Approaching a decade.

As I write this JMT update, it seems like yesterday that the Internet Journal of Medical Toxicology (IJMT) was transitioning to the Journal of Medical Toxicology (JMT). Can it really be time for volume 10? When one is entrenched in the details, it is easy to forget the big picture. The big picture for JMT continues to be bright. There has been quite a bit of activity for JMT in 2013, sustained in large part by the invaluable efforts of our editorial board and reviewers. The editorial board continues to evolve, with three board members, Russ Kerns, Stephen Borron, and Ed Boyer, rotating off after productive terms. Our two fellow-in-training members, Patrick Lank and Aaron Skolnik, graduated in 2013 and two incoming fellows, Navneet Cheema and Mark Neavyn, joined the board. Navneet has been instrumental, with Nathanael McKeown, at updating the JMT portion of the American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT) website, adding extensive instructions for author section, as well as links to articles available online, podcasts, all of the journals policies, and more. Mark is organizing the online issues of IJMT to make them accessible to members. Mark Mycyk writes a press release for every print issue of JMT, increasing our media presence, and the JMT Facebook page has been much more active with more “likes” weekly. Our ACMT tweeter, Joseph D'Orazio, also includes us in his prolific activity. The entertaining and informative podcasts for each print issue continue to be produced by Dan Rusyniak and Howard Greller. Thanks to the efforts of Chuck McKay and Lynn Lancaster, the December issue included the proceedings from the ACMT symposium on chelation. The Toxicology Investigators Consortium report also appeared in the December issue, the third annual report published in JMT by this group. JMT is partnering with the CDC to offer continuing medical education (CME) for reviewers. The application was approved this fall, and reviewers will be able to collect physician and pharmacy CME for reviews performed. Rick Wang was instrumental in shepherding this innovative project to completion. Thanks to the efforts of Lewis Nelson, JMT was able to copublish the National Association of Medical Examiners Position Paper: Recommendations for the Investigation, Diagnosis, and Certification of Deaths Related to Opioid Drugs. We also published a joint position statement with AACT on Antidote Shortages in the US, developed with the oversight of Silas Smith. Article submissions more than tripled from 2007 to 2013, and rejection rate increased to 50 %. Submissions came from over 47 countries across various regions including North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The number of submissions continues to increase steadily. Full-text article downloads are also increasing steadily from 1 year to the next, including a significant increase of 56 % from 2011 to 2012. As of early August 2013, a Scopus search indicated the following: Journal of Medical Toxicology: 199 citations year-to-date 2013, to 159 articles published in 2011 + 2012 = 1.25 average citations per article. While this does not equate exactly with impact factor, it suggests that our articles are being cited. With this promising data and the help of Springer, JMT has applied for an impact factor. It can take a considerable amount of time (years) to get a decision, but we are optimistic. The editorial board has been tirelessly working toward this important goal. Finally, I attended the International Congress of Peer Review in Chicago in September 2013. The event only occurs every 4 years. Christine Murphy, a member of the editorial board, also attended. It was a fascinating opportunity to meet some of the big names in medical publishing and hear them speak. It was also interesting to discuss the latest research in peer review, including the controversy about open access and conflicts of interest. While much has been done in this area, there are many opportunities for further research. As we approach our tenth year, I extend my appreciation to all of the editorial staff, reviewers, and editorial board members, as well as the previous editors. I also want to thank ACMT for its incredible support of this important endeavor.