Message from Hochang Lee, MD, FACLP, editor-in-chief, Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry
‘These are good numbers that we could build upon.’
It’s been 18 months since I started as the new editor-in-chief of our Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry. I want to start by sharing a couple of updates.
First, our 2021 Impact Factor and CiteScore were released recently. JACLP is still too young to have its own Impact Factor and CiteScore, but the 2021 impact factor for Psychosomatics/JACLP increased to 3.099 from 2.386. I am told that this is a historic high for our journal (next highest was 2.534 in 2017). Our 2021 CiteScore also increased to 4.1 from a 2020 CiteScore of 2.9.
What do these numbers mean? They mean that articles published in JACLP are more frequently cited by other peer-reviewed articles than ever before, and that means our articles are being read and cited more frequently by the C-L Psychiatry clinical investigators.
For a subspecialty journal with a relatively narrow range of readership like JACLP, these are good numbers that we could build upon.
The other news is that JACLP has added two new manuscript categories. One is the Invited Commentary written by an invited expert who discusses and illuminates a manuscript that has been accepted for publication. An Invited Commentary should be less than 1,200 words, may contain a table or figure, and should have fewer than 10 references at submission.
A recent example of an Invited Commentary is an article by J. Michael Bostwick on the manuscript by Berens, et al., on the controversial topic of physician-assisted death for nonterminal mental and physical conditions.
The other new manuscript category is the Perspective. A Perspective article may address any important topic on C-L Psychiatry from a personal viewpoint of the author and has the same basic structure as review articles. This article type also provides the author an opportunity present criticism or address a controversy.
We are interested in publishing opinions on important issues of C-L Psychiatry based on expertise and review of literature. A recent example is the article by Beayno and Angelova on the potential role of a C-L psychiatrist in advocacy against discrimination of transgender patients.
I hope that these two new manuscript types will add to more dynamic exchange of ideas and opinions among ACLP members about the new and important issues in C-L Psychiatry.
Finally, an ACLP member asked whether JACLP publishes QI-based manuscripts. My answer: “Absolutely!” JACLP frequently publishes QI articles and would like to publish more of them. A working group from the Hastings Center defined QI as “systematic, data-guided activities designed to bring about immediate improvements in health delivery in particular settings.” Unfortunately, JACLP sometimes receives manuscripts on QI projects that are methodologically flawed, poorly evaluated, or difficult to be replicated. However, a well-designed QI project can have a substantial impact in our field, and JACLP is interested in disseminating these through publication.
For those who are unsure if their manuscript is appropriate for JACLP, please send me your abstract (email: Hochang_lee@urmc.rochester.edu) ahead of your full manuscript preparation and submission. This quick discussion could save a lot of time for authors whose manuscript would not be appropriate for JACLP. Moreover, I am always eager to provide advice on how to improve publishability of articles.