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JAMA Surgery journal receives a record high impact factor of 10.668 making it the #1 surgery journal in the world and the distinction of being the 1st surgery journal to achieve a double-digit impact factor.

JAMA Surgery JAMA Surgery recently announced that its impact factor rose significantly from 8.5 to 10.688 making it the highest ranked surgery journal in the world, as well as the first surgery journal to achieve a double-digit impact factor.  For the past two years, JAMA Surgery ranked as the number 2 surgery journal in the world, second only to Annals of Surgery.  This news vaults it to number one.*

Melina Kibbe, MD, the Colin G. Thomas, Jr. Distinguished Professor and Chair of Surgery at the UNC School of Medicine (SOM), is the journal’s Editor-in-Chief.  She has been at the helm of the journal since January 2015 when the impact factor was 4.30.  Such a large increase in the impact factor over such a short period is a tremendous accomplishment.

Kibbe has adopted several initiatives to advance the reputation of the journal, including the introduction of new article types, adding biostatisticians on the editorial board, reducing the time from acceptance to online publication, publishing online-only articles, extending the journal’s reach through social media, launching podcasts, and introducing a more user-friendly website format.  Equally important are the efforts of the editorial team and editorial board members who actively participate to ensure that the highest level of science is being published in the journal.

“We are very proud to have our UNC SOM Department of Surgery chair, Dr. Melina Kibbe, lead JAMA Surgery to a record-breaking milestone. Dr. Kibbe is an innovative and dynamic leader and editor, and we applaud her and her team’s success in advancing the journal’s reputation,” said Blossom Damania, PhD, Boshamer Distinguished Professor and Vice Dean for Research.

Kibbe continues to credit this impressive achievement as a true team effort that reflects the hard work of the authors, peer reviewers, board members, editorial team, and everyone in The JAMA Network who work hard to get this publication out every month.  She also thanks the readers, and importantly Howard Bauchner, MD, the Editor-in-Chief of JAMA and The JAMA Network.  “I have learned a lot from Howard Bauchner and the team in the JAMAoffice over these past four and a half years.  I am grateful for their support everyday.  I am truly looking forward to the future of the journal and the content we will provide to our more than 70,000 readers we reach each week,” said Kibbe.

JAMA Surgery, which began publication in 1920, is an international peer-reviewed journal.  JAMA Surgery is the official publication of the Association of VA Surgeons, the Pacific Coast Surgical Association, and the Surgical Outcomes Club and is a member of The JAMA Network family of journals, which includes JAMA and 11 specialty journals.  The mission of JAMA Surgery is ‘to promote the art and science of surgery by publishing relevant peer-reviewed research to assist the surgeon in optimizing patient care’ and to ‘serve as a forum for the discussion of issues pertinent to surgery, such as the education and training of the surgical workforce, quality improvement, and the ethics and economics of health care delivery.’

* Impact factor is an objective measure of the world’s leading journals, based on articles’ cited references, and is considered a measure of a journal’s overall performance and relevance to its field.