Journal maintains top position for fourth year running

Reston, Va. - The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM)-the flagship publication of the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM)-has once again been ranked the top medical imaging journal worldwide, according to new data released in the 2011 Journal Citation Reports published by Thomson Reuters. This is the fourth consecutive year in which JNM has taken the top honors.

"JNM is known for its cutting-edge clinical and basic science research in the field of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging," said Dominique Delbeke, MD, PhD, editor-in-chief of JNM and professor and director of nuclear medicine and positron emission tomography in the Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. "Our editorial team reviews research from around the world to bring JNM's readers the most thorough and meaningful advances in the field."

JNM-a peer-reviewed, monthly publication-earned an impact factor of 6.381, surpassing other imaging journals such as Radiology, Circulation-Cardiovascular Imaging and NeuroImage, as well as all nuclear medicine journals, including the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Seminars in Nuclear Medicine and Clinical Nuclear Medicine.

The Thomson Reuters Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) measures a journal's impact-or significance-based on the number of article citations compared to the total number of articles published. The impact factor-a quantitative measure of the frequency with which an article in a journal is cited-is used to gauge the overall influence of a journal within scientific, professional and academic communities.

The impact factor is often used as a measure of the quality and influence of medical journals among researchers. For more than 45 years, Thomson Reuters' ISI has provided a systematic and objective way for librarians, researchers and other decision-makers to measure influence in the global research community.

The Journal Citation Report also publishes several other measurements for journals, including the total citations, immediacy index, and five-year impact factor. In the 2011 report, JNM saw increases in all of these categories.

"We are honored to have Thomson Reuters recognize JNM as one of the most respected journals in the imaging field," noted Frederic H. Fahey, DSc, SNM president. "SNM is committed to maintaining the journal's level of excellence and serving as a leader in the nuclear medicine and molecular imaging field."

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