Malaria Journal Ranks Number One in Field of Tropical Medicine

BioMed Central, the world’s largest publisher of open access scientific journals, today announced that its Malaria Journal is the most highly cited journal in the field of Tropical Medicine, according to the latest impact factors in the newly published 2006 Journal Citation Report*. The new rankings recognize BioMed Central’s journals for publishing high-quality, highly cited research, and underline the increasing influence of open access journals in the world of scientific research and publishing.

Malaria Journal, launched by BioMed Central in 2002, is the only scientific journal dedicated exclusively to malaria research. Its 2006 impact factor of 2.75, up from 2.14 in 2005, makes it the number one ranked journal in the field of Tropical Medicine, up from number two in 2005. Malaria Journal also ranked as the fifth most-cited journal in the field of Parasitology for the second year in a row. These impressive rankings recognize the unique contribution made by Malaria Journal to the fast-growing field of Tropical Medicine, and underline the importance of freely available, open access research to practitioners and researchers working in the developing world.

Some additional highlights from this year’s impact factor rankings include the first-ever impact factor for BMC Immunology. With an impact factor of 3.04, BMC Immunology was ranked earlier than expected, underlining the journal’s quality and value to the scientific community. The journal Arthritis Research and Therapy improved its impact factor, increasing from 3.48 to 3.80. The new score makes it the sixth most-cited journal in the field of Rheumatology, up from the eighth in 2005. In addition, BMC Evolutionary Biology’s impact factor of 4.45 makes it the 6th most highly cited journal in the Evolutionary Biology category for the second year in a row.

The median impact factor for all BioMed Central journals rose from 2.71 to 2.74. Thanks to the sustained growth of BioMed Central’s journals, this year’s impact factors are based on many more published articles than in previous years, and so represent a far larger total number of citations.

“These impact factors and rankings once again demonstrate that BioMed Central journals successfully combine open access with high quality peer-reviewed publication,” said Matthew Cockerill, publisher of BioMed Central. “Malaria Journal’s achievement in becoming the most highly cited journal in the field of Tropical Medicine within just 5 years is an impressive testament to the commitment and dedication of its Editor-in-Chief, Marcel Hommel, and to the critical importance of open access to the latest research relevant to global health issues.”

Several journals in the BMC series, BioMed Central’s collection of open access biological and clinical research journals, also received improved impact factors. The impact factor of BMC Cell Biology improved for the third year in a row, increasing from 2.65 to 2.74; BMC Microbiology jumped from 2.18 to 2.90; and BMC Cancer earned an impact factor of 2.36, an increase from last year’s 1.99. Other BMC Series titles to receive improved impact factors include BMC Gastroenterology (1.76) and BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders (1.46). The BioMed Central journals Breast Cancer Research (4.16) and Critical Care (3.12) also received improved Impact Factors.