As the editors of the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle (JCSM), we are proud to announce that the journal has maintained its impact factor, which has now been published by Thomson Scientific as 7.3, placing it number 9 in the ranking of all journals in the field ‘Medicine, General and Internal’ (Table 1) and number 3 among all nutrition journals, among which, however, JCSM is not offficially listed (Table 2). The number of submissions has increased over the last year, but because we decided to stick with four print issues per year, this also means that our rejection rate is now in excess of 80% of submitted articles. Indeed, at the time of this writing, on 9 July 2015, the journal has received 106 submissions in 2015 alone (Figure 1). We are working hard to provide a timely peer review, which is not always easy as it is difficult at times to find appropriate reviewers. In addition, the journal aims to cover not only clinical medicine but also basic research into cachexia, sarcopenia, and muscle pathophysiology in its broadest sense. Authors can help in speeding the review process by suggesting referees who are able to provide a balanced, however, unbiased comment.
Table 1.
Top 10 journals in the field ‘Medicine: General & Internal’, adapted from reference 31
| Journal name | Impact factor 2014 | Items published in 2012 and 2013 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New England Journal of Medicine | 55.873 | 708 |
| 2 | Lancet | 45.217 | 589 |
| 3 | Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) | 35.289 | 453 |
| 4 | Annals of Internal Medicine | 17.810 | 311 |
| 5 | British Medical Journal | 17.445 | 605 |
| 6 | Archives of Internal Medicine | 17.333 | 138 |
| 7 | PLoS – Medicine | 14.429 | 233 |
| 8 | JAMA – Internal Medicine | 13.116 | 164 |
| 9 | Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle | 7.315 | 54 |
| 10 | BMC Med | 7.249 | 342 |
Table 2.
Top 10 journals in the field ‘Nutrition & Dietetics’, where the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle is officially not listed, adapted from reference 31
| Journal name | Impact factor 2014 | Items published in 2012 and 2013 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Progress in Lipid Research | 10.015 | 65 |
| 2 | Annual Review of Nutrition | 8.359 | 39 |
| Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle | 7.315 | 54 | |
| 3 | American Journal of Clinical Nutrition | 6.770 | 657 |
| 4 | Nutrition Reviews | 6.076 | 157 |
| 5 | Proceedings of the Nutrition Society | 5.273 | 121 |
| 6 | Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition | 5.176 | 148 |
| 7 | International Journal of Obesity | 5.004 | 450 |
| 8 | Advances in Nutrition | 4.709 | 175 |
| 9 | Clinical Nutrition | 4.476 | 294 |
| 10 | International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity | 4.111 | 289 |
Figure 1.
Number of manuscript submissions to the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle by year of publication. *Numbers for 2015 are estimated on the number of submissions until 9 July 2015 (reprinted from von Haehling and Anker32).
It does not come as a major surprise that among the best cited articles since the first publication of the JCSM are those that are available for the longest time, that is, those published in 2010 and 2011 (Table 3). Editorials like our ‘facts and numbers’ series that try to summarize knowledge of a specific field in a comprehensive way remain a publication type that we are very much in favour of. This is also highlighted by the popularity of editorials published in 2014 (Tables 4 and 5). We invite scientists to submit such editorials with as many facts and figures as possible on a topic of interest to our readership to submit their work for consideration.
Table 3.
Top 10 of the best cited articles since first publication of the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle
| First author | Title | Type | Year | Times cited | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | von Haehling | Cachexia as a major underestimated and unmet medical need: facts and numbers | Editorial | 2010 | 151 | 1 |
| 2 | Lenk | Skeletal muscle wasting in cachexia and sarcopenia: molecular pathophysiology and impact of exercise training | Review | 2010 | 68 | 2 |
| 3 | Dalton | The selective androgen receptor modulator GTx-024 (enobosarm) improves lean body mass and physical function in healthy elderly men and postmenopausal women: results of a double-blind, placebo-controlled phase II trial | Original article | 2011 | 67 | 3 |
| 4 | von Haehling | An overview of sarcopenia: facts and numbers on prevalence and clinical impact | Editorial | 2010 | 64 | 4 |
| 5 | Mak | Wasting in chronic kidney disease | Review | 2011 | 50 | 5 |
| 6 | Elkina | The role of myostatin in muscle wasting: an overview | Review | 2011 | 45 | 6 |
| 7 | Fanzani | Molecular and cellular mechanisms of skeletal muscle atrophy: an update | Review | 2012 | 44 | 7 |
| 8 | Lainscak | Body mass index and prognosis in patients hospitalized with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | Original article | 2011 | 43 | 8 |
| 9 | Cesari | Biomarkers of sarcopenia in clinical trials—recommendations from the International Working Group on Sarcopenia | Original article | 2012 | 40 | 9 |
| 10 | von Haehling | From muscle wasting to sarcopenia and myopenia: update 2012 | Editorial | 2012 | 39 | 10 |
Table 4.
Top 10 of the best cited articles published in 2013 in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle
| First author | Title | Type | Year | Times cited | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Farkas | Cachexia as a major public health problem: frequent, costly, and deadly | Review | 2013 | 23 | 11 |
| 2 | Patel | Serum creatinine as a marker of muscle mass in chronic kidney disease: results of a cross-sectional study and review of literature | Review | 2013 | 22 | 12 |
| 3 | Malmstrom | Low appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) with limited mobility and poor health outcomes in middle-aged African American | Original article | 2013 | 18 | 13 |
| 4 | Vaughan | Cancer cachexia: impact, mechanisms and emerging treatments | Review | 2013 | 17 | 14 |
| 5 | Lenk | Effect of ghrelin and its analogues, BIM-28131 and BIM-28125, on the expression of myostatin in a rat heart failure model | Original article | 2013 | 16 | 15 |
| 6 | Gould | Cancer cachexia prevention via physical exercise: molecular mechanisms | Review | 2013 | 13 | 16 |
| 7 | Kalantar-Zadeh | Why cachexia kills: examining the causality of poor outcomes in wasting conditions | Editorial | 2013 | 12 | 17 |
| 8 | Nedergaard | Serological muscle loss biomarkers: an overview of current concepts and future possibilities | Review | 2013 | 11 | 18 |
| 9 | Der-Torossian | Metabolic derangements in the gastrocnemius and the effect of Compound A therapy in a murine model of cancer cachexia | Original article | 2013 | 9 | 19 |
| 10. | Santarpia | Butyrylcholinesterase as a prognostic marker: a review of the literature | Review | 2013 | 8 | 20 |
Table 5.
Top 10 of the best cited articles published in 2014 in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle
| First author | Title | Type | Year | Times cited | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morley | From sarcopenia to frailty: a road less traveled | Editorial | 2014 | 15 | 21 |
| 2 | Anker | Muscle wasting disease: a proposal for a new disease classification | Editorial | 2014 | 8 | 22 |
| 3 | Morley | Are we closer to having drugs to treat muscle wasting disease? | Editorial | 2014 | 7 | 23 |
| 4 | Ebner | Highlights from the 7th Cachexia Conference: muscle wasting pathophysiological detection and novel treatment strategies | Meeting report | 2014 | 6 | 24 |
| Heymsfield | Assessing skeletal muscle mass: historical overview and state of the art | Review | 2014 | 6 | 25 | |
| 6 | Argiles | Cachexia: a problem of energetic inefficiency | Review | 2014 | 4 | 26 |
| Pietra | Anamorelin HCI (ONO-7643), a novel ghrelin receptor agonist, for the treatment of cancer anorexia-cachexia syndrome: preclinical profile | Original article | 2014 | 4 | 27 | |
| Ormsbee | Osteosarcopenic obesity: the role of bone, muscle, and fat on health | Review | 2014 | 4 | 28 | |
| 9 | Mirza | Attenuation of muscle wasting in murine C2C12 myotubes by epigallocatechin-3-gallate | Original article | 2014 | 3 | 29 |
| Kim | Daily physical activity and physical function in adult maintenance hemodialysis patients | Original article | 2014 | 3 | 30 |
Acknowledgments
The authors of this manuscript certify that they comply with the principles of ethical publishing in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle 2010;1:7–8 (von Haehling S, Morley JE, Coats AJ, and Anker SD).
Conflict of Interest
None declared.
References
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