For a solid 3 years, COVID-19 commandeered academic publishing. Academic submissions, however, at least for now, seem to be a lagging indicator of the pandemic. While society has lurched back toward normalcy, we are still receiving papers trying to make sense of what we have been through retrospectively. In some ways, more recent papers include studies that are more salient. They have longer follow-up, have larger sample sizes, and have evaluated the effects of more recent strains of the virus. But other reports seem out of date or not clinically informative. For example, we still receive many papers about multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, even though that syndrome seems to have thankfully and inexplicably largely disappeared. And we still receive papers trying to assess and interpret the impact of school closures on viral spread.
Notably, in the wake of the pandemic, we are seeing more reports about its aftereffects in children, such as the effects of screen time. A concern prepandemic has been exacerbated by the profound increase in screen use as reflected by our most cited and downloaded articles.1-3 Another is the effect on adolescent mental health; we continue to welcome your papers on this important topic as part of our rolling theme.4
We have begun to publish articles in our new section of translational research5 that we think have the potential to significantly improve health outcomes in children. This section aims to help expedite our understanding of disease processes and mechanisms in ways that are accessible to a large audience. We continue to encourage such original research submissions.6
We also launched the theme issue Artificial Intelligence and Pediatric Care soliciting articles on artificial intelligence as it transitions from a theoretical promise to a practical tool across various pediatric settings and domains.7 Additionally, for this election year, JAMA and participating JAMA Network journals, including JAMA Pediatrics, are considering studies of health outcomes and policies that will be featured in news reports, candidate platforms, debates, and public discourse in the run-up to the US election, as well as important topics overlooked by the campaigns.8 We hope the articles in this Health and the 2024 US Election theme will provide actionable evidence for candidates, voters, policymakers, and US and international influencers, and encourage you to submit relevant manuscripts today.
By the numbers, JAMA Pediatrics has had another extraordinary year (Table).1-3,9-12 In 2023, our acceptance rate for original research was 5%. The denominator is a big part of that rate with 2683 manuscripts submitted and it presents a lot of hard work for a fantastic editorial team, Julie Vo and Jennifer Matte, who process manuscripts, field emails and phone calls, and shepherd the entire process of getting things through the system. Our editorial team includes deputy editor Ron Keren, MD, MPH, and an extraordinary team of associate editors: Aaron E. Carroll, MD, MS, Jason Debley, MD, MPH, Andrea Duncan, MD, MSClinRes, Alison Galbraith, MD, MPH, Megan A. Moreno, MD, MDEd, MPH, and Deborah Palazzi, MD, MEd. Benjamin C. French, PhD, provides crucial biostatistical review of all manuscripts prior to their acceptance as statistical editor. This year, we also welcome John M. VanBuren, PhD, as an associate statistical editor. Most exciting, in the year ahead, we have added our first editorial fellow, Amaris Keiser, MD. A neonatologist at Hopkins, Dr Keiser will be working with us and helping us manage manuscripts. But most important, we rely on the thousands of outstanding peer reviewers, who selflessly donate their time and expertise and are listed elsewhere in the journal.13 I give you my most heartfelt appreciation.
JAMA Pediatrics benefits immensely from being part of JAMA Network led by Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, MAS. Submitted manuscripts can flow seamlessly from one journal to another where they might be a better fit. Published manuscripts are frequently cross-linked with editorials or related content in other JAMA journals.
The quality and the quantity of research we receive has enabled JAMA Pediatrics to continue to be one of the preeminent pediatric journals in the world as evinced by the Journal Impact Factor, which is now 26.1. That number is achieved first and foremost by the quality of the science you allow us to consider. Thank you for doing it, and thank you for sharing it with us. I look forward to seeing your best work this coming year.
Corresponding Author: Dimitri A. Christakis, MD, MPH, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Center for Child Health, Behavior, and Development, PO Box 5371, Seattle, WA 98145-5005 ([email protected]).
Published Online: March 18, 2024. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.0203
Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.