The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging’s (SNMMI) Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM) recently shared a press release announcing an increase in its 2016 impact factor and its rank among the industry’s top medical imaging journals.
The impact factor, which increased to 6.646 in 2016 from 5.849 in 2015, is identified by the frequency of articles that are cited, and helps determine the journal’s overall industry impact. It is calculated by dividing the number of citations in the Journal of Citation Report year by the total number of articles published the two previous years.
Vanderbilt Radiology Nuclear Medicine Section Chief and Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences Dominique Delbeke, M.D., Ph.D., served as the JNM’s Editor-in-Chief from January 2012 to December 2016, and helped steadily increase the journal’s impact factor.
During her five-year term, Dr. Delbeke had a strategic role in decision making about issues related to the JNM. Her main duty was to handle the review process of manuscripts submitted for the journal in order to select the best articles for publication. She also appointed the Associate Editors and Editorial Board members who helped her in the process. Together, they worked closely to increase the journal’s reach and improve its overall role in the nuclear medicine and molecular imaging industries. Today, the JNM’s impact factor is nearly one point higher than what it was upon Dr. Delbeke’s appointment as Editor-in-Chief in 2012, which was 5.774.
The journal, published monthly by the SNMMI, includes both clinical and basic sciences research articles and reviews from around the world, and is distributed to more than 17,000 SNMMI members worldwide. The review articles are approved for SAM’s credit allowing the membership to satisfy the requirements for maintenance of certification. The topics of the articles published were dominated by oncology, followed by neurology, radionuclide therapy, cardiology, physics and instrumentation, radiopharmaceuticals, general nuclear medicine, pediatrics and infection.
At the completion of Dr. Delbeke’s term, Johannes Czernin, M.D., was appointed the JNM’s newest Editor-in-Chief. In the release, Dr. Czernin said the JNM has the highest number of citations among nuclear medicine journals, the highest influence score and highest average five-year impact factor.
“[I]t is the journal of choice for many distinguished researchers, and we will continue to focus on providing the highest quality in basic, translational and clinical sciences,” he said.
Dr. Delbeke remains actively involved in the SNMMI. She served as the President from 2010 to 2011, and was inducted into the inaugural SNMMI Fellow class in 2016 as a result of her ongoing contributions to the organization. In June 2016, she also received the SNMMI Presidential Distinguished Educator Award. She has since been appointed Chair of the Procedure Standards Committee, which develops guidance documents for the performance of nuclear medicine procedures.
