The November 2022 issue of the Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (JAALAS) volume 61 and the December 2022 issue of Comparative Medicine (CM) volume 72 mark the end of another year for the AALAS journals. As always, we thank our talented and conscientious support team: graphic artists Brenda Johnson and Zara Garza, scientific editors Amy Frazier and Ashley Vaughn, and editorial production coordinator, Alison Brown. This team continues to sustain a timely flow of professionally presented information through the entire process from manuscript submission to publication. We also thank members of the Editorial Review Board (ERB) for their support in providing timely thorough reviews and solid feedback and suggestions to improve the journals.
Publication statistics for the journals remain relatively steady (Tables 1 and 2). Acceptance rates in 2022 were 40% for CM and 67% for JAALAS, similar to those of previous years. The intervals between submission and the first and final decisions on manuscripts were 4 and 6 wk, respectively, for CM and 5 and 10 wk, respectively, for JAALAS. These represent a considerable reduction in review time for both journals as compared with 2021, perhaps because of less interference from COVID-related factors for both authors and reviewers. The processing times from acceptance and submission to online publication were approximately 13 and 19 wk for CM and 13 and 22 wk for JAALAS. These durations are considerably shorter than they were in 2021, probably due at least in part to our new workflow in which articles undergo tooling, editing, and online publication as soon as possible after acceptance, rather than our previous practice of delaying that process until preparation of the issue to which the article was assigned. Articles are now assigned to issues in order of completed preparation.
Table 1:
Year of Publication | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2202 | |
Total submissions | 167 | 136 | 155 | 140 | 129 | 142 | 119 | 117 | 112 | 128 |
International submissions | 88 | 67 | 85 | 59 | 73 | 71 | 58 | 71 | 64 | 79 |
Rejected | 72 | 75 | 71 | 54 | 62 | 65 | 61 | 77 | 62 | 71 |
Withdrawn | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Transferred to JAALAS | 23 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 15 | 14 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 5 |
Total R-W-T | 101 | 89 | 88 | 69 | 80 | 80 | 70 | 84 | 65 | 76 |
Accepted manuscripts | 64 | 45 | 72 | 53 | 58 | 52 | 59 | 27 | 46 | 48 |
Total accepted and rejected | 136 | 120 | 143 | 107 | 120 | 117 | 120 | 104 | 108 | 119 |
Acceptance rate | 47% | 38% | 50% | 50% | 48% | 44% | 49% | 26% | 43% | 40% |
Manuscripts printed | 60 | 58 | 59 | 62 | 60 | 57 | 54 | 55 | 45 | 41 |
Total pages printed | 548 | 516 | 552 | 512 | 540 | 502 | 578 | 550 | 520 | 420 |
Manuscript pages printed | 542 | 506 | 545 | 502 | 447 | 435 | 521 | 487 | 482 | 388 |
Submission to 1st decision (wk) | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Submission to final decision (wk) | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 6 |
Acceptance to online (wk) | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 23 | 24 | 10 | 13 |
Submission to online (wk) | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 29 | 30 | 18 | 19 |
Impact factor (2 y) | NA | 0.74 | 1.00 | 0.83 | 0.59 | 0.70 | 1.07 | 0.98 | 1.57 | NA |
Impact factor (5 y) | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 1.35 | 1.59 | NA |
Table 2:
Year of Publication | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2202 | |
Total submissions | 179 | 186 | 187 | 162 | 163 | 44 | 170 | 160 | 135 | 120 |
International submissions | 74 | 74 | 81 | 60 | 64 | 62 | 70 | 55 | 59 | 49 |
Rejected | 80 | 62 | 62 | 60 | 50 | 43 | 60 | 54 | 36 | 27 |
Withdrawn | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
Transferred to CM | 17 | 25 | 31 | 6 | 19 | 23 | 17 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
Total R-W-T | 100 | 91 | 98 | 96 | 72 | 67 | 79 | 81 | 64 | 56 |
Accepted manuscripts | 80 | 92 | 75 | 75 | 77 | 84 | 74 | 90 | 67 | 54 |
Total accepted and rejected | 160 | 154 | 137 | 135 | 127 | 127 | 134 | 144 | 103 | 81 |
Acceptance rate | 50% | 60% | 55% | 56% | 61% | 66% | 55% | 62% | 65% | 67% |
Manuscripts printed | 70 | 75 | 82 | 90 | 82 | 68 | 76 | 78 | 81 | 66 |
Total pages printed | 816 | 742 | 820 | 844 | 807 | 737 | 828 | 749 | 708 | 601 |
Manuscript pages printed | 465 | 512 | 581 | 590 | 581 | 517 | 559 | 618 | 650 | 544 |
Submission to 1st decision (wk) | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
Submission to final decision (wk) | 8 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 14 | 10 |
Acceptance to online (wk) | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 24 | 20 | 20 | 13 |
Submission to online (wk) | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 32 | 33 | 34 | 23 |
Impact factor ( 2 yr) | NA | 1.12 | 0.91 | 1/20 | 1.22 | 1.02 | 1.24 | 1.23 | 1.71 | NA |
Impact factor (5 yr) | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 2.07 | 1.81 | NA |
Although we are trying to further reduce the submission-to-online interval in 2023, some delays are in the hands of authors, who may take considerable time to make corrections or require a second round of editing due to unanswered queries. We therefore ask for and indeed depend on timely responses from editors, reviewers and authors to speed the review and publication processes. However, our calculated average intervals for all 4 measures (submission to first decision, submission to second decision, acceptance to online, and submission to online) are undoubtedly skewed upward due outliers (authors and reviewers who do not respond in a timely manner). The data needed to confirm this possibility is not readily available in our databases and would be difficult for us to obtain.
This year is the first in which both journals had both 2- and 5-y impact factors (IF) that were greater than 1. The 2021 2- and 5-y impact factors were, respectively, 1.57 and 1.59 for CM and 1.71 and 1.81 for JAALAS. The 2022 IF are not yet available, but now we can look toward 2 as a goal. IF is calculated as the ratio of the total number of citations a journal receives in a given year, divided by the total number of citable items published in the 2 previous years, or, for the 5-y IF, divided by the total number of citable items published in the previous 5 y. So, for example, if a journal has 1,000 citations in 2000 and published a total of 50 articles per year in each of the preceding 5 years, the 2-y IF would be 1,000÷100 (10) and the 5-y IF would be 1,000÷250, or 4. In general, the 2-y IF indicates immediacy of interest, and the 5-y IF indicates duration of interest. Beginning in 2022, citable items will include online content, even if that content has not yet been formally published. This change will probably reduce future impact factors by increasing the denominator of the calculation (number of citable articles) to a greater degree than numerator (number of citations) due to the interval between online publication and preparation of articles citing that work.
Important items in the journals each year are guidelines, position statements, and recommendations developed by AALAS-member professional organizations. Publication of these documents in the journals supports their distribution to a large number of individuals and offers the additional advantage of easy downloading through Ingenta. The Overview articles and issues are also highlights every year (Table 3). In 2022 we published 4 overviews in JAALAS and 2 in CM. Overviews are valued highly and often cited by readers. We urge readers to consider writing and submitting these important articles, as they perform the valuable function of summarizing what is known about a topic in a concise and critical manner. We suggest that those of you who have presented oral overviews of various topics at AALAS national meetings consider converting your presentation into a published overview, as Associate Editor Sue Compton did for her AALAS presentation on PCR and RT-PCR in diagnosis and health monitoring. Doing this rewards speakers for the time invested in preparing the presentation and preserves the information for individuals who were unable to attend or who would like to refer back to the information and perhaps cite it.
Table 3:
JAALAS, volume 62 | Authors | Pages |
---|---|---|
Social buffering as a tool for improving rodent welfare | Denomme, Mason | 5–14 |
Toward global harmonization of training and certification of specialists in laboratory animal veterinary medicine | Hedenqvist, Baumans, Hanai, Yano, Yeom, Cheong, Song, Devan, Shakthi, Klein, Bailey | 15–20 |
Rodent thermoregulation: Considerations for tail-cuff blood pressure measurements | Bigiarelli | 406–411 |
A review of long-acting parenteral analgesics for mice and rats | Huss, Pacharinsak | 599–602 |
Comparative Medicine, volume 72 | ||
Mouse models of osteoarthritis: A summary of models and outcomes assessment | Drevet, Favier, Brun, Gavazzi, Lardy | 3–13 |
An update on the biologic effects of fenbendazole | Cray, Altman | 215–219 |
We encourage readers to volunteer as guest editors for special topic issues. This responsibility primarily involves soliciting contributors and involvement in the review process to the extent desired, with Alison Brown and the Associate Editors participation. Alison also manages the flow of submissions through the publication process.
Important additions to the literature would be meta-analyses of similar studies on debated or unresolved topics. JAALAS and CM would welcome submission of Cochrane-type structured reviews of key areas of interest to our readers. Topics could include bedding evaluation, treatment for mouse dermatitis, alopecia in nonhuman primates, use of CO2 for euthanasia, trio and pair breeding success, analgesic dosage regimens, cage size, effects of housing density on rodent well-being, effective enrichment devices and other similar topics.
In 2022 CM had 314,812 retrievals (HTML full text views/article PDF downloads) from PMC, and JAALAS had 807,250 (Figure 1). Articles with the highest numbers of downloads are shown in Tables 4 and 5. The high number of downloaded articles for the 2 journals truly underscores the value of AALAS publications. Articles from both journals are downloaded hundreds of thousands of times each year, and many articles have been downloaded thousands of times a year for many years after the publication date. These data show that even though the journal impact factors are modest, the articles are used by the community we serve and are durable in terms of content. Readers might note that some of the publications that are still widely cited and downloaded were published as long ago as 2001. Although some of these are original research, others are overviews. The long interval since some of these were published suggests that updated reviews would be valuable, should any readers be inclined to take on this task.
Table 4.
Article | Live in PMC | Total downloads each year | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||
Gao, Dang & Watson. 2008. Unexpected antitumorigenic effect of fenbendazole when combined with supplementary vitamins. 47:37–40. | 6/12/2009 | 137,397 | 101,538 | 88,309 | 71,126 |
Turner, Brabb, Pekow & Vasbinder. 2011. Administration of substances to laboratory animals: routes of administration and factors to consider. 50:600–613. | 3/1/2012 | 43,891 | 46,910 | 5,7243 | 63,526 |
Shomer, Allen-Worthington, Hickman, Jonnalagadda, Newsome, Slate, Valentine, Williams & Wilkinson. 2020. Review of rodent euthanasia methods. 59:242–253. | 11/1/2020 | ** | ** | ** | 8,306 |
Tannenbaum & Bennett. 2015 Russell and Burch’s 3Rs Then and now: The need for clarity in definition and purpose. 54:120–132, | 9/1/2015 | ** | ** | ** | 8,207 |
Laferriere & Pang. 2020. Review of intraperitoneal injection of sodium pentobarbital as a method of euthanasia in laboratory rodents. 59:254–263 | 11/1/2020 | ** | ** | ** | 7,816 |
Turner, Pekow, Vasbinder & Brabb. 2011. Administration of substances to laboratory animals: equipment considerations, vehicle selection, and solute preparation. 50:614–627. | 3/1/2012 | 8,721 | 9,782 | 8,487 | 7,567 |
Lelovas, Kostomitsopoulos & Xanthos. 2014. A comparative anatomic and physiologic overview of the porcine heart. 53:432–438 | 3/1/2015 | ** | ** | 4,924 | 7,377 |
Redelsperger, Taldone, Riedel, Lepherd, Lipman & Wolf. 2014. Stability of doxycycline in feed and water and minimal effective doses in tetracycline-inducible systems. 55:467–474 | 1/1/2016 | ** | ** | 4,914 | 5,725 |
Ray, Johnston, Verhulst, Trammell & Toth. 2010. Identification of markers for imminent death in mice used in longevity and aging research. 49:282–288. | 11/1/2010 | ** | 11,859 | 8,042 | 5,253 |
Duran-Struuck & Dysko. 2009. Principles of bone marrow transplantation (BMT): Providing optimal veterinary and husbandry care to irradiated mice in BMT studies. 48:11–22. | 7/1/2009 | 8,758 | 7,655 | 6,294 | 5,159 |
Data collected from PubMed Central
Not on top 10 downloaded list for indicated year
Table 5.
Article | Live in PMC | Total downloads each year | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||
Novak & Meyer. 2009. Alopecia: possible causes and treatments, particularly in captive nonhuman primates. 59:18–26. | 8/1/2009 | 6,724 | 10,766 | 14,972 | 15,919 |
O’Connell, Mikkola, Stepanek, Vernet, Hall, Sun, Yildirim, Staropoli, Lee & Brown. 2015. Practical murine hematopathology: a comparative review and implications for research. 65:96–113. | 10/1/2015 | 8,472 | 13,109 | 13,465 | 14,478 |
Wafer, Whitney & Jensen. 2015. Fish lice (Argulus japonicus) in goldfish (Carassius auratus). 65:93–95. | 10/1/2015 | 5,675 | 7,444 | 13,263 | 7,929 |
Graham, Janecek, Kittredge, Hering & Schuurman. 2011. The streptozotocin-induced diabetic nude mouse model: differences between animals from different sources. 61:356–360. | 2/1/2012 | 10,941 | 11,035 | 10,308 | 7,710 |
Foley, Kendall & Turner. 2019. Clinical management of pain in rodents. 69:468–489 | 12/10/2019 | ** | ** | ** | 5,418 |
Lynch, Nicholson, Dance, Morgan & Foley. 2010. Animal models of substance abuse and addiction: implications for science, animal welfare, and society. 60:177–188. | 12/1/2010 | 7,544 | 8,052 | 8,670 | 5,148 |
Toth & Bhargava. 2013. Animal models of sleep disorders. 63:91–104. | 10/1/2013 | 3,939 | 4,336 | 4,768 | 4,734 |
Hankenson, Marx, Gordon & David. 2018. Effects of rodent thermoregulation on animal models in the research environment. 61:339–345 | 6/1/2019 | 5,332 | 7,410 | 5,618 | 4,445 |
Tatarov, Panda, Petkov, Kolappaswamy, Thompson, Kavirayani, Lipsky, Elson, Davis, Martin & DeTolla. 2011. Effect of magnetic fields on tumor growth and viability. 61:339–345 | 2/1/2012 | ** | ** | ** | 4,400 |
Collins, Reuter, Rush & Villano. 2017. Viral vector biosafety in laboratory animal research. 67:215–221. | 12/1/2017 | ** | ** | 4,471 | 3,975 |
Data collected from PubMed Central
Not on top 10 downloaded list for indicated year
The number of citations from both journals also remains relatively consistent from year to year (Figure 1). The top 10 lists of cited and downloaded articles have several new additions this year (Tables 6 through 10). The general lack of overlap between the top-10 cited and downloaded lists suggests that different audiences are using these publications, some with focus on publishing new research (the cited articles) and others on information (the downloaded articles).
Table 6.
Article | Publication year | Total cumulative number of citations as of | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
January, 2020 | February, 2021 | January, 2022 | January, 2023 | ||
Turner, Brabb, Pekow, Vasbinder. Administration of substances to laboratory animals: Routes of administration and factors to consider. 50:600–613. | 2011 | 264 | 366 | 479 | 547 |
Portfors. Types and functions of ultrasonic vocalizations in laboratory rats and mice. 46:28–34. | 2007 | 311 | 349 | 387 | 418 |
Tannenbaum, Bennett. Russell and Burch's 3Rs then and now: the need for clarity in definition and purpose. 54:120–132. | 2015 | 98 | 141 | 206 | 250 |
Matsumiya, Sorge, Sotocinal, Tabaka, Wieskopf, Zaloum, King, Mogil. Using the mouse grimace scale to reevaluate the efficacy of postoperative analgesics in laboratory mice. 51:42–49. | 2012 | 96 | 118 | 138 | 154 |
Lelovas, Kostomitsopoulos, Xanthos. A comparative anatomic and physiologic overview of the porcine heart. 52:432–438. | 2014 | ** | ** | ** | 151 |
Hess, Rohr, Dufour, Gaskill, Pajor, Garner. C57BL/6J mice given more naturalistic nesting materials build better nests. 47:25–31. | 2008 | 88 | 105 | 126 | 141 |
Heffner, Heffner. Hearing ranges of laboratory animals. 46:20–22. | 2007 | 83 | 105 | 125 | 141 |
Duran-Struuck, Dysko. Principles of bone marrow transplantation (BMT): Providing optimal veterinary and husbandry care to irradiated mice in BMT studies. 48:11–22 | 2009 | 85 | 95 | 117 | 120 |
Guillen. FELASA Guidelines and Recommendations. 51:311–321. | 2012 | ** | ** | 92 | 113 |
Data collected from Web of Science
Not on top 10 downloaded list for indicated year
Table 7.
Article | Publication year | Total cumulative number of citations as of | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
January, 2020 | February, 2021 | January, 2022 | January, 2023 | ||
Cray, Zaias, Altman. Acute phase response in animals: A review. 59:517–526. | 2009 | 401 | 461 | 520 | 582 |
Lelovas, Xanthos, Thomas, Lyritis, Dontas. The laboratory rat as an animal model for osteoporosis research. 58:424–430. | 2008 | 282 | 313 | 347 | 366 |
Mansfield. Marmoset models commonly used in biomedical research. 53:383–392. | 2003 | 209 | 229 | 245 | 259 |
Abbott, Barnett, Colman, Yamamoto, Schultz-Darken. Aspects of common marmoset basic biology and life history important for biomedical research. 53:339–350. | 2003 | 166 | 191 | 209 | 224 |
Martini, Fini, Giavaresi, Giardino. Sheep model in orthopedic research: A literature review. 51:292–299. | 2001 | 123 | 135 | 153 | 172 |
Callicott, Womack. Real-time PCR for measurement of mouse telomeres. 56:17–22. | 2006 | 131 | 143 | 157 | 169 |
Yang, Deng, Tong, Liu, Zhang, Zhu, Gao, Huang, Liu, Ma, Xu, Ding, Deng, Qin. Mice transgenic for human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 provide a model for SARS coronavirus infection. 57:450–459 | 2007 | ** | ** | 143 | 165 |
Nemzek, Hugunin, Opp. Modeling sepsis in the laboratory: Merging sound science with animal well-being. 58:120–128. | 2008 | 115 | 128 | 147 | 164 |
Dyson, Alloosh, Vuchetich, Mokelke, Sturek. Components of metabolic syndrome and coronary artery disease in female Ossabaw swine fed excess atherogenic diet. 56:35–45. | 2006 | 139 | 152 | 209 | 157 |
Hufeldt, Nielsen, Vogensen, Midtvedt, Hansen. Variation in the gut microbiota of laboratory mice Is related to both genetic and environmental factors. 60:336–347. | 2010 | ** | 123 | 143 | 152 |
Data collected from Web of Science
Not on top 10 downloaded list for indicated year
Table 8.
Article | Publication year | Number of citations in | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||
Turner, Brabb, Pekow, Vasbinder. Administration of substances to laboratory animals: Routes of administration and factors to consider. 50:600–613. | 2011 | 78 | 105 | 96 | 76 |
Tannenbaum, Bennett. Russell and Burch's 3Rs then and now: The need for clarity in definition and purpose. 54:120–132. | 2015 | 35 | 43 | 61 | 44 |
Lelovas, Kostomitsopoulos, Xanthos. A comparative anatomic and physiologic overview of the porcine heart. 53:432–438 | 2014 | 21 | ** | 24 | 34 |
Wilson, Bunte, Carty. Evaluation of rapid cooling and tricainemethanesulfonate (MS222) as methods of euthanasia in zebrafish (Danio rerio). 48:785–789. | 2009 | 28 | 23 | 23 | 32 |
Portfors. Types and functions of ultrasonic vocalizations in laboratory rats and mice. 46:28–34. | 2007 | 49 | 33 | 37 | 31 |
Guillen. FELASA guidelines and recommendations. 51:311–321. | 2012 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 20 |
Heffner, Heffner. Hearing ranges of laboratory animals. 46:20–22. | 2007 | 25 | 19 | 17 | 19 |
Collymore, Tolwani, Lieggi, Rasmussen. Efficacy and safety of 5 anesthetics in adult zebrafish (Danio rerio). 53:198–203. | 2014 | ** | ** | ** | 18 |
Hess, Rohr, Dufour, Gaskill, Pajor, Garner. C57BL/6J mice given more naturalistic nesting materials build better nests. 47:25–31. | 2008 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 17 |
Conroy, Papenfuss, Parker, Hahn. Use of tricaine methanesulfonate (MS222) for euthanasia of reptiles. 48: 28–32. | 2009 | ** | ** | ** | 17 |
Data collected from Scopus
Not on top 10 list for indicated year
Table 9.
Article | Publication year | Number of citations in | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||
Cray, Zaias, Altman. Acute phase response in animals: A review. 59:517–526. | 2009 | 59 | 62 | 61 | 67 |
O’Connell, Mikkola, Stepanek, Vernet, Hall, Sun, Yildirim, Staropoli, Lee, Brown. Practical murine hematopathology: A comparative review and implications for research. 65:96–113. | 2015 | 18 | 26 | 34 | 44 |
Yang, Deng, Tong, Liu, Zhang, Zhu, Gao, Huang, Liu, Ma, Xu, Ding, Deng, Qin. Mice transgenic for human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 provide a model for SARS coronavirus infection. 5:450–459 | 2007 | ** | 76 | 51 | 27 |
Lelovas, Xanthos, Thoma, Lyritis, Dontas. The laboratory rat as an animal model for osteoporosis research. 58:424–430. | 2008 | 29 | 22 | 23 | 21 |
Hankenson, Marx, Gordon, David. Effects of rodent thermoregulation on animal models in the research environment. 68:425–438 | 2018 | ** | ** | ** | 21 |
Turner, Pang, Lofgren. A review of pain assessment methods in laboratory rodents. 69:451–467. | 2019 | ** | ** | ** | 21 |
Martini, Fini, Giavaresi, Giardino. Sheep models in orthopedic research: a literature review. 51:292–299. | 2001 | ** | ** | 18 | 19 |
Graham, Janecek, Kittredge, Hering, Schuurman. The streptozotocin-induced diabetic nude mouse model: Differences between animals from different sources.51:292–299. | 2000 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 19 |
Toth, Bhargava. Animal models of sleep disorders.63:91–104. | 2013 | ** | ** | ** | 17 |
Abbott, Barnett, Colman, Yamamoto, Schultz-Darken. Aspects of common marmoset basic biology and life history important for biomedical research. 53:339–350. | 2003 | 25 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
Data collected from Scopus
Not on top 10 list for indicated year