Acta Paediatrica volume 100

Abstract

Acta Paediatrica was founded in 1921 as the first international Scandinavian journal of paediatrics. In the beginning, only articles from Scandinavia were published but it has since become a truly international journal receiving manuscripts from all over the world. The large number of supplements, mainly academic theses, and meeting proceedings explains why we have now reached volume 100 even though the journal will not mark its centenary until 2021. Some of the theses published in Acta Paediatrica over the years are part of the important history of paediatrics. Acta Paediatrica is now one of the three leading journals of general paediatrics in Europe. Its impact factor has increased from 1.277 in 2005 to 1.768 in 2009. Perhaps currently more important is the number of downloads, which for Acta Paediatrica is now more than 300 000 per year. In view of the fact that most readers look for articles via PubMed or via online search engines such as Google, we have decided that it is appropriate to publish more articles in electronic format alone. The printed version of the journal will mainly contain Original Articles of general paediatric interest, Review Articles, Commentaries, Viewpoints, A Different View, Quest for the Diagnosis and Book Reviews. More specialized articles will only be published online. Some Regular Articles, Clinical Observations, Short Communications and letters published in the Readers’ Forum will be considered with the understanding that, if accepted, they will only be published online. The peer-review process will continue as usual, and it will not be easier to have an article published online. PDFs of accepted online-only articles will be published within 5 days and thereafter the final version on average within 6 weeks after acceptance. These articles will of course be indexed by MEDLINE/PubMed and also included in the printed journal Table of Contents. Colour illustrations in online-only articles will be free of charge. Some of the online-only articles will be highlighted by an editorial comment in the same way as other original articles. In addition, for online-only Regular Articles we will include the Aim and Conclusion of the article Abstract in the printed Table of Contents. Many journals have introduced text boxes with statements about the current knowledge in the area and how the article has added to this, or ‘take-home messages’. We will introduce three ‘one-liners’ as a take-home message, which will be presented in a coloured text box. The new editorial policy will be fully implemented from the July 2011 issue.