-19 on the self-reported physical activity of people with complete thoracic spinal cord injury full-time manual wheelchair users. J Spinal Cord Med 2022;45(5):755–759. doi: 10.1080/10790268.2020.1857490.
- Tate DG, Wheeler T, Lane GI, Forchheimer M, Anderson KD, Biering-Sorensen F, Cameron AP, Santacruz BG, Jakeman LB, Kennelly MJ, et al. Recommendations for evaluation of neurogenic bladder and bowel dysfunction after spinal cord injury and/or disease. J Spinal Cord Med 2020;43(2):141–164. doi: 10.1080/10790268.2019.1706033.
- Garg RK, Paliwal VK, Gupta A. Spinal cord involvement in COVID-19: a review. J Spinal Cord Med 2021. doi: 10.1080/10790268.2021.1888022.
- Beck L, Veith D, Linde M, Gill M, Calvert J, Grahn P, Garlanger K, Husmann D, Lavrov I, Sayenko D, et al. Impact of long-term epidural electrical stimulation enabled task-specific training on secondary conditions of chronic paraplegia in two humans. J Spinal Cord Med 2021;44(5):800–805. doi: 10.1080/10790268.2020.1739894.
- Alashram AR, Annino G, Mercuri NB. Changes in spasticity following functional electrical stimulation cycling in patients with spinal cord injury: A systematic review. J Spinal Cord Med 2022;45(1):10–23. doi: 10.1080/10790268.2020.1763713.
- Pruente J, Heinemann AW, Zebracki K, Mukherjee S, Gaebler-Spira D. Adult outcomes for children who sustained firearm-related spinal cord injuries. J Spinal Cord Med 2021. doi: 10.1080/10790268.2021.1943250.
- Kumar R, Htwe O, Baharudin A, Rhani SA, Ibrahim K, Nanra JS, Gsangaya M, Harun H, Kandar K, Balan M, et al. Spinal cord injury – assessing tolerability and use of combined rehabilitation and NeuroAiD (SATURN) study – primary results of an exploratory study. J Spinal Cord Med 2022. doi: 10.1080/10790268.2022.2067972.
- Hogaboom N, Malanga G, Cherian C, Dyson-Hudson T. A pilot study to evaluate micro-fragmented adipose tissue injection under ultrasound guidance for the treatment of refractory rotator cuff disease in wheelchair users with spinal cord injury. J Spinal Cord Med 2021;44(6):886–895. doi: 10.1080/10790268.2021.1903140.
- Murphy C, Thomas FP. Applying the principles of regenerative medicine to spinal cord injury rehabilitation: the Ernest Bors, MD Award for Scientific Development. J Spinal Cord Med 2022;45(5):649–650. doi: 10.1080/10790268.2022.2107358.