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The Journal of Physiology Annual Report 2012–13. A year of progress

2013; Wiley; Volume: 591; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1113/jphysiol.2012.250829

1469-7793

David J. Paterson, Carol Huxley, Cornelia Schnelle, Sally Howells,

Cardiovascular Function and Risk Factors

These days, readers of the scholarly literature usually find what they want via keyword searching and are often unconcerned with which journal is carrying the article of interest. However, as authors they care very much about where their articles are published. This latest Annual Report of The Journal of Physiology is addressed to readers as authors looking for an appropriate home for their research. From this perspective, we review developments over the past year, present plans for the future and review the latest journal statistics. Amongst primary research journals in the Physiology category, The Journal of Physiology ranks first in Total Cites (46,154) and Cited Half-life (>10.0), second in Immediacy Index (1.386), Eigenfactor Score (0.08269) and Article Influence Score (1.91), third in number of articles published (420), and fourth in Impact Factor (4.881). Broader visibility of The Journal is reflected in the increased number of downloads made over the year. For the first time, the number of full text downloads has exceeded 5 million – an impressive achievement (Fig. 1). The Journal of Physiology Full text and abstracts accesses from 2006 to 2012 The Journal of Physiology continues to have a strong interest in all areas of physiology. The past 18 months have seen us follow our strategy (Paterson 2011) to reconnect with, and attract content from, research communities that have traditionally been The Journal's strongholds. In particular, neuroscience, biophysics and computational physiology (details below). Future initiatives for 2013 will focus on cardiovascular physiology with a call for submissions in molecular, cellular and integrative aspects of cardiac arrhythmia. Above and beyond these initiatives, we retain a keen interest in all original work that enhances our quantitative and mechanistic understanding of physiology irrespective of the spatial domain of study. Theoretical papers and papers that use computational models to further our understanding of physiological processes will be considered if based on experimentally derived data, and if the hypothesis advanced is directly amenable to experimental testing (see Extra information for modelling papers; http://jp.physoc.org/site/misc/author.xhtml#modelling). While emphasis is on human and mammalian physiology, work on lower vertebrate or invertebrate preparations may be suitable if it furthers the understanding of the functioning of other organisms including mammals. We have also extended our scope in neuroscience to include papers covering cognition, in vivo cortical function and sensory processing, optogenetics, structure/function (detailed anatomy linked to physiology) and integrative neurophysiology. Our focus remains on mechanism and function. Submissions to The Journal of Physiology in 2012 rose to 1613, a 10.5% rise, continuing the trend seen in 2011. The breakdown of editorial decisions remained unchanged in 2012, with a 25% acceptance rate and 29% of submitted papers being rejected without review (Rejected – Unsuitable/Triage) (Fig. 2). These statistics reflect continuing commitment by the Board to publish only those papers that make a significant impact in the field and to save authors and Editors time by rejecting, without review, papers which in the opinion of both a Senior and a Reviewing Editor are unlikely to be acceptable without major revision. The breakdown of editorial decisions The Editorial Office aims to produce a first decision within 4 weeks of submission. The overall average time to first decision remains below target at 25 days, and the time to first decision for papers receiving a full reviewer report with the decision is 33 days. Papers are published online in accepted manuscript form within a week of acceptance on both our Highwire and Wiley Online Library sites. A fully copy-edited, formatted and corrected version of the paper is published online within 10 working days of receipt of author proof corrections, on average within 5 weeks of acceptance. These formats are designated as the Accepted Article and Early View respectively, and are citable using the doi, for example: Douard V & Ferraris RP (2013). The role of fructose transporters in diseases linked to excessive fructose intake. J Physiol; DOI:10.1113/jphysiol.2011.215731 The Journal of Physiology primarily publishes original research papers, with nearly two-thirds of papers (353 in total) being in this category. All Review content is invited and represents just over one-tenth of papers published. In 2012, there were 68 review articles, which were commissioned by our Reviews Editor, or were linked to a Journal-sponsored symposium. Commentaries, perspectives and editorials (including Journal Club, CrossTalk debates and Letters) totalled 126 in 2012 (Fig. 3). These have added value and interest to The Journal for our readers, and ensure that our research reaches a broad audience. Article types in The Journal in 2012 Our 1 September 2012 issue marked the first anniversary of the publication of our JP Neuroscience (JPn) issues. In response to the neuroscience community, the aim of JPn is to consolidate for the benefit of readers those papers elucidating physiological mechanisms in the brain and nervous system. The issues have attracted a high number of readers and submissions are rising, so JPn will continue to be produced over the coming year. Our first dedicated Computational Physiology issue was published in September 2012, organised by Editors Andrew McCulloch and Nic Smith. The issue contained 13 research papers presenting models and research data from groups investigating cardiac physiology. With this issue The Journal of Physiology intends to signal its interest in computational physiology and modelling papers. We aim to become the journal of choice for research in this area. http://jp.physoc.org/content/590/18/4401.full CrossTalk Editor Jerry Dempsey has worked tirelessly to launch a series of debate-style articles. The first of our CrossTalk articles, published in June 2012, featured Malcolm Kohler and Peretz Lavie debating whether or not most of the cardiovascular consequences of obstructive sleep apnoea are due to increased sympathetic activity. Subsequent debates cover respiratory muscle training and exercise tolerance, and whether the intermittent hypoxia attending severe obstructive sleep apnoea leads to alterations in brain structure and function. The aim of CrossTalk articles is to provide readers with explicit accounts of both sides of a current controversy in physiology, allowing them to understand the arguments and arrive at an informed conclusion on the topic. Comments on the articles can be submitted by readers and will be published if deemed by the editors to contribute substantially to the topic under discussion. All CrossTalk articles can be found at: http://jp.physoc.org/cgi/collection/crosstalk As a service to readers, The Journal of Physiology commissions review articles on current research themes in physiology. Some of these are stand-alone review articles providing an overarching view on a topic of current interest by recognised experts such as ‘Synaptic integration in dendrites: exceptional need for speed’ by Nace L. Golding & Donata Oertel, and ‘Physiological adaptations to low-volume, high-intensity interval training in health and disease’, authored by Martin J. Gibala, Jonathan P. Little, Maureen J. MacDonald & John A. Hawley. All review articles can be found at: http://jp.physoc.org/cgi/collection/review_articles The majority of our reviews are sets of articles presenting a range of views on the state of research at a particular point in time, based on a recent symposium or commissioned by one of our Editors. Reviews published in 2012 featured: A Special Issue focusing on Epithelial biology in the gastrointestinal system, organised by Deputy Editor-in-Chief Kim Barrett. http://jp.physoc.org/content/590/3/419.full A set of Symposium Reviews on Cortical inhibitory neuron ‘basket cells’ from a Journal of Physiology-sponsored Symposium given at SfN's Neuroscience 2011 meeting. http://jp.physoc.org/content/590/4/667.full Ahead of the 2012 London Olympic Games, The Journal of Physiology sponsored a meeting on The Biomedical Basis of Elite Performance in March, with concomitant publication of review articles based on the talks. http://jp.physoc.org/content/590/5/1047.full Symposium Reviews from the Journal–sponsored Festschrift for Roger Nicoll of UC San Francisco, one of The Journal's Consulting Editors. http://jp.physoc.org/content/590/10/2201.full A Special Issue on voltage gated ion channels to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Hodgkin–Huxley papers published in The Journal of Physiology in 1952. http://jp.physoc.org/content/590/11/2569.full Symposium Reviews on Orai channels arising from a Journal of Physiology-sponsored Satellite Symposium at the 2012 annual meeting of the Biophysical Society. http://jp.physoc.org/content/590/17/4155.full Symposium Reviews based on a Journal-sponsored symposium on Red blood cell mechanisms of tissue blood flow control given at Experimental Biology 2012. http://jp.physoc.org/content/590/20/4983.full Symposium Reviews arising from a Journal-sponsored symposium at Physiology 2012 in Edinburgh on Blood flow regulation: from rest to maximal exercise. http://jp.physoc.org/content/590/24/6267.full Commentaries on content of particular interest and editorials on wider issues remain an integral part of The Journal. During 2012 we recognised the 125th anniversary of the American Physiological Society in an Editorial (Barrett & Paterson, 2012), noting the increasing links between the US and UK Physiological Societies, now firmly cemented via the recent announcement of a new jointly owned open access journal, Physiological Reports. Mike Joyner's final Translational Perspectives article for The Journal (Joyner, 2012) focused on a paper by Shibata et al. (2012) reporting reversal of orthostatic intolerance by exercise training. Mike's call to medicalise deconditioning received widespread coverage in the media, exemplifying the power of a challenging commentary article to engage a wider audience. We have continued to evolve our Translational Perspectives over the past year, and in order to give these commentaries greater immediacy and stronger links to the papers we have introduced short Translational Perspectives paragraphs written by the authors. Editors will recommend papers for author-generated Translational Perspectives and the paragraphs will be subject to peer review. This will supplement our Key Points summaries as browsing aids for busy readers who need to understand quickly what is new and interesting in a paper before investing time in further reading. We hope that our commentaries and perspectives bring Journal content to the attention of readers in other disciplines and emphasise the importance of physiological research in understanding biological systems and the treatment of disease. Our Statistical Perspectives series, a series of Editorials by Statistics Editor Gordon Drummond and biomedical statisticians Sarah Vowler and Brian Tom, was concluded in 2012. These articles aim to provide authors with clear guidance on best practice in statistical reporting, and authors will be advised to incorporate these recommendations into their papers. All the articles can be read at: http://jp.physoc.org/cgi/collection/stats_reporting The different types of commentary articles can be found at: http://jp.physoc.org/cgi/collection/perspectives http://jp.physoc.org/cgi/collection/translational_perspectives http://jp.physoc.org/cgi/collection/journal_club During 2012 appointments to the Editorial Board were made to signal our interest in specific areas: Jaideep Baines from Calgary, Ruth Murrell-Lagnado from Cambridge, UK, and Derek Bowie from Montreal join the Board to support our strong neuroscience team Ken Baldwin from UC Irvine brings additional expertise to our muscle and exercise team Peying Fong from Manhattan, KS, brings expertise in ion channels and epithelial transport Virginia Huxley from Columbia, MO, covers microcirculation, especially transvascular water and solute transport Kathleen Morgan from Boston, MA, supports vascular biology, cardiovascular disease, cytoskeleton, smooth muscle cell, signal transduction and aortic stiffness Louise Robson from Sheffield, UK, and Gary Mawe of Burlington, VT, expand our expertise in renal and gastric physiology Hartwig Siebner from Copenhagen, Denmark, joins our busy motor control group of Editors Sam Wu of Houston, TX, provides expertise in retinal neurophysiology Mu-ming Poo (Berkeley & Shanghai) and Denis Noble (Oxford), currently President of IUPS, join our group of eminent Consulting Editors. Further appointments take effect in 2013: Bruce Smaill from Auckland, New Zealand, covers cardiac fibrosis and modelling Keith Sharkey from Calgary adds further expertise in gastrointestinal physiology Nanduri Prabhakar from Chicago, IL, adds expertise in O2 sensing and physiological consequences of chronic hypoxia Reinhold Penner from Hawaii will cover calcium signalling and influx Scott Powers from Gainsville, FL, and Ylva Hellsten from Copenhagen, Denmark, join the muscle and exercise team Julie Chan from Taiwan is appointed to cover autonomic neuroscience redox signalling Zhuan Zhou from Beijing, China, will provide expertise on synaptic transmission, molecular neuroscience and circuits. We were delighted that Consulting Editor Colin Blakemore was awarded the Ralph W. Gerard prize in neuroscience at the SfN 2012 meeting in recognition of his outstanding contribution to research, and Consulting Editor Frances Ashcroft received a 2012 L’Oréal-UNESCO award for Women in Science. Consulting Editor Carol Robinson has been made a Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (DBE) for Services to Science and Industry in the New Year Honours 2013. The Editorial Board of The Journal of Physiology can be found at: http://jp.physoc.org/site/misc/edboard.xhtml We have begun to use new media to communicate with a wider audience. Over the past 12 months, filmed interviews with Consulting Editors Peter Ratcliffe, Colin Blakemore, Peter Hunter, David Attwell, Frances Ashcroft and Bert Sakmann were published to coincide with appropriate events or issues. The interviews provide an overview of the work of these eminent physiologists, and communicate the ‘excitement of physiology’ to a broader audience. Other Consulting Editors will be filmed over 2013. The interviews are freely available on our website at http://jp.physoc.org/site/misc/editorinterviews.xhtml as well as on YouTube, and we encourage their use for outreach and education by schools, university physiology departments and careers advice centres. Continuing our initiative to raise the profile of The Journal of Physiology at key major international meetings in the USA, The Physiological Society supported stands at the Biophysical Society's 56th Annual Meeting, Experimental Biology 2012 and SfN's Neuroscience 2012. As the process of publishing becomes ever more impersonal and automated, an opportunity to engage with the human faces behind The Journal is clearly welcomed by our readers and authors. Nominations for our inaugural Early Investigator Prize have steadily accumulated over 2012. The winners will be announced in April and we will invite the recipients to a presentation at the meeting of the International Union of Physiological Societies (IUPS) in Birmingham, UK, in July 2013. http://jp.physoc.org/site/misc/earlyinvestigatorprize.xhtml The success of our dedicated issues, introduction of the Early View version of papers and new opportunities presented by our Publisher for collating material outside the traditional issue format has transformed and extended our vision of how The Journal of Physiology content can be presented to readers. Editors at the 2012 summer Board meeting were excited by the prospect of a more thematic and coordinated approach to the presentation of content and the Computational Physiology issue of September 2012 shows that this can work for research papers as well as reviews. Authors will have their papers published online as quickly as possible via Early View publication, leaving us free to connect content more intelligently in our issues. In 2013, a special focus on cardiac physiology is planned and a dedicated issue on arrhythmias will be promoted at the American Heart Association meeting, Dallas, TX, in November 2013. Editorials published throughout the year will elaborate on plans for thematic approaches that cross the tissue/system/organ sectionalisation currently underpinning our content organisation. With the increase in web traffic coming from mobile devices, we are pleased to now have available a mobile-optimised version of the website for those wishing to read The Journal on the go. We look forward to an exciting year in which we refine how our content is published to provide authors and readers with the benefits of a specialist journal alongside the traditional benefits of a general journal. As always, we acknowledge the invaluable role of the many expert referees who provide us with constructive reports within our deadlines. We depend on their expertise and goodwill and thank them all for their work over the past year. And once again we invite and welcome feedback from readers, which should be directed to showells@physoc.org.