Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health: 40 years of innovative research with societal impact in the field of occupational health.

Abstract

Forty years has passed since the first issue of the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health. Over these four decades of rapid change in scientific publishing, the Journal has stabilized its position as the top international periodical in Occupational and Environmental Health. Our latest (2014) impact factor is 3.454, with a 5-year impact factor of 4.060. The journal now ranks 21st of 160 journals in the Public, Environmental and Occupational Health category of the Journal Citation Report - and the best among more than a dozen occupational health journals on the list.Authors refer to that are important for their own new research. But what makes an important publication in occupational health research? At the very least, it should be an innovative and high-quality publication. One paper alone is rarely responsible for societal impact, but a good one can further catalyze, support, or enhance our understanding of the elements of good practical solutions and cost-effective interventions. The aim of Scand J Work Environ Health has always been to promote good and impactful research in the field of occupational and environmental health and safety and increase knowledge through scientific publication.Over the years, although the goals of the Journal have remained unchanged, scientific focus, research methods, and academic publishing itself have undergone a monumental change.Looking back, the first paper published in the Journal in 1975 was a review by Anna Maria Seppalainen (1) on the applications of neurophysiological methods in occupational medicine. At that time, neurophysiological methods were recommended for the research and diagnosis of vibration and exposure to, for example, insecticides, carbon monoxide, acrylamide, and lead. The first issues of the Journal were rich in exposure assessment methodology and toxicology. Likewise, there were many papers related to occupational medicine. In the third issue from the same year, however, a paper did emerge on sleep length and adaption to shift work among Swedish railroad workers (2), varying the content. A study of the distribution of the research topics of 85 (ie, papers with >100 citations) from 1950 to 1997 in five major occupational medicine journals (including Scand J Work Environ Health) revealed some interesting findings. While a few citations classics dealing with toxicology were published during each decade, classics concerning solvents appeared only during the 1970s and 1980s, and those dealing with work-related musculoskeletal disorders emerged in the 1980s and increased significantly in the decades thereafter (3).During the last ten years, the most popular topics in the Journal have been occupational epidemiology, musculoskeletal disorders, and psychosocial factors. These papers also performed better than average with respect to citations (especially psychosocial factors), while papers on, eg, toxicology and respiratory disorders have appeared less frequently and have also been less frequently cited (4). During the last two years (see the top-cited articles www.sjweh.fi/list_top_cited.php) , many well-cited papers have investigated key issues relating to present working life, factors predicting return-to-work (5, 6), decreased sickness absence (7, 8), longer work careers (9, 10), and higher productivity (7, 11) at work. The solutions studied were often practical interventions related to work modifications and working hours, but also changes in individual, social or lifestyle factors. The evolution of the Journal's contents seems to reflect the current trends in general occupational safety and health (OSH) research policies (see eg, http://www.perosh.eu/research-priorities/). The Journal has come a long way in updating its expertise and focus areas but is still open to all relevant topics in the area of occupational and environmental health. Also toxicology, which the Journal initially targeted, is still an issue in today's working life. …