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EDITORIAL
Institute of Physiology
Humboldt University, Charité
Tucholskystr. 2, 10117 Berlin, Germany
E-mail: pontus.persson{at}charite.de
Now that this editorial team is entering its last year at the helm of this high-quality journal, it is a great pleasure to briefly update our readers regarding the Journal's progress. Various statistics from 2005 have been trickling in, and although they are generally encouraging, it is perhaps the feedback that we are receiving from our readers and contributors that is the most reassuring.
First for the hard numbers. For better or worse, the Impact Factor remains one of the most widely quoted methods of rating journals. And although we do not like to place too much importance on these numbers, that fact that our Impact Factor has been steadily rising since 2001 can only be taken as a promising result. From a level of 2.4 in 2001, we have risen to 3.8 according to the ISI Journal Citation reports for 2005, an increase of around 60%. Although this is an imperfect and incomplete way of assessing the performance of a Journal, we are always pleased to see improvements wherever they may be.
Perhaps looking at our submission numbers is a more pertinent form of ascertaining whether our Journal has remained relevant and is still considered a valuable publishing organ for scientists. And there, too, we feel encouraged by our results. Although there has been a certain amount of fluctuation in submissions, 2005 was by far one of our strongest years in recent memory with an 8% increase of submissions over 2004, which was already a banner year. We like to offer our authors the most appropriate and responsive forum in which to present their work; and we hope to provide the greatest service and most rapid methods of publication. Barely a week is required before an accepted manuscript is published and citable as an Article in Press. The prompt publication process provides our authors the benefit of rapid dissemination of their research and results.
One aspect of enticing scientists is our attempts at offering the widest number of types of manuscripts that the authors can use to best present their findings. Whether it is in a Letter to the Editor, an Invited Review, a Call for Papers manuscript, or an original article, we hope to provide authors with the greatest number of publication options. As can be seen from our Invited Review series and the overwhelming response we often have to our Calls for Papers, I am hopeful that we are accomplishing this goal. Our very important Call for Papers series has continued this year with three new topics: "Sex Differences in Renal and Cardiovascular Function: Physiology and Pathophysiology," "Regulation of Glomerular Function by Podocytes," and "Regulation of Cardiac Muscle Contraction." We are also reaping the fruits of our 2005 Calls with special issues coming out in July, August, and September filled with Call manuscripts from our topics dealing with "Neurohypophyseal Hormones," "Sex and Gender Differences in Pain and Inflammation," and "Physiology and Pharmacology of Temperature Regulation." We are very proud of these Calls, and extend our heartiest thanks to the guest editors who made them such a success.
In addition to our Calls, we are very happy with the Invited Reviews we have been able to present this past year. From Gulbins and Lan (1) contribution, "Physiological and pathophysiological aspects of ceramide" in January 2006, to Loutzenhiser et al.'s (2) piece, "Renal autoregulation: new perspectives regarding the protective and regulatory roles of the underlying mechanisms," which appeared in May 2006, to the Pryor et al. (3) "It's a Gas Man!" published in this issue, all have greatly contributed to the quality of the Journal.
In 2005, we saw an acceptance rate of 37% when only the original articles are taken into account. A regional breakdown of the acceptance rate (Fig. 1) shows that, as with the submission rate, North America accounts for the greater portion of accepted articles; however, the balance has begun to tilt much more in the favor of international manuscripts, with Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific holding their ground proportionally to submission rates.
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