We embark on a new year, it is important to reflect on the progress we have made and the challenges that lie ahead. In this editorial, We aim to go over the impact factor (IF) and new policies before shedding light on the journal statistics.
After more than 3 years, the World Health Organization has declared an end to the COVID-19 as a global health emergency.1 It seemed like yesterday when COVID-19 has changed our lives and we suddenly adapt to the new normal.
Never before have research and healthcare systems gained the importance and priority they have now. One of our main roles is addressing global health issues. Over the years we have published COVID-19 related articles and this year the submissions on COVID-19 articles were not as ruling as with the previous years. It comprised 10% of our publication. The challenges that we face with these articles is the reproducibility. We do encourage novel contributions from other parts of the globe. The other challenge is the substantial amount of low-scientific relevance submissions; in addition to inadequate reviews or a lack of enthusiasm on the part of reviewers to offer an in-depth review, the editor has the last say in matters of opinion.
This year it also has come to our attention that some predatory site/journal is using our name and logo for publishing purposes. We would like to warn our readers and authors to use only the official links and website for the submissions. We are not connected with these agencies and do not take part in any of thier activities, and transactions that they do using our name.
We are working on expanding the use of the social media for dissemination of scientific information, we always advise the author to contribute in this process.
Halfway through this year the Journal’s latest IF was released, it rose to 1.6 which is higher than the previous year’s (1.422) although IF importance may diminish over time as new metrics are developed, but still IF remains an important metric for evaluating journals. Despite everything that we have encountered this year, we consider this to be great news. It is encouraging that we are adhering to our goal of releasing high-impact and quality articles. Moving forward, we believe this task will be more achievable with the addition of our 2 new associate editors who will assist and review various prior-to-print editing processes. We are delighted to welcome on board Dr. Saad Albtal from the Department of Family Medicine, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Dr. Haifa from the Scientific Research Center, Ministry of Health Defense Health Services, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Surely they will be a great addition to our team.
Once again we would like to bring light to some Journal’s policies for the benefit of our readers most especially our authors. We have announced last year, that the journal does not consider papers that were previously submitted to preprint repositories, although this is a requirment by many journals, we at Saudi Medical Journal find it confusing, inconvenient, and time consuming when screening for unethical previously published (duplicated) articles.
Another thing is the withdrawal process for downgraded articles, downgraded articles are articles that were first submitted as Original article and after the peer-review process and evaluation it was decided to be revised as Brief Communication. We would like to affirm that this decision is final. Authors who refuse to revise and publish it as Brief Communication should follow the policy. We are committed to adhere to the withdrawal policy that is stated in the instruction to author. Only when it is reviewed and approved by the Editor, can the author officially withdraw the paper from the Journal and can be submitted elsewhere.
Annual statistics
This year we received 665 manuscripts from which we processed 354 articles that have complied with the Journal’s requirements (Figure 1). Over the past 12 issues, we have published 3 Editorials, 7 Systematic Reviews, 17 Reviews, and 119 Originals, with a total of 1298 pages. Approximately 74.5% of the papers we published were from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Table 1). Our total rejection rate was 76% of which 47% were rejected at the initial decision. Initial screening plays a very important step as it determines the articles that will advance in the editorial processes. Submissions declined from this step are not sent to external reviewers and reviewed by the Board, hence, no other comments and remarks are sent to the authors. Most likely to be rejected at this stage are articles that are too old, more than 5 years, too specialized, not within our scope, adds nothing new to existing literature, and previously submitted to preprint servers.
- Type of manuscripts received for the year 2023.
- Origin of “peer-reviewed” articles published in the Saudi Medical Journal for the year 2023.
- Average processing time frame of articles published in the Saudi Medical Journal for the year 2023.
The average processing time frame of original articles in year 2023 from received date to acceptance was 2.6 months, from acceptance to publication 1.3 months, and from received to publication 3.9 months.
We will have a whole new year ahead and we would like to thank our readers, authors, reviewers, and the Editorial team for their continued support over the years.
Editorial Message
Our thanks goes to the reviewers who have participated in the excellent review of manuscripts and books for the year 2023.
A. Seval Ozgu-Erdinc
A.A. Gde Putra Semara Jaya
Abdul Meshikhes
Abdulaziz Mansoor Al Raimi
Abdulbari Bener
Abdulghani Alsaeed*
Abdulla Darwish
Abdullah Abdulkareem
Abdullah Abudayah
Abdullah Alarfaj
Abdullah Alkattan
Abdullah Alkhenizan
Abdullah Awadh
Abdulmoein AlAgha
Abdulmohsen Al-Elq*
Abdulmohsen Al-Zalabani
Abdulrahman Alashkar
Abeer Ali
A. S. Chandrakumari
Abuobaida Abukhelaif*
Adnan Mubaraki
Ahlam El Shikieri
Ahmad Alsaeed
Ahmed Abdel Moneim
Ahmed Absi
Ahmed Al Fagih
Ahmed Al-Ameer
Ahmed Alamri
Ahmed Kadhum
Ahmed Kemalettin Koltka
Ahmed Morad Asaad
Ahmet Aslan
Ahmet Caglayan
Ahmet Kokurcan
Aladdin J. Mohammad
Alberto Modenese
Aleksa Jovanovic
Alexander E. Berezin
Alexandr V. Belousov
Alexandra Senegaglia
Ali A. Alshatwi
Ali Alasmari
Ali Aldhebaib
Ali Alhilly
Ali Alshabi
Ali Alyami
Ali Ismail Ali Abdelreahim
Ali Jawad*
Alian A. Alrasheedy
Altug Tuncel
AM Al-Hinnawi
Amal Ismail
Amari Alhozali
Amjad Alharbi
Amr Arafat
Amro Hanora
Amy Gladin
Anan S. Jarab
Andreas Jahnen
Andreas Tiede
Angham Al Mutair
Anil Kumar Sah
Anirudha Agnihotry
Anna Baran
Anna Horwood
A. M. Badowska-Kozakiewicz
Annang Giri Moelyo
Anne Cusick
Anshoo Malhotra
Anusha Yanamadala
Aqeel Alaqeel
Areej Alkhaldy
Arghya Das
Arife Akay
Arli Aditya Parikesit
Armen Yuri Gasparyan
Ashwin Subramaniam
Asmaa Abdel Nasser
Atousa Deljou
Attia Bari
Aveek Jayant
Aws Al-Numan
Ayman Al-hazmi
Ayse Akbas
Badr Aljarallah
Bahar Dernek
Balaji Zacharia
Bander Alanazi
Bang-Gee Hsu
Banu Ordahan
Bareng A.S. Nonyane
Basile N. Landis
Basman Al-Metwali
Bedoor Alomran
Bekir Kocazeybek
Benoit Bedat
Biswanath Basu
Carlos Sanchez-Garcia
Carlton Dampier
Cathy L. Lazarus
Cemil Kayali
Chao Li
Charles Doarn
Cheorl-Ho Kim
Christopher J. Nolan
Christos Kosmas
Chuan Shao
Cristina Gluhovschi
Cynthia L. Arfken
D. Kafadar
Dan Dupont Hougaard
Daniel Reim
Dara Al-Banna
Dayel Alshahrani
Deependra K. Rai
Derya Karasu
Desh Deepak
D. Kostova-Lefterova
Dhia Kadhem
Dian Handayani
Dina Alsohaibi
Dingshen Lin
Dongsheng Sun
Dragos Ioan Tohanean
E. Zangiacomi Martinez
Eiman M. AbdulRahman
Eitaro Kodani
Eman Abdelrazek
Eman Abduljawad
Eman Dyab
Eman E. Elsharkawy
Enas Abdelaziz
Endale Tefera
Erna Rochmawati
Fadime Kilinc
Fahad Al Juraibah
Fahad Almutairi
F. Mohammadghasemi
Fairoz Ali Al-Wrafy
Faizan Zaffar Kashoo*
Farah Dayana Zahedi
Fares Haddad
Farid Alzhrani
Farrukh Majeed
Faruk Buba
Fatimah Al Aldahan
Fawaz Al-Kassim
Feras Alkholaiwi
Ferdinando Antonio Gulino
Filiz Ozsoy
Firas S. Azzeh
Foad Abdallah
Fouad Almomani
Francesco Ria
Frederic Triponez
Gaurav Goyal
Gennaro Martines
Ghada Elgohary
Ghassan Alokby
Giancarlo Micheletto
Gina Joubert
Giovanni Conti
Girmay Fitiwi Lema
Gokhan Ozkan
Grigoris T. Gerotziafas
Gulali Aktas
Gulfem Ece
Gulseren Akyuz
Gunes Senol
Gunnar Hillerdal
H. Mazimilian Mehdorn
Hadi Almohsen
Hakan Cokmez
Hakan Turkon
Hala Abdelkarem*
Hala Amer
Halah Mosli
Halil Ozcan
Halls Suleyman
Hamed Adetunji
Hani Mawardi Mawardi
Hao Zhang
Hassan AbdulJabbar
Hassan Abugad
Hassan Al-Trabolsi
Hatice Simsek
Hatim Al-Jifree
Henk Schonewille
Hesham A. AbdelHalim
Hisakazu Nakajima
Hongxun Wu
Hui-shan Wang
I Reid
Ibraheem Abosoudah
Ilhan Ece
Ilker M. Arer
Imran Ahmad
Inci Alacacioglu
Isra Aljazeeri
Iyad Naeem Muhammad
Jacqueline Maria Dias
Jawahir Abuhaimed
Jigeeshu Vasishtha Divatia
Joan L. Robinson
Jone Trovik
Jong Woo Chung
Joshua Barzilay
Jyoshid R. Balan
Jyrki Vuola
Kazuya Takehana
Kenji Hayashida
Kevin Hellman
Khaled Hamed Salem
Khaled Saad
Khalid Al-Mugheed
Khalid Alshahrani
Khalid Banimelhem
Khalil Abu Jamileh
Kostas Persinakis
L. Faggioni*
Lamia Elgarhy
Lamya Alnaim
Lasitha Samarakoon
Latifa Yahya Al Ajeel
Layth Al-Hajjar
Leman Acun Delen
Leo Massari
Liang Zong
Li-ming Yu
Li-Ting Kao
Magdalena Baymakova
Magdi Salih
Maha Aleid
Maha Alharthi
Maha Elkholy
Mahwish Faizan
Maja Surbatovic
Mamdouh Allahyani
Mana Almuhaideb
Manar Nabolsi
Man-sang Wong
Marcone Lima Sobreira
Mario Lima
Martin H. Steinberg
Martino Introna
Marwa Abdelhamed
Maryam Al Badi
Maryam Al-Zahrani
Marzia Miglionico
Mateusz Spalek
May Bin-Jumah
Mazen Almehmadi*
Md. Rabiul Islam
Mehmet Ali Eren
Mehmet Artac
Mehmet Burak Eskin
Mert Senturk
Michael D. Crossland
Michele Merli
Milan Lepic
Miltos Lazarides
Mine Kiseli
Mirjana Kostic
Misra Abdulahi
Moba Al Shahed
Mohamed AlAgeel
Mohamed I. Kamel
Mohamed S. Abdel-Latif
Mohammad A. Gaballah
Mohammad Abdelghani
Mohammad Abu Assab
Mohammad Alam
Mohammad Alfuhaily
Mohammad Eid Mahfouz
M. Waheed El-Anwar
Mohammed AlAteeq
Mohammed Alhendi
Mohammed Alsaadi
Mohammed Alsakkaf
Mohammed Salih Mahfouz
Mohd Yazid Bajuri
Mohsen Alzahrani
Mona F. Mahmoud
Morten Dahl
Mostafa Waly
Muath Alammar
Muhammad Kashif Munir
Muhanna AlShaibani
Munierah Al-Hussain
Murat Baykara
Murat Gunay
Mushtak T. S. Al-Ouqaili
Mustafa Arslan
Mustafa Said Aydogan
N. Hancerliogullari
Nadia Alhazmi
Nagwa Alamin
Naser Shari
Nasser Shubayr
Nawal Dayoub
Nesrin Alharthy
Nicola Magnavita
Nicola Mumoli
Nicola Troisi
Noorizan Abd Aziz
Nopporn Apiwattanakul
Noura Alqahtani
Nuha Alkhattabi
Nuri Bayram
Odd Martin Vallersnes
Ola A. Bakry
Omar Al Zahrani
Onur Fezvi Erer
Osama A. Samargandi
Osama B. Albasheer
Paolo Boffano
Paolo Cavoretto
Philip S. Barie
Pinar Korkmaz
Pinar Okyay
Polina Popova
Pradeep H. Navsaria
Q. E. Ali
Q. Ji
Qin Xiang Ng
Qintai Yang
Qun Wang
R. A. Gadelkareem
Rabie Soliman
Raghib Abusaris
Ram Das
Ram Samujh
Ramazan Akcan
Rami Abazid
Raymon Siu Ming Wong
Recep Akdur
Rehab Werida
Reinaldo Figueroa
Riwa Kishimoto
Roah Merdad
Ronald Oude Elferink
Rose Costa
Rudyard dos Santos Oliveira
Saad AlKhowaiter
Saad Alqahtani
Sabah Jastaneiah
Saddam Al Demour
Sakina Zerizer
Saleh Alanazi
Salih Ozgocmen
Salina Husain
Samah Abohamr*
Sameh Ahmed
Sameh Shehata
Samera AlBasri*
Sami Abu-Halaweh
Samy Kasem
Satyabhuwan Singh Netam
Sayed Abdulazeez
Selim Afsar
Selma Tosun
Sema Alacam
Serbulent Yigit
Seshadri Reddy Varikasuvu
Seyda Efsun Ozgunay
Shawn Thomas
Sheela Mathew
Sherif Abdelmonim
Shi-Yang Guan
Shoroq Altawalbeh
Shu-Qin yu
Sibtain Ahmed
Siraj Wali
Sirajudeen Shaik Alavudeen
Siva Reddy Challa
Sohaib Al-Khatib
Sohaib Shujaat
Sohail Ahmad
Stefan Opperman
Stefan Stortecky
Stephanie Baggio
Subhi Alghanem
Suhael Ahmed
Suheyla Abitagaoglu
Sultan Alamri
Sultan Alhowti
Sultan Ayesh Saghir
Sumayah Al Helali
Susan Busch
Svetlana Madjunkova
Tahir Hameed*
Taisuke Ito
Talal Alfaadhel
Tamer Abouelgreed
Tatjana Pekmezovic
Taymour Mostafa
Turki Albacker
Turki Al-Hussain
Ulunay Kanatli
Umut Sabri Kasapoglu
V. Bedekovic
Veli Avci
Vikas Gupta
Wafa I. Elhag
Waled Ahmed
Waleed Abdelfattah
Waleed Milaat
Waqas Sami
Wei Kang
Xiang-jun Qiu
Yasemin Astandaa
Yasir Khayyat
Yasser Hadi
Yasser Samhan
Yassin Abdelsamad
Yoichi Nishimura
Yong Joo Kim
Yoshikatsu Nomura
Young Han Lee
Youssef M. Mosaad
Yusuf Aksu
Zaid Zoumot
Zainab A. Al Jufairi
Zakaria Al Habib
Zubair Syed
Zulqarnain Baloch
*Reviewers who reviewed 3 or more articles for the year 2023
- Copyright: © Saudi Medical Journal
This is an Open Access journal and articles published are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (CC BY-NC). Readers may copy, distribute, and display the work for non-commercial purposes with the proper citation of the original work.
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