As our attention has been distracted to address issues related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and we are hoping to be relieved of its disruption to our lives, we must remember that when it is all over, our patients and their families are still dealing with the consequences of cystic fibrosis (CF). All that we had been working on prior to the pandemic remains as important as before. Through all of this the Journal of Cystic Fibrosis (JCF) has continued to receive submitted manuscripts. We appreciate the dedication of our Associate Editors and the reviewers who have continued to respond to the work involved in the peer review process. Here we would like to express our gratitude and reflect upon some accomplishments in the past year, before the pandemic.
JCF has continued to grow, in stature and activity. The number of submissions to JCF have increased every year, and with 2019 receiving 544 submissions. The rise in impact factor over the last several years has led to manuscripts of very high quality as well. As our page numbers have remained the same throughout, we still desire avoidance of a prolonged backlog of accepted papers; this means that our rejection rate has had to increase as well. Our international scope continues to rise; while most papers come from European and North American authors, there are increasing numbers submitted from Asia and Oceania. In 2019, there were papers submitted from six continents! We highlight some of the top papers in the last year and before. The papers published in 2019 with the greatest number of citations are shown in Table 1 , while the papers to be most frequently cited in 2019 are shown in Table 2 . It is notable that most of these papers are available as Open Access, freely available to all readers. We can also see the greatest interest in state of the art discussions, whether describing novel science and therapies or systematically defining best practices.
Table 1.
Top Cited Manuscripts Published in 2019.
| Title | Type |
|---|---|
| *CFTR modulator theratyping: Current status, gaps and future directions [1] | Review |
| Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) and associated clinical outcomes in individuals with cystic fibrosis: A systematic review [2] | Original article |
| Prevalence and diversity of filamentous fungi in the airways of cystic fibrosis patients – A Dutch, multicentre study [3] | Original article |
| *Lung transplant referral for individuals with cystic fibrosis: Cystic Fibrosis Foundation consensus guidelines [4] | Review |
| *Antisense oligonucleotide eluforsen improves CFTR function in F508del cystic fibrosis [5] | Original article |
* Open Access.
Table 2.
Top Manuscripts Cited in 2019.
| Title | Type |
|---|---|
| *ECFS best practice guidelines: the 2018 revision [6] | Review |
| *Real-life initiation of lumacaftor/ivacaftor combination in adults with cystic fibrosis homozygous for the Phe508del CFTR mutation and severe lung disease [7] | Original article |
| *CFTR modulator theratyping: Current status, gaps and future directions [1] | Review |
| *Up-to-date and projected estimates of survival for people with cystic fibrosis using baseline characteristics: a longitudinal study using UK patient registry data [8] | Original article |
| *The expansion and performance of national newborn screening programmes for cystic fibrosis in Europe [9] | Original article |
| *Hyperpolarized 129Xe for investigation of mild cystic fibrosis lung disease in pediatric patients [10] | Original article |
* Open Access.
We are not measured merely by citations alone as our mission is to advance the science and care of patients with CF, and so our readership is much more broad. These can be measured by downloads and social media citations. Here we see the value of commissioned supplements such as those written by awardees in the DIGEST [11] and EnVision [12] programs supported by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Basic Science Conferences [13,14] supported by the European CF Society. Clearly these summaries provide value to the clinicians and scientists working in the field.
1. We express our gratitude
We wish to express our gratitude to the Editorial Board and reviewers who work so hard to help us know what is the best science and what can be done to improve upon communicating that science. The editors carry the burden of identifying reviewers and pushing the assessment of manuscripts, providing us guidance on what to accept and on what to pass, and within an ever-shorter time frame in order to make decisions in a timely manner. Our reviewers provide expert advice on complex subjects and we value their time and commitment to The Journal. A complete list of all who performed at least one review for JCF is provided in this issue [page number TBC]. Those individuals who performed at least five reviews are listed in Table 3 , but we especially want to recognize Bradley Quon (10), Cliff Taggart (9), and Margaret Anne Hurley (9) as our top three reviewers, and all of whom turned in those reviews on time.
Table 3.
Individuals who performed ≥5 reviews during 2019.
| Charlotte Addy |
| Pierre-Régis Burgel |
| Christine L. Chan |
| Jennifer Taylor-Cousar |
| Christopher Hooper Goss |
| Andrea Granados |
| Margaret Anne Hurley |
| Raksha Jain |
| Andrea Kelly |
| Marina Litvin |
| Nicole Mayer-Hamblett |
| Amir Moheet |
| David Paul Nichols |
| Chee Yee Ooi |
| Melissa Susan Putman |
| Bradley S Quon |
| Sarath Ranganathan |
| Kristin Riekert |
| Geraint Rogers |
| Gregory S. Sawicki |
| Bob Scholte |
| George Martin Solomon |
| Ranjani Somayaji |
| Michael Stalvey |
| Sanja Stanojevic |
| Anne L Stephenson |
| Cliff Taggart |
2. Transitions
After more than six years at the helm of JCF, Scott Bell is retiring from his Editor role (but not from his many other occupations). He has consistently demonstrated outstanding leadership, navigating challenging political landscapes, and always with a smile and a sense of calm. He has steadfastly remained true to the mission of JCF with a goal to build upon the successes of Harry Heijerman and Gerd Döring who served before him. Each has left the Journal in stronger shape than when they started, and we hope to continue the same. We are also pleased to announce that Jane Davies has agreed to take on the role as Deputy Editor. We will count upon her wise advice, pushing us to be even better and more inclusive. Both Scott and Jane are highlighted in our News section. There will be further changes to the Editorial board, primarily to fill gaps and areas of greater volume, but also to assure that the Board is representative of its international scope.
References
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