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Volume 7, Issue 1 , Page 6, January 2009

CGH Receives High Impact Factor

published online 25 November 2008.

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The year 2008 was momentous for Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology (CGH)—the journal received its first impact factor. After only 5 years of publication, CGH received a remarkable score of 5.465, debuting at a rank of eight out of 50 gastroenterology- and hepatology-related journals. This tremendous success reflects the hard work of the inaugural editorial team led by Dr Michael Camilleri and his colleagues from the Mayo Clinic.

What is the impact factor and why is it important? The impact factor is a measure of how often papers are cited in the medical literature. Specifically, CGH's debut impact factor was calculated by dividing the number of citations to the journal in 2007 by the number of articles published in the journal in 2005 and 2006. Although experts have criticized the usefulness and validity of the impact factor in recent years, the metric continues to impart prestige to a journal as well as rank it among its competitors, making it a useful guide for authors wishing to submit their articles to top-tiered publications. Irrespective of the impact factor, the Birmingham teams strives to publish material that is pertinent and salient to our multiple readership constituencies, including trainees, nutritionists, pediatricians, academic gastroenterologists, and community physicians as articulated in an earlier editorial.¹

The strength of our Journal is reflected in the ever-increasing number of submissions (Figure 1). In 2008 more than 1000 papers were submitted. This submission growth is a remarkable achievement for such a young journal. The alimentary tract category receives the highest number of submissions: of original submissions in 2007, 67% were categorized as alimentary tract. Of those submissions, 36% were ultimately published. We continue to look for high-quality hepatology papers and believe that those related to treatment are extremely clinically applicable. In addition to original articles, we have a robust offering of special content including Education Practice, Endoscopy Corner, Images of the Month, and State-of-the-Art Reviews. Our newest offering, Clinical Imaging, provides information on an area that is rapidly evolving and is highly germane to patient care.

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Figure 1.
Number of article submissions throughout the past 6 years.

CGH continues to appeal to an international audience, a goal that is also shared by the American Gastroenterological Association, with nearly 20% of its membership residing overseas. As shown in Figure 2, almost half of our manuscripts submitted in 2007 were from outside the United States, a trend that has remained stable since the inception of the Journal. We recognize the strength of our international colleagues as reflected in the percentage of accepted manuscripts from abroad (36%).

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Figure 2.
Breakdown of domestic vs foreign submissions to the journal.

So what does the future hold? Our board will be in place until 2012. We will continue to emphasize immediate clinical relevance, quick turn around regardless of whether the decision is positive or negative, and the publication of papers which we believe have the right chemistry for our Journal and the reading audience. We will continue to rely heavily on our extraordinarily helpful editorial board and the many reviewers who unselfishly continue to help us choose the best material for CGH. We plan to index accepted articles in PubMed for faster dissemination of critical research, and in early 2009 we have offer monthly podcasts of the most compelling published articles, making it easy and convenient for you to stay apprised of Journal content. We have also introduced an online editor who will develop an enhanced Web presence for CGH that is user friendly and innovative.

As always, we encourage reader feedback and recommendations. We have enjoyed serving our constituents and look forward to publishing the best information in clinical gastroenterology and hepatology.

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