For nearly 40 years, the Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine (JUM) has served as the international journal of medical ultrasound research and education—and by all metrics, 2019 was its best year to date.

In a typical year, the AIUM reports the status of the JUM at the annual editorial board meeting, which takes place during the AIUM Annual Meeting. With the cancellation of this year’s Annual Meeting, we decided to share the State of the JUM with the entire membership.

Key Metrics

When it comes to the health of a peer-reviewed journal, there are several key metrics that the AIUM feels are important:

• Impact Factor: In 2019, the JUM saw its largest jump in Impact Factor in more than a decade. It currently sits at 1.718.
• Submissions: 2019 saw another record in terms of submissions, with more than 1,300 articles. That is an increase of more than 10% over 2018’s record year.
• Acceptance Rate: With an increase in submissions, the JUM’s editors have become more discerning in what is accepted. In 2019, the acceptance rate dropped to 17.7% from 21% in 2018.
• Time to Publication: Over the last few years, the JUM team has worked hard to reduce the time to publication. In 2019, the time to first decision dropped to 16 days and the time to final decision dropped to 21 days. In addition, the time from acceptance to online publication went from 70 days in 2018 to 50 days in 2019.
• Digital Downloads: 2019 was a record year in terms of digital downloads. There were nearly 2 million downloads of JUM content in 2019—an increase of 38%.

Wide Reach

One aspect that makes the AIUM unique is that it is focused on all areas of medical ultrasound. That fact is also reflected in the JUM. The top article submissions categories in 2019 were:

• Ultrasound Techniques/Physics
• Musculoskeletal
• Elastography
• Ultrasonography
• Abdominal
• Pediatrics
• 3D Ultrasound
• Obstetric (Second Trimester)
• Point-of-Care
• Obstetric (Third Trimester)
• Emergency Medicine

These articles didn’t just come from the United States, either. In fact, the majority of articles were submitted from outside the country. The JUM received articles from 6 continents and 19 countries submitted at least 10 articles—more than in 2018.

In a continued effort to increase the reach of the JUM, apps for both Android and iOS were launched—giving users access on the go.

Thanks

Success like this is the result of a lot of hard work from a lot of people. The Deputy Editors, Subspecialty Editors, and the Advisory Editorial Board dedicate a lot of time and energy to this journal. In fact, this group accounts for 25% of all article reviews. Special thanks go to the top performers:

• Giovanna Ferraioli, MD
• James Tsung, MD, MPH
• Leeber Cohen, MD, FAIUM
• Dolores Pretorius, MD, FACR, FAIUM, FSRU
• Jodi Dashe, MD, FAIUM
• Levon Nazarian, MD, FAIUM

The JUM is always looking for great reviewers as nearly half of all initial review invitations are rejected. If you would like to be a reviewer, set up an account here.

In addition to the great volunteers, the JUM’s success is also due to the Editorial Staff, Peer Review Management Staff, Production Staff, and the CME Test Writers and Editor. Working together we achieved an amazing 2019—and 2020 is on track to be even better.

Richard G. Barr, MD, PhD, FAIUM, FACR, FSRU, is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine and Professor of Radiology at Northeastern Ohio Medical University.

Interested in more JUM content? Check out the following posts on the Scan:

• CLEAR!, by David P. Bahner, MD, FAIUM, FAAEM, FACEP
• Ultrasound at 18,000 ft., by Laura Nolting, MD, FACEP