Annals of Palliative Medicine is now indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE)
On January 11, 2019, we learned from Clarivate Analytics (former Thomson Reuters Intellectual Property and Science Business) that Annals of Palliative Medicine has met the high bar for inclusion and has become indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE). Articles published since 2016 will be indexed. With this, Annals of Palliative Medicine is expected to have its first official impact factor by around June of 2019. Annals of Palliative Medicine is an open-access, international, peer-reviewed journal that aims to provide up-to-date information and professional support for health care providers in palliative medicine disciplines to improve the quality of life for patients and their families and caregivers (1).
This news of SCIE indexing builds on the terrific momentum of the journal, which became indexed in PubMed in early 2015 (2), has had articles published beginning in 2015 indexed in Scopus, the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature and includes selected scientific journals, books and conference proceedings, and has had articles published beginning in 2016 included in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), a multidisciplinary Citation Index that includes all areas of the scholarly literature of the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities (3). Inclusion in ESCI was an important step for Annals of Palliative Medicine since ESCI is a true Citation Index that allows users to track citation activity at the article and publication levels and for the content of Annals of Palliative Medicine to be discoverable and citable on Web of Science.
Inclusion in SCIE is a testament to the high quality of Annals of Palliative Medicine and a reflection of the esteem for which the journal is regarded. Annals of Palliative Medicine is increasingly being considered a premier outlet for original research and review articles in palliative oncology and palliative medicine. As we have become increasingly selective in our article acceptance rate, and as the journal has become more widely read and cited, Annals of Palliative Medicine continues its quest to become the premier source of scientific information and a tool for international collaboration within and throughout the palliative care community. The indexing in SCIE is an important step towards this goal.
Building on this important milestone, the year ahead for Annals of Palliative Medicine is quite bright. The journal more than doubled the number of times it was cited from 2016 to 2017, and it again double the citation number from 2017 to 2018, with similar rises in article downloads and website visits. I fully expect the number of citations will continue to rise significantly in 2019. We will continue to have regular contributions and columns in palliative radiotherapy, surgical palliative care, pain management, and ethics. We will also feature several cutting-edged focused issues in 2019 on such diverse topics as cancer cachexia, palliative care nursing, the role of radiation therapy in palliative oncology, the challenges and pitfalls in early palliative care, and integration of palliative care into oncology. Annals of Palliative Medicine will continue to serve as the official journal of the Society for Palliative Radiation Oncology (SPRO) (4) and is endorsed by Public Health Palliative Care International (PHPCI).
For coverage of the cost of publishing Annals of Palliative Medicine based on the international practice, an Article Processing Charges (APC) policy was initiated as of January 11, 2019, when the journal became indexed in SCIE. The introduction of APC covers immediate, worldwide open access to the full article text, ensuring maximum viewing of published manuscripts and allowing other investigators to read and build on the findings of Annals of Palliative Medicine authors without restriction. APC also covers developing and maintaining electronic tools for peer review and publication, preparation in various formats for print and online publication, securing inclusion in SCIE and PubMed, and enabling electronic citation in other journals that are available electronically. This is a necessary step to allow further support for Annals of Palliative Medicine that will enable it to develop into an even higher-impact journal. More details are available at: http://apm.amegroups.com/pages/view/article-processing-charges.
On behalf of the editorial team, I would like express my sincere appreciation for the enthusiastic and vigorous support and contributions from all the Editorial Board members, guest editors, reviewers, authors and readers. This milestone of SCIE would not have been possible without the efforts of the nearly seven dozen Editorial Board members and the dedicated Editorial Office team of Annals of Palliative Medicine, as well as the increasingly high quality of article submitted to the journal. I encourage investigators and clinicians alike to submit their articles pertinent to palliative medicine from fields such as medicine, oncology, surgery, nutrition, public health, human genetics, basic sciences, education, sociology, and nursing to Annals of Palliative Medicine.
More news about this announcement is available on the Annals of Palliative Medicine website at http://apm.amegroups.com/announcement/view/3682.
Acknowledgements
None.
Footnote
Conflicts of Interest: The author has no conflicts of interest to declare.
References
- Simone CB 2nd. Current focus and future advances for Annals of Palliative Medicine. Ann Palliat Med 2014;3:37-8. [PubMed]
- Simone CB 2nd. Annals of Palliative Medicine is indexed in PubMed. Ann Palliat Med 2015;4:46-7. [PubMed]
- Simone CB 2nd. Annals of Palliative Medicine has become indexed in Emerging Sources Citation Index Web of Science and Scopus. Ann Palliat Med 2016;5:325-6. [Crossref] [PubMed]
- Wei R, Simone CB 2nd, Lutz S. Society for palliative radiation oncology: founding, vision, and report from the Second Annual Meeting. Ann Palliat Med 2016;5:74-5. [PubMed]
