Entering My Final Year As Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Clinical Oncology

After the 2010 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, I knew why Mark Twain felt compelled to write “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” It was wonderful for so many people to congratulate me on a job well done and for them to inquire about what I would do with my time. The time to answer that question has not yet come. Perhaps a few words of explanation are required. I was appointed by Joseph S. Bailes, who was then president of ASCO, in early 2000 after a search by the publications committee, and I assumed the role of Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) at the 2001 ASCO Annual Meeting. The ASCO bylaws limit the term of the editors of ASCO journals to a maximum of two 5-year terms, and my tenure will end a year from now. The past 9 years have been a great honor and pleasure for me, and I am glad to have a 10th year to lead JCO. To ensure continuity of JCO, a similar search was completed in the fall of last year, and Stephen A. Cannistra, a former associate editor and a current consultant editor for JCO’s Biology of Neoplasia section, was selected as the fourth Editor-in-Chief of JCO, with his term starting at the 2011 ASCO Annual Meeting. During the next year, we will be working together to continue to improve JCO as the irreplaceable resource for oncology that it has become. JCO is a much more complex enterprise than it was a decade ago, and much work will be required to make next year’s transition as seamless as possible. Everyone involved is dedicated to making my 10th year as Editor-in-Chief as productive as possible in recognition of the fact that the readers of JCO deserve nothing less. Meanwhile, as I reported to the ASCO Board of Directors at its recent meeting, JCO has never been stronger. Submissions steadily increase, and the quality of the manuscripts is better than ever. Given the limitations in space, the increase in submissions has inevitably led to a more stringent acceptance rate as we strive to keep the quality of JCO high and keep it competitive with the best medical journals. In recognition of our success, we learned just after the 2010 ASCO Annual Meeting that JCO’s impact factor increased again to 17.793— more than a 4-point increase during the last 4 years. JCO remains innovative among its peers with translated editions in many languages, the broadest possible range of published topics, and the ability to seek improvements in coverage of the entire landscape of oncology. As an example of this, we have increased the number of articles published on the subject of hematologic malignancies by more than 30% in the last 2 years, attracting a new audience of international authors and readers. The future looks just as bright or even brighter as the editors and I look ahead to and plan for the coming year. Changes will include making randomized phase II and III protocols available to readers, podcasting, continuing medical education credits for our dedicated reviewers, and many other enhancements. The only aspect of JCO that should not change is the continued publication of that which is new, true, and practice changing in clinical oncology.