Purpose: The time from article submission to publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals is variable and can be prolonged, which slows the dissemination of research and can influence the academic progress of authors. This study evaluated the publication times for articles in radiology journals, in particular the relationship between turnaround times and journal impact factors (IFs).
Methods: Bibliometric data was obtained from Journal Citation Reports to conduct a comparative analysis of radiology journals against those in other disciplines of clinical medicine using highest IF, median IF, cited half-life, immediacy index, and number of journals. Journals from various radiology subcategories were further examined to assess IF trends over time. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to identify any statistically significant relationships between IF and other variables.
Results: Among 28 medical disciplines, there was a significant positive correlation of 0.63 between the number of journals and the highest journal IF of a given discipline. Among 135 radiology journals categorized into 12 subcategories, there was a similar significant correlation of 0.64. For high-ranking radiology journals, the median time from submission to publication online was 22.7 weeks [IQR = 9.3] and median time from submission to publication in print was 37.9 weeks [IQR = 7.1]. The former time interval showed a positive correlation of 0.58 with journal IF at p < 0.05.
Conclusion: There is wide variation in the time from submission to publication in radiology journals. Authors can expect a longer turnaround time when publishing in higher-impact journals.
Keywords: Academic radiology; Impact factor; Publication times.
Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.