In a 2010 editorial I reported that the impact factor of JM3 dropped to 0.54 in 2009 from above 1. It was quite a shock to me as an editor who has paid a lot of attention to the quality of JM3 publications. A statement from SPIE concerning the 2009 impact factors is provided below.
“When the 2009 impact factors (IFs) were released in June 2010, SPIE observed that the aggregate IF for the Optics subject category dropped by 8.8% from 2008 to 2009 and that the IFs for SPIE journals had decreased even more than that. In a review of these results, SPIE has identified a significant contributor to these declines.
Historically SPIE Proceedings were indexed in the ISI Index to Scientific and Technical Proceedings (now part of Thomson Reuters) and are now included in the Web of ScienceTM Conference Proceedings Citation Index. However, due to an administrative misunderstanding, the SPIE Proceedings published in 2009 were not indexed before the 2009 Journal Citation Report (JCR) metrics were calculated. This delay in coverage of SPIE Proceedings in Web of ScienceTM appears to be a major reason for the lower Optics impact factors.”
The 2010 impact factor of JM3 has been released. I am happy to report that it is 1.194. I am relieved but not completely satisfied. With all the recent efforts we made to improve the quality of JM3 papers and the turnaround time from manuscript submission to publication, I expect the IF to increase further.
Improving the IF takes concerted efforts. Authors, please submit your high-quality papers. Editors and reviewers, please set a respectable standard of quality and do your best to help the authors improve the quality before you opt for rejection. Authors, editors, and reviewers alike, please be alert to good JM3 papers that need to be cited in the article. All above and the editorial staff, let's do our best to further shorten the review and publication cycle time.
Happy reading!
Happy submitting!
Happy impacting!
