The American Society of Human Genetics is pleased to report a transition to Cell Press in publishing The American Journal of Human Genetics, effective in January, 2008. In making this transition, the ASHG wishes to acknowledge the outstanding efforts over the past 40 years by its publisher, The University of Chicago Press. UCP’s long-standing, collegial relationship with the ASHG throughout the years and their dedication to AJHG has served the Journal well over these many years. The ASHG will long be indebted to their professional and personal attention.
ASHG will retain ownership of the title and contents of AJHG, and Cell Press will begin work in a new and exciting model—AJHG will represent the first society-owned publishing partnership for them. Dr. Cynthia Morton, Editor, will continue to supervise the very capable and supportive editorial staff, including Dr. Robin Williamson, Katherine DyReyes, and Suzanne Peterson. On behalf of the Board of Directors, we are most grateful to them for their guidance throughout the decision-making process and for facilitating a very smooth transition into this new business enterprise.
The American Journal of Human Genetics is a world-renowned journal, publishing cutting-edge scientific research in human genetics. For almost 60 years, the Journal has published research and reviews relating to heredity in humans and the application of genetic principles in basic, translational, and clinical research. With a current impact factor of 12.6, the AJHG ranks among the most highly regarded journals in the ISI category of Genes & Heredity. AJHG has consistently included a large proportion of research articles from countries outside North America, and we anticipate wider circulation of the Journal by Cell Press.
By partnering with ASHG, Cell Press will strengthen its commitment to fostering scientific communication through publication of exciting original research. Cell Press is recognized for its close relationship with the scientific community and for consistently delivering the world’s leading research across the broad spectrum of the life sciences, and now the addition of human genetics will offer Cell Press another critical piece of the scientific enterprise.
There will be some changes in the processes for authors and reviewers, but all should easily adapt to the different and more-powerful platforms that will be used by our editors. Information about new procedures being implemented will be available on the AJHG and ASHG Web sites (http://www.ajhg.org/ and http://www.ashg.org/, respectively). Important benefits of this new publishing partnership will include improved platforms for submission of articles, no page or color charges for ASHG members, an enhanced review process, and even broader worldwide circulation.
Our journal is very proud of its history, and changing to a new publisher is aimed at strengthening the publication. The report of the Editor, presented each year at the annual ASHG meeting, provides data regarding journal statistics of interest to authors, readers, and ASHG members. Our quality has remained consistent and very high, leading to a strong showing in the scientific community. Some information on recent years follows.
| 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | |
| Acceptance rate (%) | 19 | 19 | 19 |
| Average time from submission to acceptance (days) | 72 | 78 | 71 |
| Submission to rejection after review (days) | 34 | 44 | 40 |
| Submission to rejection—no review (days) | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| UCP—receipt to electronic publication (days) | 24 | 22 | 32 |
| Total submissions/year | 1,180 | 1,222 | 1,184 |
| Total pages published | 2,280 | 2,255 | 2,524 |
Cell Press, an imprint of Elsevier, is committed to improving scientific communication through the publication of biology research and reviews. Its mission is to continue to publish and develop journals that deliver the highest possible intellectual rigor, promote community trust, and are widely disseminated.
We look forward to this partnership and an even brighter future for The American Journal of Human Genetics.