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Ann Surg Oncol (2010) 17:22552259 DOI 10.1245/s10434-010-1224-8
EDITORIAL
Annals of Surgical Oncology: The Global Journal for Surgeons Treating Patients with Cancer
Charles Balch, MD1, Deborah Whippen2, V. Suzanne Klimberg3, and Mark Roh, MD4
1Department of Surgery, John Hopkins Medical Center, Baltimore, MD; 2Editorial Ofce, Annals of Surgical Oncology, Orange Park, FL; 3Department of Surgery, Division of Breast Surgical Oncology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR; 4Department of Surgery, MD Anderson Cancer Center Orlando, Orlando, FL
The Annals of Surgical Oncology is in its 17th year of publication. As the journal has matured, it has become the most cited surgical oncology journal published and has been adopted as the venue for communicating new knowledge by surgeons all over the world. Manuscript submissions have increased by 65% between 2007 and 2009, the majority (70%) of which now originate from outside the United States (Fig. 1).1 The Annals is also the primary resource for surgeons practicing in the United States, both in academic and community practice settings, because it is read by all members of the Society of Surgical Oncology (the majority of whom are in an academic practice) and the American Society of Breast Surgeons (the majority of whom are in a community-based practice). The Annals has also become an ofcial journal with surgical and oncology societies in Europe, Latin America, and Africa. Thus, the readership and authorship constituency of the Annals of Surgical Oncology now reaches across the globeboth in print and electronically for surgeons treating patients with cancer.
The scientic value of the journal is benchmarked with the Science Citation index. We are pleased to report that the journals impact factor has increased almost 2 points to4.13, and the journal is now ranked 6th out of 166 surgery journals (Fig. 2, Table 1). This increase in impact is signicant because it occurred despite an increased number of published pages from 2006 to 2007 (1753 vs 3637 printed pages), a variable that can push a journals measured impact downward by expanding the denominator. Since the number of published pages remained stable over the past
2 years, we are hopeful that the impact factor will continue to increase.
During 2009, articles published in the Annals of Surgical Oncology in 2007 and 2008 were cited...