With this issue of Oncology in Clinical Practice (OCP) we are closing the current volume. This has motivated the Editors to share some insights into the Journal’s status quo, as well as to acknowledge those who actively supported us during this year that is about to end.
We have managed to publish all six issues in the 2022 volume on a timely basis, that is no later than the last day of every second month, meeting again this basic criterion of any journal’s credibility. The volume has included 11 research papers, 18 reviews, and 7 case reports. Three new Society guidelines have also become available: the first on diagnostic and therapeutic management of thoracic neoplasms, the second on skin carcinomas and the third on melanoma patients in issues 2022/1, 2022/2 and 2022/6, respectively. At the moment, when the last issue is being published, there have been 18 early publications in the ‘online first’ panel.
This year, the article that has, so far, generated most interest in terms of downloads (over 400) and views (over 2000) has been the review titled: ‘EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-PR25 — tools for assessing the quality of life of men suffering from prostate cancer’ by Jurys et al. from the Medical University of Silesia, Poland [1]. Their review describes important areas of health-related quality of life in patients with prostate cancer. Some of the challenges facing this line of research are elucidated. Assessment of quality of life in cancer patients is an integral part of clinical trials, and it is very important in clinical practice due to significant improvements in the management of patients.
Besides the Editors, the scholars who have authored or co-authored the largest number of articles published this year in both ‘online first’ and/or in the final issues are:
- Barbara Radecka from the Department of Oncology, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Opole, Poland [2–5],
- Izabela Chmielewska from the Department of Pneumonology, Oncology and Allergology, Medical University of Lublin, Poland [6–8], and
- Agnieszka Jagiełło-Gruszfeld from the Department of Breast Cancer and Reconstructive Surgery, National Oncology Institute of Maria Sklodowska-Curie — National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland [3, 9, 10].
The Editors would like to take this opportunity to thank these researchers for their contribution, hoping that those articles will generate readers’ interest and citations. Of particular interest are the articles by the authors from the Medical University in Lublin describing new therapeutic options in non-small-cell lung cancer patients with various genetic abnormalities (KRAS and MET mutations). Another important article presents the evolution of treatment in patients with pancreatic cancer.
Regarding citations, it is always worth remembering that citations are essential in shaping the impact and visibility of every scientific journal. And, as far as the Web of Science Core Collection (WoS CC) is concerned, citing papers published in a given journal during the recent past two years are most contributive. This is not surprising because, as we all know, only such citations will be included in the annual calculation of impact factors if applicable. The three so far most frequently cited articles in 2022 from the past 2 years are included in the References, numbers: 11–13 [11–13]. In the most cited one by Sobiborowicz et al. [11], the authors from the National Research Institute of Oncology describe new diagnostic and therapeutic insights into rare mesenchymal tumors. They summarize the data on molecular pathogenesis of perivascular epithelial-cell tumors and review the role of targeted therapeutic approaches.
The editors would like to take advantage of this editorial to encourage our authors to accuarately cite papers published in OCP whenever they submit (or co-author) manuscripts to any other journal indexed in either Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) or Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), two databases belonging to the WoS CC. This is especially important given that we still have too many articles published in OCP that have never been cited, which means that those articles have not been cited even by their authors or colleagues from their respective research organizations. The permanent underlying importance of citations has now become even more critical in the case of OCP, which has been an ESCI journal since 2018. By the end of July 2022, Clarivate Analytics, the owners of the Web of Science platform have announced that journal impact factors will be officially calculated for ESCI journals for the first time and published in the 2023 Edition of Journal Citation Reports (JCR) alongside all SCIE periodicals. We estimate that the first IF for OCP may be in the region of 0,500 and will be verified around the end of June 2023.
It is almost the Editors’ obligation to acknowledge and thank our most active reviewers. The generosity with which they devoted their time to produce high-quality reviews is essential for for proper processing of manuscripts submitted to the Journal. The three most prolific OCP reviewers in 2022 have been
- Barbara Radecka from the Department of Oncology, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Opole;
- Adam Płużański from the Department of Lung and Thoracic Cancers, the National Research Institute in Warsaw;
- Tomasz Kubiatowski from the Department of Clinical Oncology, Medical University in Olsztyn.
To further optimize the OCP review process, our Editorial Office will be individually reaching out to all reviewers listed in the Journal’s records to update their statuses and specific areas of expertise.
Finally, the OCP Editors and the Publisher wish all friends and persons supporting Oncology in Clinical Practice a Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year, hoping that together we will continue to further improve the standing of this valuable Polish scientific periodical.