State of the Journal 2010: Managing Growth, Extending Our Reach—Now the Official Journal for the Society of Surgical Oncology and the American Society of Breast Surgeons

Abstract

We begin this first issue of 2010 by welcoming the 3,000 members of the American Society of Breast Surgeons and assessing the growth of the Annals of Surgical Oncology. The Annals is now the official journal for both the Society of Surgical Oncology and the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBS). The ASBS brings with it a membership whose mission aligns nicely with the strategic vision of the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) and the Annals. The ASBS will have a special ASO edition to be published in October 2010, which will be a valuable additional resource for both ASBS members and SSO members. The growth of the Annals, both in size and content, has been impressive! Over the last 5 years, submissions and resubmissions of original work have almost tripled (approximately 600 articles submitted in 2005–2006 vs. more than 1600 in 2008–2009). The number of reviewers volunteering their critical expertise to the peer review process grew from 750 in 2006 to over 2000 experts in 2009, with an average number of reviews completed per reviewer declining from 2.5 to 1.6. This growth in the number of peer review experts and the range in their expertise reflects the journal’s continuing expansion of breadth, depth, and range of subject matter. We thank them for their voluntary effort that shapes the scientific excellence of the journal. The Annals now covers 18 content areas, as reflected in the structure of the Editorial Board (Table 1). New additions in 2009 include a section on Colorectal Cancer led by Heidi Nelson, MD, and an expansion of Translational Research to include Biomarkers, led by James Cusack, MD. The journal continues to be especially strong in Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Tumor papers, now broken into two distinct groups led by Michael Choti, MD, and Andrew Lowy, MD, respectively. Gastrointestinal, Melanoma, and Breast Oncology sections continue to grow as well. Table 1 2009–2010 Editorial Board sections and section editors