Retrovirology Blog

Retrovirology's 2007 Impact Factor

This past Tuesday, ISI Thomson released the official 2007 Impact factor (IF) numbers for over 6,000 journals.  Retrovirology's 2007 IF number is 4.04.  Out of 6,000 journals in the ISI data base, this places Retrovirology at number 555.  However, a better comparison would be to rank Retrovirology with virology journals that primarily publish basic virus research articles.  If such a comparison is made, then Retrovirology would rank right below Journal of Virology and above many other excellent and well established journals like Virology.  Please note that in the list below, only Retrovirology is an Open Access journal.  This means that, different from an article published in the other journals, a Retrovirology paper is immediately available in full text form for all to read online, unencumbered by subscription fees.

J VIROL  5.332;  RETROVIROLOGY  4.040;   VIROLOGY  3.765;  J GEN VIROL  3.120;  J MED VIROL 2.831;  VIRUS RES 2.810;  CURR HIV RES  2.653;  AIDS RES HUM RETROV 2.022;  J NEUROVIROL 1.943;  ARCH VIROL 1.839 

 

 

Posted by Kuan-Teh Jeang at 16:50    Comments (0)

 

Readership of printed newspaper continues to drop sharply

One trend that is relevant to online scientific publishing is the relative robustness of the general readership for printed newspapers.  While I am not aware of any data surveying the preference of scientists for online journal articles versus their printed counterparts, the prevalence of readership for printed newspapers is a tightly monitored metrics.  Today’s Wall Street Journal (WSJ) continues yet another article describing the steady and seemingly inexorable erosion in print readership.  Thus the WSJ stated that “average weekday circulation at 534 daily newspapers fell 3.6% for the six months ended March 31, compared with the year-earlier period.”  Some notable declines included the New York Times (-3.85%), the Washington Post (-3.57%), and the Chicago Tribune (-4.44%).  My informal conversations with scientific colleagues suggest that online journal readership has also increasingly supplanted print readership. 

Posted by Kuan-Teh Jeang at 13:57    Comments (0)

 

Most highly accessed papers for February

Below is the listing of the top 10 most highly read papers published in Retrovirology.  The access statistics represent direct downloads from the Retrovirology website during the 29 days in February.  The numbers do not account for additional downloads that may come directly from PubMed.

1. Accesses 1939	Research     Akt inhibitors as an HIV-1 infected macrophage-specific anti-viral therapy Pauline Chugh, Birgit Bradel-Tretheway, Carlos M.R. Monteiro-Filho, Vicente Planelles, Sanjay B Maggirwar, Stephen Dewhurst, Baek Kim Retrovirology2008, 5:11 ( 31 January 2008 ) [Abstract][Provisional PDF][PubMed][Related articles]
2. Accesses 1126	Commentary     Hitting HIV where it hides Andrew I Dayton Retrovirology2008, 5:15 ( 1 February 2008 ) [Abstract][Full Text][PDF][PubMed][Related articles]
3. Accesses 981	Research     HIV-1 infection induces changes in expression of cellular splicing factors that regulate alternative viral splicing and virus production in macrophages Dinushka Dowling, Somayeh Nasr-Esfahani, Chun H Tan, Kate O'Brien, Jane L Howard, David A Jans, Damian FJ Purcell, C. Martin Stoltzfus, Secondo Sonza Retrovirology2008, 5:18 ( 4 February 2008 ) [Abstract][Provisional PDF][PubMed][Related articles]
4. Accesses 863	Commentary     microRNAs in viral oncogenesis Vinod Scaria, Vaibhav Jadhav Retrovirology2007, 4:82 ( 24 November 2007 ) [Abstract][Full Text][PDF][PubMed][Related articles]
5. Accesses 812	Research     Apoptosis resistance in HIV-1 persistently-infected cells is independent of active viral replication and involves modulation of the apoptotic mitochondrial pathway Pablo N Fernandez Larrosa, Diego O Croci, Diego A Riva, Mariel Bibini, Renata Luzzi, Monica Saracco, Susana E Mersich, Gabriel A Rabinovich, Liliana Martinez Peralta Retrovirology2008, 5:19 ( 8 February 2008 ) [Abstract][Provisional PDF][PubMed][Related articles]
6. Accesses 755	Commentary     RNA interference: a multifaceted innate antiviral defense Ajit Kumar Retrovirology2008, 5:17 ( 1 February 2008 ) [Abstract][Full Text][PDF][PubMed][Related articles]
7. Accesses 743	Review     Host-virus interaction: a new role for microRNAs Vinod Scaria, Manoj Hariharan, Souvik Maiti, Beena Pillai, Samir K Brahmachari Retrovirology2006, 3:68 ( 11 October 2006 ) [Abstract][Full Text][PDF][PubMed][Related articles][3 comments]
8. Accesses 550	Review     6th International Symposium on Retroviral Nucleocapsid Ben Berkhout, Robert Gorelick, Michael F Summers, Yves Mely, Jean-Luc Darlix Retrovirology2008, 5:21 ( 25 February 2008 ) [Abstract][Provisional PDF][PubMed][Related articles]
9. Accesses 536	Research     Human T Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 protein tax reduces histone levels James M Bogenberger, Paul J Laybourn Retrovirology2008, 5:9 ( 31 January 2008 ) [Abstract][Provisional PDF][PubMed][Related articles]
10. Accesses 471	Research     Identification of a novel resistance (E40F) and compensatory (K43E) substitution in HIV-1 reverse transcriptase Marleen CDG Huigen, Petronella M van Ham, Loek de Graaf, Ron M Kagan, Charles AB Boucher, Monique Nijhuis Retrovirology2008, 5:20 ( 13 February 2008 ) [Abstract][Provisional PDF][PubMed][Related articles]

 

Posted by Kuan-Teh Jeang at 14:05    Comments (0)

 

Circulation of print newspapers and PetroChina --- what do they tell us about Open Access publishing?

The November 6^th Wall Street Journal (WSJ) contained two seemingly unrelated articles that caught my eyes.  First, there was a piece by Sarah Ellison that “circulation at the nation’s biggest newspapers slid again in the latest six-month period by an average of 2.6%...”.   Ellison pointed to data from the Audit Bureau of Ciriculations that average weekday circulation at 538 daily US newspapers reported six months declines, ending September 30, 2007, of 2.6%.   The second WSJ article written by Andrew Batson and Shai Oster was titled “How big is PetroChina?”.  PetroChina is the main oil and gas producer in China.  Yesterday, astonishingly, it apparently, by some measures, leap-frogged to become the world’s most highly capitalized company with a valuation in excess of $1 trillion.  This would make PetroChina more highly valued than traditional behemoths such as Exxon Mobil or General Electric.

 

The common thread between these two stories is that the world is changing, quickly!  Long-held dogmas are being shattered overnight.  The newspaper circulation numbers tell us that increasingly the dissemination of information is via the internet, and print media is becoming much less important.  The PetroChina story is a huge surprise.  While most of us are grudgingly accepting of the idea that the geocenter of economics, politics, sciences, and various aspects of human society is inexorably moving Pacific-ward, few appreciate the extreme rapidity of this change.  Is PetroChina the first clarion of many more that the best, the biggest, and the most expensive will no longer routinely be Western icons?  Time will tell, but “don’t bet against the trend!”

 

What do these two items say about Open Access (OA) publishing at journals like Retrovirology?  Retrovirology has always been printless, and we fully embrace the ideal that “if you have internet access, you have free full text access.”  As seamless internet access to fee free knowledge sites increasingly becomes the accepted culture, this new reality speaks to our strength and well for our readers and our authors.  Lastly, the PetroChina saga teaches an important message --- ignore the inconsequential, the downtrodden populace at your own peril.  If you write and publish only for the access of today’s elite scientific audience in developed economies, will you be reaching tomorrow’s best and brightest?  

Posted by Kuan-Teh Jeang at 18:12    Comments (0)