The Figley Fellowship: an entrance to fundamentals of excellent radiology journalism through the lens of editorship and publishing.

What Is the Journal Impact Factor and What Are Its Shortcomings? The journal impact factor is a quantitative method used as a proxy to rank, categorize, compare, and evaluate the quality of scientific journals [2, 3]. Eugene Garfield [3] first mentioned the journal impact factor in Science in 1955, with the idea to help select source journals for inclusion in the Science Citation Index in 1961 [4] followed by its annual publication by Thomson Reuters via Journal Citation Reports. The journal impact factor continues to play an important role in scientific journal assessment and the quality of research work published in these particular journals; however, its use and misuse have grown vastly to include evaluation of the quality of individual manuscripts, individual researchers, and departments by their respective schools, professional societies, and funding agencies. This can particularly affect the careers of individual investigators. Despite the widely accepted use of the current journal impact factor, the conceptual formula of how it is derived is not well understood by many writers or readers. It merely represents the ratio of the number of citations in a current year to any articles published in a journal in the previous 2 years (numerator) to the total number of substantive published articles (denominator) in the same 2 years, or for example, 2014 journal impact factor = A / B where A is the total citations in 2014 for articles published in 2012–2013 and B is the number of articles published in 2012–2013 [2, 4]. The journal impact factor depends on only two variables (citations in the numerator and publications in the denominator). This limitation makes the system ripe for potential manipulation. For instance, journal Why Did I Consider the Figley Fellowship and What Are My Goals as a Figley Fellow? Dr. Figley took the helm of the journal in 1976 at the dawn of the digital age of radiology. At the time, it was called the American Journal of Roentgenology, Radium Therapy, and Nuclear Medicine. Under his direction, the cover was redesigned and the name was changed to the American Journal of Roentgenology [1]. These changes symbolized the changing directions of our field. We are also at a time of significant change that will offer great opportunities. New tools are now available that, if applied properly, will give us insights into the true impact of our scientific work on the practice of medicine. Scientific journalism is a perfect blend of scientific writing, editorship, and publishing. The quantitative components of medical imaging will play a growing role in identifying biomarkers that will aid in diagnosing disease phenotypes, a promising research endeavor that will advance our field. My long-term goal is to serve in a senior editor role at a major scientific imaging journal. The hands-on experience I receive as a Figley Fellow will enable me to see the behind-the-scenes operations of the premier journal in our field. Professionally, I have an interest in team building with other specialties and with industry to enhance the translational research mission. My aim as a Figley Fellow is to develop an adjusted journal impact factor to be used as a surrogate metric to evaluate, rank, and to compare the quality of the journals within the realm of radiology on the basis of scientific and societal impact. I am driven to undertake this project because the current metrics are unidimensional and only measure citations. This system is inherently flawed, and the data can be easily manipulated to overestimate or undervalue the true impact of our work. The widespread belief that the current journal impact factor reflects the merits of the authors’ work fails to take into account the influence a work may have on the practice of medicine. The journal impact factor was devised to assess only a journal’s quality, and the difference between The Figley Fellowship: An Entrance to Fundamentals of Excellent Radiology Journalism Through the Lens of Editorship and Publishing