ICES Journal of Marine Science (IJMS) has just achieved its highest ever impact factor of 2.525.
A journals impact factor (JiF) reflects the average number of citations to recently published articles and serves as a measure of the relative importance of a journal within its field. This information is released on an annual basis by Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Report.
IJMS Editor-in-Chief, Howard Browman, cites improved manuscript handling time, more stringent pre-screening and criteria for acceptance, and an expanded editorial board amongst others changes as factors that have contributed to IJMS achieving a greater level of influence in the marine science community.
An improving JiF also attracts more papers. Submissions to IJMS have risen from around 400 in 2012 to 510 in 2013 and according to Browman, "we are on track to reach 600 in 2014".
Among the traditional research papers, comment, and review articles, IJMS readers will also find short but stimulating Food for thought articles and Quo Vadimus articles which look to the future.
Looking forward, Browman hopes to go further. "My objective when I started was to take our journal to the top of the rankings in the Fisheries category, which would require a JiF of 2.6-3.0. I continue to work hard to achieve that."
Future issues
IJMS are excited about their forthcoming article theme sets, which will include:
- Integrated Assessments
- Bycatch and Discards
- Marine Harvest in the Arctic
- 100 years since Hjort (1914)
- Recruitment Variability in the Great Fisheries of the World
- Stock Assessment Methods for Sustainable Fisheries
- Risk Assessment in Marine Science
- Gadoid Fisheries: the Ecology and Management of Rebuilding
- Predation as a Factor in the Early Life History of Fishes
- 25 years since Bailey and Houde
- 60 years Since Sverdrup’s Critical Depth Hypothesis
- Marine Mammal Bycatch and Depredation
- Resilience and Marine Ecosystem Services
- Exploring the expansion of northeast Atlantic mackerel
