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Navigating today’s success to prepare fortomorrow’s exploration

Donald Y. M. Leung, MD, PhD, Editor in Chief,a Nancy T. Hopper, BS, MA, Managing

Editor,a and Terrie DuHadway, Executive Publisherb Denver, Colo, and St Louis, Mo

Key words: Medical education, citation impact factor

STATE OF THE JOURNAL

It has been gratifying to track The Journal of Allergyand Clinical Immunology’s (JACI’s) path as the JACIhas established and held the position of the premier titleand number one source of information for researchersand clinicians in allergy and clinical immunology. In tan-dem with the improvement in presentation and contentover the last 8 years, the JACI’s citation impact factor(CIF) has increased in a steadily upward curve, with thelatest CIF climbing above the 7 landmark to 7.205 anda 5-year CIF of 11.304 (2004 Citation Index; JournalCitation Reports, published by Thomson Scientific).These data suggest that the JACI is receiving the bestwork from top experts and thought leaders in asthma,allergy, and clinical immunology. The medical and scien-tific communities are taking note. We bear in mind,though, that work is needed to maintain our standingand break new ground.

GOALS FOR THE FUTURE

It is important that we sustain our achievements andcontinue to progress, moving the JACI into areas ofnew exploration and wider audiences. We want to reacha greater geographic distribution of contributors andreviewers and to tap emerging centers of research. Toincrease the JACI’s effect, we are working to create anoptimal balance between the best scientific and mostclinically relevant articles. Each publication will havea take-home message to help clinicians advance thequality and effectiveness of their practices. We willcontinue our 2 cornerstone review series as an importantsource for updates on subject content in American Board

From athe Department of Pediatrics, National Jewish Medical and Research

Center, Denver, Colo; and bElsevier, Inc, St Louis, Mo.

Disclosure of potential conflict of interest: The authors have declared they have

no conflict of interest.

Reprint requests: Donald Y. M. Leung, MD, PhD, National Jewish Medical

and Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, 1400 Jackson St, K926i,

Denver, CO 80206. E-mail: leungd@njc.org.

J Allergy Clin Immunol 2006;117:753-5.

0091-6749/$32.00

� 2006 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology

doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2006.01.047

of Allergy and Immunology examinations, continuingmedical education opportunities, and maintenance ofAmerican Board of Allergy and Immunology and profes-sional certification. Strong effort will be given to broadenthe JACI’s content by vigorously involving the leadershipof all sections of the American Academy of Allergy,Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI). We will continu-ously expand the outreach of the JACI to related subspe-cialties and the media outlets that carry our knowledge intothe lay community.

SPOTLIGHT ON FEATURES

Many intelligent review articles with wide globalreach have appeared in the JACI. We call your attention toseveral that have contributed significantly to our field overthe last 2 years and have been highly cited (Table I). Thesewill figure in the calculation of our upcoming 2005 CIF.

We would also like to spotlight a few recent, mosthighly cited original articles. These articles were pub-lished in 2003, and with the 2 years it takes to adequatelyassess their effect on the field and their resulting citations,we now have data to determine our publications of greatestinterest. The top 5 from 2003 are listed in Table II.

The Editors’ Choice and Beyond Our Pages sections areconsistent favorites of the readership, who count on them foruseful summaries of cutting-edge work published in theJACI and other outstanding medical-scientific periodicals.Readers look forward, too, to colorful issues of AllergyArchives that parallel our monthly themes and providevaluable examples of pathology in allergy and immunology.

NOTABLE INNOVATIONS

We are proud of several innovations this year thatsupport our initiative to better meet the needs of ourreadership. These enhancements are designed to makethe JACI more relevant to your work and increasinglymore important to your research and clinical practices.

Abbreviations used

AAAAI: American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and

Immunology

CIF: Citation impact factor

JACI: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

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TABLE I. The JACI’s most highly cited review articles of 2003

Title Authors

Volume (issue)

and page nos.

No. of

citations

Airway remodeling in asthma: New insights Davies DE, Wicks J, Powell RM,

Puddicombe SM, Holgate ST

111 (2), 215-26 109

The role of T lymphocytes in the pathogenesis of asthma Larche M, Robinson DS, Kay AB 111 (3), 450-63 85

Update on glucocorticoid action and resistance Leung DYM, Bloom JW 111 (1), 3-22 69

Aspirin-induced asthma: Advances in pathogenesis,

diagnosis, and management

Szczeklik A, Stevenson DD 111 (5), 913-21 69

Tucson Children’s Respiratory Study: 1980 to present Taussig LM, Wright AL, Holberg CJ,

Halonen M, Morgan WJ, Martinez FD

111 (4), 661-75 66

TABLE II. The JACI’s most highly cited original articles of 2003

Title Authors

Volume (issue)

and page nos.

No. of

citations

Effect of probiotic Lactobacillus strains in children

with atopic dermatitis

Rosenfeldt V, Benfeldt E, Nielsen SD,

Michaelsen KF, Jeppesen DL,

Valerius NH, Paerregaard A

111 (2), 389-95 80

Induction of IL-101CD41CD251 T cells by grass

pollen immunotherapy

Francis JN, Till SJ, Durham SR 111 (6), 1255-61 66

Noninjection routes for immunotherapy Canonica GW, Passalacqua G 111 (3), 437-49 65

Prevalence of peanut and tree nut allergy in the United

States determined by means of a random digit

dial telephone survey: A 5-year follow-up study

Sicherer SH, Munoz-Furlong A,

Sampson HA

112 (6), 1203-7 55

Omalizumab, a recombinant humanized anti-IgE anti-

body, reduces asthma-related emergency room visits

and hospitalizations in patients with allergic asthma

Corren J, Casale T, Deniz Y,

Ashby M

111 (1), 87-90 53

A new series, Clinical Pearls, was launched in the JACIthis year. This monthly feature, written by distinguishedclinicians, will give personal, experience-based insightsinto the clinical management of patients with asthma orallergic disease and advice on a specific area of practice.

You might have already noticed an enhancement inthe table of contents. Original Articles and Letters to theEditor published in the JACI now display a capsulesummary beneath the title of each article, highlightingthe findings of the report. These thumbnail descriptionscan assist readers in identifying articles of high interestduring a rapid scan of the table of contents.

Abstracts of Original Articles have been expandedto give readers a better at-a-glance understanding of theclinical effect of the reported research. The abstracts nowinclude an additional heading and summary statementtitled ‘‘Clinical implications.’’ Authors are asked to adda succinct statement for this component, summarizingthe key concept of the report, as well as any diagnostic,therapeutic, or management implications of the article.

An honorary JACI Reviewer Board was introduced at the2006 AAAAI Annual Meeting last month in Miami Beach,Florida. This new Board supplements the elected EditorialBoard and consists of individuals recognized for expertise,notable activity as author and reviewer for the JACI, staturein the fields of allergy-immunology, and distinctive re-search and clinical work. A Board term is 2 years, with

opportunity for reappointment. Check the February 2006issue to view the list of charter members of this new Board.

NEW ONLINE FEATURES

The JACI’s online submission and review tool, EditorialManager, benefits from ongoing upgrades and keepsexcellent pace with the needs of authors, reviewers, andeditors. It provides easy, dependable worldwide access andefficient manuscript submission and tracking.

The JACI’s Web site sports a new look this year andimportant new features. Access to the online journal atwww.jacionline.org is included with AAAAI member andnonmember individual subscribers and can be directlyaccessed from the AAAAI Web site (www.aaaai.org).JACI online now features more robust and comprehensivesearching across the journal and in up to 400 other medicaland health sciences titles and Medline. E-mail alerts, suchas tables of contents, citations, saved searches, and articlesin press, can be requested for delivery directly to sub-scriber inboxes.

The editors and publisher, Elsevier, continue to work tooffer more effective tools for fast-tracking publications. Atthe JACI’s homepage (www.jacionline.org), the ‘‘Articlesin press’’ link presents final edited text of articles that areaccepted for publication but will not appear in print for

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several weeks. Articles in press are considered publishedas of the date they appear on the official Web publication.Authors can therefore cite their publication, and readerscan view the content long before an article is availablein print, a great resource for viewing the most currentresearch in the field.

UPCOMING ISSUES TO ANTICIPATE

The JACI has recently presented several effective themeissues. Their focus has centered on severe asthma, ana-phylaxis management, the implications of ‘‘black box’’warnings, and the interplay of diet, nutrition, and sleep onallergic and immunologic disease. We will continue thispopular theme format with future issues on microbialproducts, atopic dermatitis, rhinitis, aspirin sensitivity, andvaccines. These themes will follow the paths of innovationand progress as the JACI stays at the edge of the action inresearch and clinical practice (see Figure).

THANK YOU

Our journal has become outstanding through the dis-tinctive intellect, rigor, and enthusiasm of a unique circle

of persons. We want to express our appreciation for allwho help in our success and our admiration for theircompetence and unflagging energies. Thank you to oureditors, who so capably guide the focus and quality of ourcontent; the editorial office staff, who propel the editorialprocess with outstanding care and service; our reviewers,who selflessly contribute their expertise, which allowsus to winnow the very best research for publication; theAAAAI Board of Directors and staff, who support andcollaborate in meeting our goals; and our publishingstaff at Elsevier, who juggle challenges of technology,scheduling, and commerce with positive focus and goodhumor.

A special thank you also to our sponsors for theirgenerous support: Genentech and Novartis for CurrentReviews and Molecular Mechanisms and AlconLaboratories for the AAAAI Fellows in Training andProgram Directors program.

It is both satisfying and exciting for us to serve in anenvironment of such effective cooperation, stimulating prog-ress, and future promise. We have exhilarating work aheadand further success to anticipate.

Henry Ford (1863-1947) has said it well: ‘‘Comingtogether is a beginning. Keeping together is progress.Working together is success.’’