Great oaks from little acorns grow—21 years of CMI
Authors: K.J. Towner
Journal: Clinical Microbiology and Infection (2016)

The European Society of Clinical Microbiology was founded in 1983 (with the subsequent addition of ‘and Infectious Diseases’ to the title in 1988, forming ESCMID) and initially recognized the pre-existing European Journal of Clinical Microbiology as its official publication. However, the Society did not own this title and was unable to influence the management or the content of the journal in the way that the then Executive Committee wished. Accordingly, the decision was eventually taken that the Society should produce its own journal [[1]Phillips I. The first 25 years from 1983–2008: the history of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.ESCMID News. 2008; : 1-12Google Scholar]. The first issue of Clinical Microbiology and Infection (CMI) was published in September 1995, so 2016 is the year in which CMI finally ‘comes of age’. From the very beginning, the Society intended that the post of Editor-in-Chief of CMI should be an honorary position that underwent regular rotation, being held normally for a term of 5 years. Jacques Acar was appointed as the first Editor-in-Chief, with David Speller as Co-Editor, supported by a number of Associate Editors [[1]Phillips I. The first 25 years from 1983–2008: the history of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.ESCMID News. 2008; : 1-12Google Scholar]. Judith Crane was appointed as Editorial Assistant, soon to be promoted to Editorial Managing Consultant. The first publisher was Decker Europe, initially in Paris, but subsequently with an office in London. Jacques Acar was able to provide the new journal with spacious office accommodation at the University Medical School in Paris. Manuscripts were submitted by mail and all communications with authors and reviewers went through this office, either by regular mail or FAX. All publication decisions were made in Paris and a designated team of Editors was responsible for scientific editing. Two issues were published in 1995, six in 1996 and 1997, followed by monthly publication from 1998 onwards. In addition, a number of supplements were published each year, including the abstracts of the annual ECCMID. The first few years of publication were difficult as CMI struggled for recognition by the international scientific community. The published issues included a mix of reviews, original articles, letters and technical reports, together with an excellent series of continuing education articles commissioned by David Speller. The major problem confronting the journal at this time was that it was not listed in Index Medicus or Current Contents, and did not have an Impact Factor. The Society owes an enormous debt to the editors, authors and reviewers who supported CMI at this early and fragile stage in its existence, and particularly to Judith Crane, who was largely instrumental in keeping our achievements before those authorities who list scientific literature on behalf of the world scientific community. Thanks to Judith’s efforts, indexing in Current Contents and several other lists was eventually announced in April 2000, with listing in MEDLINE/Index Medicus in July 2000 covering issues of CMI from the beginning of publication in 1995. Emilio Bouza became Editor-in-Chief from June 2000 and set-up an editorial office in Madrid, supported by three Deputy Editors, Roberto Alonso, Emilia Cercenado and Patricia Muñoz, with Rocio Fernández as Editorial Assistant, while Judith Crane continued as Managing Editor in Paris. During this period, Blackwell took over as publishers, with offices in Oxford. The first Impact Factor of 1.198 was announced for CMI in the summer of 2003, based on the number of citations in 2002 of papers published in 2000 and 2001 (Impact Factors are calculated retrospectively from the number of citations in the previous year of papers published in the preceding 2 years—which are therefore papers submitted and edited in the preceding 3 years) [[2]Crane J. Indexing, impact factors and the inevitable.ESCMID News. 2002; ii: 23-24Google Scholar]. Once an Impact Factor had been announced, the number and quality of submissions to CMI began to increase rapidly. All submissions were still made by regular mail and all editorial decisions were made by the editorial team in Madrid, but the significantly increased workload meant that alternative management systems for the editorial process were now being actively considered. Emilio Bouza stepped down from the position of Editor-in-Chief in 2003, but the increased Impact Factor of 2.679 announced in 2005 was a reflection of the improvement in quality of CMI achieved by the editorial team during his leadership. Kevin Towner was appointed as Editor-in-Chief from April 2003, with Carl Erik Nord as Supplements Editor and Katrina Levi as Assistant Editor in Nottingham. Efforts to clear the backlog of previously accepted manuscripts meant that Volume 9 (2003) had almost 1300 pages. By this time, CMI had, according to membership polls, become one of the most valued aspects of Society membership. Submissions were now flowing in at a great rate and ScholarOne was introduced in 2003 as a management system for the online submission and handling of manuscripts, again largely as a result of the efforts of Judith Crane. From the beginning of 2004, commissioning of reviewers and initial editorial decision-making was delegated by Kevin Towner to an enlarged group of Editors [[1]Phillips I. The first 25 years from 1983–2008: the history of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.ESCMID News. 2008; : 1-12Google Scholar]. Following the introduction of ScholarOne, a manuscript could be submitted online, allocated to an Editor and sent out to reviewers within 24 hours. Initial editorial recommendations were made by the assigned Editor, with final decisions being made by the Editor-in-Chief and detailed scientific and stylistic editing being completed in the Nottingham office. Each monthly issue now had a standard format, comprising a Leading Article, a Review, Original Articles, Research Notes and Correspondence. At about this time, the previous publisher Blackwell became part of the larger Wiley organization, with ‘On-line early’ publication of accepted manuscripts being introduced in 2004. Kevin Towner completed his term of office in 2008. The achievement of his editorial team is reflected in the Impact Factor of 4.014 announced in 2010 (for citations in 2009 of papers published in 2008 and 2007). Didier Raoult took over as Editor-in-Chief in 2008, with George Schmid as Supplements Editor. The editorial office was moved to Marseilles, with Michel Drancourt as Associate Editor-in-Chief and a team of Associate Editors. Decisions of whether to accept or reject a manuscript were now completely delegated to the assigned Associate Editor. During this period, ‘Themed sections’ were introduced to CMI (consisting of three to five invited reviews on a chosen topic in each issue, organized by a Guest Editor), as well as the publication of ‘Online-only articles’ (with only abstracts being published in the printed journal in an attempt to accommodate the increase in the number of submissions). Mical Paul became Associate Editor-in-Chief in 2013. The increase in the number of reviews published in CMI and the quality of the submissions is reflected in the increased Impact Factor of 5.768 announced in 2015 (for citations in 2014 of papers published in 2013 and 2012). CMI is now in the very capable hands of the current Editor-in-Chief, Leonard Leibovici in Tel Aviv, with Gilbert Greub as Associate Editor-in-Chief and Elsevier as the publisher (from January 2015). In conclusion, CMI has come a long way since it was first planted as an ‘acorn’ in 1995. Each of the editorial teams has worked tirelessly to build upon the foundations established by their predecessors, but the hardest work of all was probably to get the acorn to germinate and to obtain the all-important first Impact Factor that allowed the good submissions to start flooding in. The continued development of the CMI Impact Factor is shown in Fig. 1. Throughout its existence, the task of editing and reviewing submissions for CMI has been entirely unpaid and voluntary, performed by an army of editors and reviewers to benefit their fellow colleagues, science in general and to support ESCMID. Anyone can submit their work for possible publication in CMI, regardless of their personal financial resources or level of grant income. Long may this model of scientific publication continue to exist. CMI is still a relatively young ‘sapling’, but it has now come of age and is in excellent hands for its future growth and development. Happy 21st Birthday CMI! Some of the information in this article on the ‘early years’ is taken from Ian Phillips’ essay on the history of ESCMID [[1]Phillips I. The first 25 years from 1983–2008: the history of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.ESCMID News. 2008; : 1-12Google Scholar]. I am also indebted to Judith Crane for providing additional information and for her support during my own tenure as Editor-in-Chief. The author has no conflicts of interest relevant to this article.