JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery—The Year in Review, 2019

The year 2019 was another wonderful year at JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery. I thank the editors, members of the editorial board, peer reviewers, authors, and members of the publication staff for their contributions to the journal. This past year, the journal’s impact factor increased from 3.3 to 3.5, and the immediacy index, or the average number of times an article is cited in the year it is published, of 1.05 continues to lead all other general otolaryngology journals. The quality of our articles is reflected in the 2.5 million visits to our website and more than 2400 media mentions of JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery articles in print, online, and news services this past year. We provided our electronic table of contents via email to more than 26 000 readers. In 2019, there were more than 2.5 million views and downloads of our articles, which is 400 000 more than in 2018. We also had more than 14 000 Twitter and Facebook followers. David Poetker, MD, the Continuing Medical Education editor, produced CME content, which more than 1400 individuals used to claim a credit for at least 1 weekly CME quiz. We received 166 manuscripts associated with the 2019 American Head and Neck Society (AHNS) Annual Meeting, and with the outstanding effort by Neal Futran, MD, DMD, and the staffs of the AHNS and the JAMA Network, we were able to quickly review and publish 30 articles, 5 of which were published simultaneously with their presentation at that meeting.^1-5

This past year, JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery experienced an increase in the number of submissions, from 1102 in 2018 to 1379 in 2019. We received 980 unsolicited original research submissions, which is an increase of 209 (27.1%) from 2018. Of the 980 research submissions in 2019, we published 108 (11.0%). The journal received 49 Reviews and published 12 (26%). The journal published 3 clinical trials, 4 Meta-analyses, 7 Systematic Reviews, and 15 Viewpoints. Despite this increase in submissions, the journal was able to complete manuscript reviews in a median time of 14 days. The efforts of our peer reviewers and editors resulted in a median time from receipt of an original research report to publication of 155 days; the median time from acceptance to first publication was 61 days. All research articles are freely available 12 months after publication on the journal’s website. The journal covered a wide range of topics across the subspecialties of otolaryngology in the past year. The top 3 articles by Altmetric scores for 2019 are shown in the Table. These articles covered topics such as the increasing incidence of depression and anxiety associated with chronic rhinosinusitis,⁶ results of a large-scale mass ultrasonographic screening program for thyroid cancer after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station accident,⁷ and the association of age-related hearing loss with depressive symptoms among older Hispanic patients.⁸

Table.  JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery Statistics for 2019

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Last year, the journal began a new focus on clinical management and decision-making for endocrine diseases of the head and neck as well as a Patient Page section. The journal published 8 Original Investigations in the rapidly changing area of endocrine disorders. The journal also published 3 Patient Pages—“Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy in Children,”⁹ “What Is Lymphedema and Why Does It Happen?”¹⁰ and “Saline Irrigation and Topical Nasal Steroids.”¹¹ The journal was also fortunate to be able to publish 7 Original Investigations focused on the hidden costs of hearing loss, including increasing rates of dementia and other comorbidities among those with untreated hearing loss. We continue to also focus on the role cochlear implantation and other hearing interventions have on patients’ quality of life. We will continue to publish high-quality clinical trials as well as Reviews and Invited Commentaries.

I wish to acknowledge the tremendous work and effort on behalf of the journal by Futran (head and neck) and Sukgi Choi, MD (pediatrics). It has been a real pleasure for me to work with these 2 outstanding leaders in our field. I am pleased to announce that Samir Khariwala, MD, MS (head and neck), and Cristina Baldassari, MD (pediatrics), have joined the journal as Deputy Editors. I wish to also thank Michael Johns III, MD, for his great work as Online Editor and welcome Joseph Bradley, MD, to this position. I also thank departing members of the editorial board Scott E. Brietzke, MD, Robert Kellman, MD, Edward Weaver, MD, MPH, and Bevan Yueh, MD, MPH, for their service. I welcome new members Evan Graboyes, MD, Derek Lam, MD, MPH, Myriam Loyo Li, MD, and Diego Preciado, MD, PhD. And finally, a special thanks to our peer reviewers¹² who so generously give of their time to review submissions, which ultimately leads to the high-quality content within the journal.

I invite all of you to sign up for the electronic table of contents at https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaotolaryngology, follow us on Twitter @JAMAOto, or friend us on Facebook.

Corresponding Author: Jay F. Piccirillo, MD, Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Washington University in St Louis School of Medicine, 660 S Euclid Ave, Campus Box 8115, St Louis, MO 63110 (piccirij@wustl.edu).

Published Online: March 26, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2020.0204

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.