Journal of Biological Chemistry
 | |
Abbreviated title (ISO 4) | J. Biol. Chem. |
|---|---|
| Discipline | Biochemistry, Molecular Biology |
| Language | English |
| Edited by | Lila Gierasch, F. Peter Guengerich, Herbert Tabor |
| Publication details | |
| Publisher | |
Publication history | 1905–present |
| Frequency | Weekly |
| After 12 months | |
| 4.573 | |
| Indexing | |
| ISSN |
0021-9258 (print) 1083-351X (web) |
| LCCN | 06046735 |
| CODEN | JBCHA3 |
| OCLC no. | 54114375 |
| Links | |
The Journal of Biological Chemistry is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1905. Since 1925, it is published by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. It covers research in areas of biochemistry and molecular biology. The editor-in-chief is Lila Gierasch.[1] All its articles are available free after one year of publication. In press articles are available free on its website immediately after acceptance.
History
The journal was established in 1905 by John Jacob Abel and Christian Archibald Herter, who also served as the first editors; the first issue appeared in October 1905.[2] The location of the journal's editorial offices has included Cornell Medical College (until 1937), Yale University (1937–1958), Harvard University (1958–1967), and New York City (from 1967).[3] The journal is currently published by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Editors
The following individuals have served as editors-in-chief:
- 1906–1909: John Jacob Abel and Christian Archibald Herter
- 1909–1910: Christian Archibald Herter
- 1910–1914: Alfred Newton Richards
- 1914–1925: Donald D. Van Slyke
- 1925–1936: Stanley R. Benedict. After Benedict died, John T. Edsall served as temporary editor until the next editor was appointed.
- 1937–1958: Rudolph J. Anderson
- 1958–1967: John T. Edsall
- 1968–1971: William Howard Stein
- 1971–2011: Herbert Tabor
- 2011–2015: Martha Fedor
- 2016–present: Lila Gierasch
Ranking and criticism of impact factor
The editors of the Journal of Biological Chemistry have criticized the modern reliance upon the impact factor for ranking journals, noting that review articles, commentaries, and retractions are included in the calculation. Further, the denominator of total articles published encourages journals to be overly selective in what they publish, and preferentially publish articles which will receive more attention and citations.[4]
Due to these factors, the journal's practice of publishing a broad cross-section of biochemistry articles has led it to suffer in impact factor, in 2006 ranking 260 of 6,164, while remaining a highly cited journal.[5] When science journals were evaluated with a PageRank-based algorithm, however, the Journal of Biological Chemistry ranked first.[6]
Using the Eigenfactor metric, the Journal of Biological Chemistry ranked 5th among all ISI-indexed journals in 2010.[7]
The 2014 impact factor of the journal is 4.573.[8]
References
- ↑ "The Journal of Biological Chemistry names a new editor in chief". www.jbc.org. Retrieved 2016-08-04.
- ↑ Fruton, Joseph S. (June 7, 2002). "The First Years of the Journal of Biological Chemistry". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 277 (23): 20113–20116. doi:10.1074/jbc.R200004200. PMID 11960998.
- ↑ Edsall, John T. (October 10, 1980). "The Journal of Biological Chemistry After Seventy-Five Years". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 255 (19): 8939–8951.
- ↑ Hascall, Vincent C.; Hanson, Richard W. (August 20, 2007). "JBC on Journal Ranking".
Notably, The Annual Review of Immunology had the highest Impact Factor score in 2005 with The Annual Review of Biochemistry rating second. This raises the question of whether citations in reviews should, in fact, be included in the data base used to calculate Impact Factors.... High Impact Factor journals, such as Science and Nature, publish letters, commentaries, and even retractions, all of which have citations that are included in the numerator without inclusion of their number in the denominator of the Impact Factor.
- ↑ Hascall, Vincent C.; Hanson, Richard W. (August 20, 2007). "JBC on Journal Ranking".
As a result of this policy, the Journal has grown over the past 20 years in parallel with the growth of research in the biological sciences, to the point that today it is the world's largest and most cited journal. This is not, however, necessarily a good thing for the presumed status of the Journal; it may be highly cited, but in 2006 it ranked only 260 among the 6,164 scientific journals evaluated by Impact Factor metrics.
- ↑ Hascall, Vincent C.; Bollen, Johan; Hanson, Richard W. (July 27, 2007). "Impact Factor Page Rankled" (PDF). ASBMB Today: 16–19.
- ↑ "Eigenfactor journal rankings for 2010". August 26, 2012.
- ↑ "Journal of Biological Chemistry". 2014 Journal Citation Reports. Web of Science (Science ed.). Thomson Reuters. 2014.