The November issue of JAALAS volume 53 and the December issue of Comparative Medicine (CM) volume 64 marked the end of another year for the AALAS journals. Our sincere thanks go again to the talented support the journals receive from art director Amy Tippett and scientific editor Amy Frazier, as well as to the AALAS staff—John Farrar, Virginia Dawson, and, previously, Melissa Bagaglio. This team together continues to sustain a timely flow of well-edited and professionally presented information through the entire process from manuscript submission to publication.
As shown in Table 1, publication statistics for the journals remain strong, although notably the number of submissions fell for both journals. Determining whether this decrease foretells a trend must await future data. In 2014, the percentage of articles submitted from international (non-US) institutions and authors was higher than in previous years for both journals. Acceptance rates fell to 38% for CM but rose to 59% for JAALAS. These percentages are consistent with obtaining an adequate amount of high-quality content for each issue. Our expectation is that the number of submissions will increase in the future time, resulting in lower acceptance rates. Prospective authors should be aware that as more submissions are received, standards for acceptance will be higher. For example, manuscripts that contain relatively little data (only one table or figure) will be viewed as less desirable than articles that present a substantive and comprehensive investigation of a research question.
Table 1.
Journal statistics
| JAALAS | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
| Total submissions | 68 | 119 | 132 | 172 | 167 | 191 | 170 | 179 | 158 |
| International | 24 | 31 | 52 | 61 | 52 | 71 | 57 | 74 | 75 |
| % international | 35 | 26 | 39 | 35 | 31 | 37 | 34 | 41 | 59 |
| Disposition of submissions | |||||||||
| Referred to CM | 3 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 18 | 31 | 16 | 17 | 25 |
| Withdrawn | 3 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| Rejected | 24 | 37 | 35 | 41 | 43 | 55 | 64 | 75 | 62 |
| Accepted | 41 | 61 | 73 | 93 | 91 | 90 | 75 | 80 | 91 |
| Total number accepted or rejected* | 65 | 98 | 108 | 134 | 134 | 145 | 139 | 155 | 153 |
| % accepted | 63 | 62 | 68 | 69 | 68 | 62 | 54 | 52 | 59 |
| Days from submission to | |||||||||
| first decision | 28 | 32 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 32 |
| final decision | 50 | 55 | 66 | 64 | 62 | 62 | 50 | 56 | 75 |
| Articles published** | 62 | 65 | 62 | 68 | 90 | 96 | 79 | 71 | 88 |
| Pages published, articles | 812 | 756 | 732 | 840 | 916 | 993 | 872 | 810 | 727 |
| Average pages per article | 6.9 | 6.3 | 5.7 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 6.4 | 6.8 | 11.4 | 8.3 |
| Impact factor | 0.52 | 0.53 | 0.95 | 0.80 | 0.71 | 1.14 | *** | NA |
| CM | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
| Total submissions | 83 | 136 | 126 | 158 | 138 | 162 | 171 | 169 | 135 |
| International | 35 | 42 | 50 | 86 | 55 | 73 | 76 | 89 | 80 |
| % international | 42 | 31 | 40 | 54 | 40 | 45 | 44 | 53 | 59 |
| Disposition of submissions | |||||||||
| Referred to JAALAS | 18 | 27 | 24 | 39 | 36 | 31 | 29 | 23 | 12 |
| Withdrawn | 1 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| Rejected | 20 | 34 | 37 | 51 | 35 | 54 | 75 | 69 | 75 |
| Accepted | 44 | 57 | 56 | 47 | 61 | 57 | 64 | 63 | 45 |
| Total number accepted or rejected* | 64 | 91 | 93 | 98 | 96 | 111 | 139 | 132 | 120 |
| % accepted | 69 | 63 | 60 | 48 | 64 | 51 | 46 | 48 | 38 |
| Days from submission to | |||||||||
| first decision | 49 | 40 | 32 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 24 | 24 | 28 |
| final decision | 95 | 66 | 62 | 53 | 61 | 53 | 46 | 42 | 45 |
| Articles published** | 45 | 63 | 63 | 59 | 55 | 60 | 68 | 60 | 58 |
| Pages published, articles | 452 | 614 | 623 | 613 | 520 | 576 | 568 | 547 | 436 |
| Average pages per article | 7 | 7.2 | 7.4 | 7.7 | 6.9 | 7.0 | 6.7 | 9.1 | 7.5 |
| Impact factor | 0.99 | 1.15 | 1.09 | 1.09 | 1.20 | 1.05 | 1.12 | *** | NA |
, some articles submitted in 2014 are still under review
, some of the articles published in 2014 were accepted in 2013
, due to an error, impact factors for 2013 were calculated based on only 3 issues, rather than 6, for each journal. As a result, impact factors reported for JAALAS and CM for 2013 were not accurate (reported as 0.73 and 0.76 for JAALAS and CM respectively). Doubling the reported values in an attempt to correct for the missing issues would give respective values of 1.46 and 1.52 for JAALAS and CM, which would be a substantial improvement over 2012. However, it is impossible to know how accurate that correction might be.
NA, not yet available
Reflected in the top cited articles is the impact of the AALAS Grants for Laboratory Animal Science (GLAS) on furthering scientific knowledge in the field. Among the top downloaded articles from PubMed Central is the paper on superovulation strategies by Luo et al for research that was funded by a 2009 GLAS award to Jan Parker-Thornburg as the principal investigator and Charlie Luo and Juliana Zuniga as co-investigators. The GLAS program also made a 2012 award to Julia Zaias (principal investigator) and Carolyn Cray (co-investigator) for research on acute phase proteins as markers of mouse transport stress, an area of work related to their review paper (Cray et al) which was among those top cited in Comp Med and downloaded from PubMed Central.
Particularly notable for this year, although published in March 2015, is the special focus issue “Global 3Rs Efforts—Making Progress and Gaining Momentum,” guest edited by Leticia V. Medina. We thank Leticia for the effort she put forth to produce this landmark issue, which will undoubtedly serve for years to come as a ready consolidated source of information on this important topic. This special issue probably contributed to the higher number of submissions and acceptance rate in 2014, as the content was comprised largely of extra solicited articles by established experts in the field. However, as with all published work, these articles were vetted through the standard peer review process. We invite all readers to suggest other topics for focus issues for either of the journals. The editors and staff will be happy to work with you to develop this type of invaluable contribution to the field.
The tables of top 10 downloaded articles for the two journals really highlight the value of the AALAS publications (Tables 2 and 3). As you can see, many articles are downloaded thousands of time a year for many years after the publication date. These data show that even though the journal impact factors are not high, the articles are used by the community we serve and are durable in terms of content. The list of top 10 cited articles has several new additions this year (Tables 4 and 5).
Table 2.
Top 10 Downloaded Articles from PubMed Central in Comparative Medicine in 2014
| Article | Live in PMC | Total Requests |
||
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | ||
| Novak MA, Meyer JS. Alopecia: possible causes and treatments, particularly in captive nonhuman primates. 59:18–26, 2009. | 8/1/2009 | 7936 | 14808 | 18992 |
| Graham ML, Janecek JL, Kittredge JA, Hering BJ, Schuurman HJ. The streptozotocin-induced diabetic nude mouse model: differences between animals from different sources. 61:356–360, 2011. | 2/1/2012 | 1913 | 6785 | 5203 |
| Cray C, Zaias J, Altman NH. Acute phase response in animals: a review. 59:517–526, 2009. | 6/1/2010 | 2896 | 4445 | 4467 |
| Lynch WJ, Nicholson KL, Dance ME, Morgan RW, Foley PL. Animal models of substance abuse and addiction: implications for science, animal welfare, and society. 60:177–188, 2010. | 12/1/2010 | 1785 | 3512 | 4039 |
| Lelovas PP, Xanthos TT, Thoma SE, Lyritis GP, Dontas IA. The laboratory rat as an animal model for osteoporosis research. 58:424–430, 2008 | 7/17/2009 | 3286 | 4598 | 2960 |
| Casals JB, Pieri NC, Feitosa ML, Ercolin AC, Roballo KC, Barreto RS, Bressan FF, Martins DS, Miglino MA, Ambrósio CE. The use of animal models for stroke research: a review. 61:305–313, 2011 | 2/1/2012 | 1906 | 2993 | 2932 |
| Nemzek JA, Hugunin KM, Opp MR. Modeling sepsis in the laboratory: merging sound science with animal well-being. 58:120–128, 2008 | 7/17/2009 | ** | 3075 | 2530 |
| Padilla-Carlin DJ, McMurray DN, Hickey AJ. The guinea pig as a model of infectious diseases. 58:324–340, 2008 | 7/17/2009 | 1869 | 2863 | 2490 |
| Elmore D, Eberle R. Monkey b virus (Cercopithecineherpesvirus 1). 58:11–21, 2008 | 7/17/2009 | 2082 | 2926 | 2302 |
| Tartarov I, Panda A, Petkov D, Kolappaswamy K, Thompson K, Kavirayani A, Lipsky MM, Davis,CC, Martin DS, DeTolla LJ. Effect of magnetic fields on tumor growth and viability. 61:339-345, 2012 | 2/1/2012 | ** | ** | 2107 |
New to top ten list
Table 3.
Top 10 Downloaded Articles from PubMed Central in Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science in 2014
| Article | Live in PMC | Total Requests |
||
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | ||
| Turner PV, Brabb T, Pekow C, Vasbinder MA. Administration of substances to laboratory animals: routes of administration and factors to consider. 50:600–613, 2011 | 3/1/2012 | 6650 | 22624 | 21404 |
| Duran-Struuck R, Dysko RC. Principles of bone marrow transplantation (BMT): providing optimal veterinary and husbandry care to irradiated mice in BMT studies. 48:11–22, 2009 | 7/1/2009 | 7570 | 10623 | 8328 |
| Turner PV, Pekow C, Vasbinder MA, Brabb T. Administration of substances to laboratory animals: equipment considerations, vehicle selection, and solute preparation. 50:614–627, 2011 | 3/1/2012 | ** | 5533 | 8262 |
| Turner DE, Daugherity EK, Altier C, Maurer KJ. Efficacy and limitations of an ATP-based monitoring system. 49:190-195 | 9/4/2010 | ** | ** | 4112 |
| Cray C, Rodriguez M, Zaias J, Altman NH. Effects of storage temperature and time on clinical biochemical parameters from rat serum. 48:202–204, 2009 | 9/1/2009 | 2631 | 4275 | 3822 |
| Fernandez I, Pena A, Del Teso N, Perez V, Rodriguez-Cuesta J. Clinical biochemistry parameters in C57BL/6J mice after blood collection from the submandibular vein and retroorbital plexus. 49:202–206, 2010 | 9/1/2010 | 3001 | 3774 | 3109 |
| Luo C, Zuniga J, Edison E, Palla S, Dong W, Parker-Thornburg J. Superovulation strategies for 6 commonly used mouse strains. 50:471–478, 2011 | 1/1/2012 | ** | 3861 | 3011 |
| Alworth LC, Hernandez SM, Divers SJ. Laboratory reptile surgery: principles and techniques. 50:11–26, 2011 | 7/1/2011 | 2851 | 3787 | 2948 |
| Zaias J, Mineau M, Cray C, Yoon D, Altman NH. Reference values for serum proteins of common laboratory rodent strains. 48:387–390, 2009 | 1/1/2010 | ** | 3852 | 2490 |
| Vento PJ, Swartz ME, Martin LBE, Derek D. Food intake in laboratory rats provided standard and fenbendazole-supplemented diets. 47:46–50, 2008 | 6/12/2009 | 2280 | 4253 | 2452 |
New to top ten list
Table 4.
Top 10 cited articles in Comparative Medicine*
| Article | Publication year | Total number of citations as of |
||
| Feb. 18, 2013 | Jan. 15, 2014 | May 6, 2015 | ||
| Cray C, Zaias J, Altman NH. Acute phase response in animals: a review. 59:517–526. | 2009 | ** | 73 | 137 |
| Lelovas PP, Xanthos TT, Thoma SE, Lyritis GP, Dontas IA. The laboratory rat as an animal model for osteoporosis research. 58:424–430. | 2008 | ** | 86 | 134 |
| Mansfield K. Marmoset models commonly used in biomedical research. 53:383–392. | 2003 | 76 | 94 | 122 |
| Abbott DH, Barnett DK, Colman RJ, Yamamoto ME, Schultz-Darken NJ. Aspects of common marmoset basic biology and life history important for biomedical research. 53:339–350. | 2003 | 62 | 79 | 99 |
| Dyson MC, Alloosh M, Vuchetich JP, Mokelke EA, Sturek M. Components of metabolic syndrome and coronary artery disease in female Ossabaw swine fed excess atherogenic diet. 56:35–45. | 2006 | 60 | 75 | 93 |
| Callicott RJ, Womack JE. Real-time PCR for measurement of mouse telomeres. 56:17-22 | 2006 | ** | ** | 74 |
| Hsu CC, Riley LK, Wills HM, Livingston RS.. Persistent infection with and serologic cross-reactivity of three novel murine noroviruses. 56:247–251. | 2006 | 54 | 59 | 73 |
| Parker JM, Mikaelian I, Hahn N, Diggs HE. Clinical diagnosis and treatment of epidermal chytridiomycosis in African clawed frogs (Xenopustropicalis). 52:265–268. | 2002 | 59 | 67 | 71 |
| Garner JP, Weisker SM, Dufour B, Mench JA. Barbering (fur and whisker trimming) by laboratory mice as a model of human trichotillomania and obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders. 54:216–224. | 2004 | 54 | 64 | 70 |
| Arras M, Autenried P, Rettich A, Spaeni D, Rülicke T. Optimization of intraperitoneal injection anesthesia in mice: drugs, dosages, adverse effects, and anesthesia depth. 51:443–456. | 2001 | 49 | 58 | 67 |
Data collected from Web of Knowledge
New to top 10 list
Table 5.
Top 10 cited articles in Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science*
| Article | Publication year | Total number of citations as of |
||
| Feb. 18, 2013 | Jan. 15, 2014 | May 6, 2015 | ||
| Portfors CV. Types and functions of ultrasonic vocalizations in laboratory rats and mice. 46:28–34. | 2007 | 76 | 101 | 138 |
| Wilson JM, Bunte RM, Carty AJ. Evaluation of rapid cooling and tricainemethanesulfonate (MS222) as methods of euthanasia in zebrafish (Daniorerio). 48:785–789. | 2009 | ** | 20 | 34 |
| Hess Se, Rohr S, Dufour BD, Gaskill BN, Pajor EA, Garner JP. Home improvement: C57BL/6J mice given more naturalistic nesting materials build better nests. 47:25-31 | 2008 | ** | ** | 32 |
| Hayward R, Hydock DS. Doxorubicin cardiotoxicity in the rat: an in vivo characterization. 46:20–32. | 2007 | 15 | 22 | 32 |
| Perdue KA, Green KY, Copeland M, Barron E, Mandel M, Faucette LJ, Williams EM, Sosnovtsev SV, Elkins WR, Ward JM. Naturally occuring murine norovirus infection in a large research institution. 46:39–45. | 2007 | 21 | 24 | 31 |
| Probst RJ, Lim JM, Bird DN, Pole GL, Sato AK, Claybaugh JR. Gender differences in the blood volume of conscious Sprague–Dawley rats. 45:49–52 | 2006 | 14 | 21 | 30 |
| Abatan OI, Welch KB, Nemzek JA. Evaluation of saphenous venipuncture and modified tail-clip blood collection in mice. 47:8–15. | 2008 | 17 | 18 | 29 |
| Matsumiya LC, Sorge RE, Sotocinal SG, Tabaka JM, Wieskopf JS, Zaloum A, King OD, Mogil JS. Using the mouse grimace scale to reevaluate the efficacy of postoperative analgesics in laboratory mice. 51: 42-49 | 2012 | ** | ** | 28 |
| Konkle AT, Kentner AC, Baker SL, Stewart A, Bielajew C. Environmental-enrichment-related variations in behavioral, biochemical, and physiologic responses of Sprague–Dawley and Long Evans rats. 49:427–436. | 2010 | ** | 18 | 28 |
| Coleman K, Pranger L, Maier A, Lambeth SP, Perlman JE, Thiele E, Schapiro SJ. Training rhesus macaques for venipuncture using positive reinforcement techniques: a comparison with chimpanzees. 47:37–41. | 2008 | ** | 20 | 27 |
Data collected from Web of Knowledge
New to top ten list
Table 6.
Journals with greatest number of citations of and citations in AALAS journals in 2013
| Rank | Cited Comp Med | Cited in Comp Med | Cited JAALAS | Cited in JAALAS |
| 1 | PLoS One | Blood | JAALAS | JAALAS |
| 2 | Comp Med | Comp Med | PLoS One | CTLAS |
| 3 | JAALAS | Lab Anim Sci | Appl Anim Behav | Lab Anim – UK |
| 4 | Exp Anim - Tokyo | Sleep | Comp Med | Lab Anim Sci |
| 5 | J Vet Med Sci. | Infect Immun | Lab Anim - UK | Physiol Behav |
| 6 | Lab Anim - UK | J Immunol | Exp Anim - Tokyo | Comp Med |
| 7 | Vet Pathol | J Neurosci | Lab Anim (NY) | Anesth Analges |
| 8 | Zoo Biol | JAVMA | Behav Brain Res | Env Health Perspect |
| 9 | Am J Primatol | J Appl Physiol | BMC Vet Res | Guide Care Use Lab Anim |
| 10 | Am J Vet Res | J Nutrition | Am J Primatol | JAVMA |
| Toxicol Sci | ||||
As always, we welcome your suggestions for improvements in the journals and encourage you to give us your opinions, perspective, concerns, and suggestions.You have our continued thanks for your support in the development and growth of the journals.