AmericanJournalofPhysicalAnthropology,Editor-in-chief’sReport,2016
1. GeneralRemarks
TheDecember2015issuewasthelastregularprintissueofAJPA.Beginning
withtheJanuary2016issuethejournalhasonlybeenpublishedinadigital,on-line
version.Membersmayorderprintversionsofthejournalforanadditionalfee.The
impactofthischangeonthejournal’simpactandvisibilityremainstobeseen.Itis
likelythatthenumberofpeopleoutsidetheAAPAwhohaverecentlybeenreading
thejournalinprintformissmall,sotheimpactmaybeminimal.Itisalsocertain
thatthetrendtowardsdigital-onlypublicationofmostacademicjournalswill
continue.
Inanotherchange,theYearbookofPhysicalAnthropology,althoughcontinuing
tobemanagedbyitsownEditor-in-chiefandEditorialBoard,isnowconsidereda
supplementofAJPAforcalculationofimpactfactorsandotherpublishingmetrics.
Thelandscapeofacademicpublishingcontinuestoevolveandthefuture
remainsdifficulttopredict.Anewpreprintarchivespecializinginthebiological
sciences,BioRxiv(biorxiv.org)hasbeenstartedatColdSpringHarborLaboratory,
modeledonthesuccessfulandwell-establishedarXiv.orgwhichservesthephysical
sciences,mathematics,andcomputersciences.Inconjunctionwithother
institutionalarchivesthatconformtothe“Green”OpenAccessguidelinesmandated
forpublishedresultsfromfederallyfundedresearch,preprintarchivesare
intensifyingthechallengestotraditional,commerciallymediated,vettingand
circulationofresearchfindings.
2. Metrics
During2015theAmericanJournalofPhysicalAnthropologypublishedthree
volumes(156-158)offournumberseach,totaling2,155pages,notincludingthe
AnnualMeetingsupplementortheYearbook.Thepublishedcontentincluded144
ResearchArticles,27BriefCommunications,4TechnicalNotes,1Perspectives,1
NewsandViews,1TheoryandSynthesis,10BookReviews,3Obituaries,4Letters
totheEditor,1Editorial,and8Errata.
Theflowofmanuscriptsin2015remainedhighwithatotalof438manuscripts
received(notincludingbookreviews)(Figure1).Manuscriptsoriginatedfrom52
differentcountries,withthemajorsources,aftertheUnitedStates(169),beingthe
UK(48),Germany(27),Spain(26),Japan(20),Italy(19),Canada(18),France(17),
China(16),andPoland(15).
Total AJPA submissions
Number of submissions
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
2000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015
Year of submission
Figure1:Numberofsubmissionsperyearsince2000
Theacceptancerateformanuscriptsduring2015was47%,slightlyhigherthan
thepreviousyear(44%).Currently,theaveragetimefromsubmissiontofirst
decisionis34.0days,andtheaveragetimefromsubmissiontofinaldecisionis57.9
days.Thisrepresentsaslightdeclinefromlastyear’sreport(34.2daysand60.7
daysrespectively),maintainingthesignificantimprovementoverthepastwhen
meantimefromreceipttofinaldecisionwasnearlythreetimesaslong.Appearance
ofacceptedarticlesonlineinEarlyView(atwhichpointthepublicationinofficial,
searchable,andcitable)isslightlyovertwoweeksafteracceptanceonaverage,the
majorvariablebeingthespeedwithwhichproofsarereturnedbyauthors.
ThebreakdownofpublicationsinAJPA(excludingbookreviews)bymajor
subjectareaisprovidedinFigure2.Fourbroadareasdominatethedistribution:
bioarchaeology/paleopathology,osteology/biomechanics,human
physiology/ecology/behavior,primatephysiology/ecology/behavior.Ifprimate
andhumanpaleontologyarecombined,thatcategorywouldbecomparabletothe
firstfour.
Bioarchaeology/
paleopathology(24.2%)
Osteology,biomechanicy
(22.5%)
Primatephysiology,ecology,
behavior(20.2%)
Humanphysiology,ecology,
behavior(11.8%)
Genetics,genomics,
phylogenetics(8.4%)
Humanpaleontology(8.4%)
Primatepaleontology(3.4%)
Statistics,mathematical
modeling(1.1%)
Figure2:Breakdownofpublishedarticlesbysubjectarea
TheimpactfactorforAJPAcalculatedbyISI/WebofSciencefor2014(theindex
isalwayslaggedtwoyears)was2.379,a5.4%decreasefrom2013(2.514)(Figure
3).JHEsawanotherdeclineinimpactfactorthisyearaswell,thoughitisnotclear
whetherthesechangesrepresentnewtrendsormerelystatisticalfluctuations.
HistoricalImpactFactors
4.500
JHE
3.733
ImpactFactor
4.000
3.500
EvolutionaryBiologyMedian
3.000
2.836
2.500
AJPA
2.000
2.379
1.500
AnthropologyMedian
1.000
0.689
0.500
0.000
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Year
Figure3:ImpactfactorsforAJPAandbenchmarkssince2003
3. Acknowledgements
IamverygratefultotheAssociateEditorsofthejournalfortheirdiligentefforts
inshepherdingthereviewprocessforsomanysubmissionsandforhelpingto
significantlyreducethetimemanuscriptsspendinreview.ThreeAssociateEditors
arerotatingofftheEditorialBoardanddeservespecialthanksfortheirservice:
ToshaDupras,TrentHolliday,andLauraMacLatchy.ThreenewAssociateEditors
jointheboardthisyear:BenAuerbach,KieranMcNulty,andJean-LucVoisin.I
wouldliketoextendspecialthankstoAssistantEditorPippiEllison,oureditorsat
Wiley,GoldaThomasandTiffanyMcKerahanandourproductioneditorsand
Cenveo,ThomasManbeckandLogeswariJayachandran.Iwouldliketothankthe
membershipoftheAAPAfortheirparticipationintheprocessofpeerreview.For
allitsfaults,peerreviewremainsthefoundationofintegrityinscientificpublishing.
Ihopeeveryonetakestheirresponsibilitytoparticipateseriouslyasamajor
elementoftheirprofessionalduties.AndfinallyIthanktheAAPAforthe
opportunitytoserveasEditor-in-chiefofAJPA.