High Impact
Scientific Reputation of Journal Increases Under U-M Editorial Guidance

Steve Weiss Photo: Martin Vloet

It’s not as though Steve Weiss didn’t have enough to do. An expert on tissue-damaging enzymes involved in inflammatory disease and metastatic cancer, Weiss juggles the demands of managing an active research laboratory with the teaching and administrative responsibilities required of a U-M professor of internal medicine.

But the opportunity to serve as editor of one of the world’s premier biomedical research journals, The Journal of Clinical Investigation, was simply too good to pass up. “We knew it would be a real feather in Michigan’s cap if we were able to move the Journal here,” says Weiss, M.D., the E. Gifford and Love Barnett Upjohn Professor of Internal Medicine and Oncology. “We felt it was an opportunity to serve the Department and the Medical School. And since the Journal focuses on science and biomedical research — topics near and dear to the heart of all active investigators — we thought it might actually be fun.”

The Journal of Clinical Investigation is the official publication of the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI), a prestigious organization with about 2,600 physician-scientist members working in academic medicine. Since 1924, the Journal has published research on the basic science behind clinical advances. Every five years, ASCI members choose a new editor to manage the Journal, and the editor appoints a new editorial board from faculty at his or her medical school. Weiss became JCI’s editor in March of 1997.

David Ginsburg Photo: Bill Wood

To assist with day-to-day management, he appointed two deputy editors —David Ginsburg, M.D., a Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor of Medicine, professor of internal medicine and of human genetics in the U-M Medical School; and John B. Lowe, M.D., a Warner-Lambert/ Parke-Davis Professor of Medicine and professor of pathology in the Medical School. Ginsburg and Lowe also are investigators in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Weiss convinced 10 other U-M faculty members to volunteer as associate editors who read and make initial evaluations of thousands of submitted manuscripts. Only 14 or 15 papers are accepted for each of the Journal’s 24 issues every year.

“Steve has a reputation as a no-nonsense, rigorous scientist who never compromises his standards,” says Lowe. “During his five years as editor, his focus on publishing the best possible science has made it much more difficult to have a paper accepted for publication and has roughly halved the size of JCI. I can’t say he’s made a lot of friends, but the quality of the publication has definitely improved.”

John B. Lowe Photo: Martin Vloet

In their spare time, Weiss, Ginsburg, Lowe and the U-M editorial board also modernized JCI’s entire administrative infrastructure, converted to a computerized manuscript tracking and management system, and actually made money in the process. They stress that none of it would have been possible without the superb administrative staff that manages the JCI office.

“We are most proud of our success in advancing the scientific reputation of the Journal,” says Weiss. “Scientific journals are ranked by something called an impact factor, which takes into account the frequency with which published articles are cited by other scientists. In the last two years, our rankings have significantly exceeded those of our former competitors.”

On March 1 the U-M Medical School’s responsibility as host institution for JCI’s editorship ended and a new editor, Andrew Marks, M.D., from Columbia University, took charge. The U-M editorial board is looking forward to a break from what Lowe describes as the “relentless stream” of incoming manuscripts.

“If I could do it over, I sure would like to come up with a better way of spending less time at this,” admits Weiss. “By asking all the editors to read carefully each of the papers they handle and to meet weekly to discuss thousands of submitted papers, we ended up making commitments to the process that far exceeded anyone’s expectations. But without a consistent effort to improve the product in a competitive world, the Journal would have suffered. I think our greatest service has been serving as the authors’ advocates to help them improve the impact of their work for the general readership, as well as the scientific community at large.”

—Sally Pobojewski

For more information on The Journal of Clinical Investigation:
www.jci.org

For information on the American Society of Clinical Investigation, go to:
www.asci-jci.org