Federation Journal Committee: March 2004

Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing
Editor-in-Chief's Report

1. Summary

The journal remains healthy with good submission rates. The number of papers received in 2003 was the highest ever at 272 (including cellular engineering papers). The year 2004 has so far followed the same trend. As already noted, the Impact Factor has doubled since 1996.

2. MBEC Submissions

A record total of 272 papers were received in 2003. An all-time monthly record total of 38 new papers was recorded for November.

Acceptance rate

The acceptance rate for papers received in 2002 was 44%. When all the papers received in 2003 are published, the acceptance rate will stand at 42%. This keeps quality high and hence encourages the submission of top quality papers.

Time to first decision

Editorial decisions on MBEC papers are made in less than three months for over 90% of papers. By March 2004, first decisions had been made on all MBEC papers received before January 2004.

Time to publication

Approximately 65% of papers are published within nine months of first receipt. Nearly all are published within a year. In the November 2003 issue (17 papers), all but one were received in or after October 2002 and in their final form between June and August 2003. Of the 21 papers in the January 2004 issue, all but three were received in or after February 2003; they were received in their final form between June and November 2003 (NB some were held up as a result of the Biomechanical Interactions in Tissue Engineering and Surgical Repair Special Issue). In the March 2004 issue (19 papers) all but three papers were first received in or after April 2003 and in their final form between June and December 2003 (again the older papers were held up as part of the Modelling and Simulation in Biomedical Systems Special Issue).

Subject reviews

The following review proposal has been accepted:

  • Robot-aided neurorehabilitation of the upper extremities (R Riener, T Nef, G Colombo, Zurich)

The following review topics are under discussion:

  • Force enhancement following stretch of activated muscle
  • Measurement techniques for the prevention of pressure sores
  • The effect of frequency on the (complex) dielectric constant of electrolyte solutions
  • Automatic sleep analysis

3. Cellular Engineering submissions

From January 2003, cellular engineering papers are being fully incorporated into the Newcastle system. Fourteen papers were received in 2003. The acceptance rate for 2003 will be 57%.

After a lean period for cellular engineering papers in the years 2000 and 2001, the year 2002 saw a significant submission improvement, which has continued into 2003. Two scientific papers have been published in the November 2003 issue and one in January 2004.

4. Journal issues

The majority of papers published fall into the category of 'Scientific Paper', with between 15 and 20 papers per issue. It was decided at the last Federation Journal Committee and agreed by the publisher, that 800 pages could be published, equivalent to an average of 133 pages per issue. This was to avoid an artificial increase in the rejection rate. The complete 2003 volume had 745 pages (755 with the indexes). The November 2003 issue had 136 pages and January 2004 had 142.

5. Impact factor

The Impact Factor has more than doubled in six years and has stayed at or above 1.00 for the past four years. On the biomedical engineering list, MBEC lies 6th for cited half-life, but lower for Impact Factor.

It is worth noting that the cited half-life has lain between 8 and 10 years for many years, which means MBEC is well read and cited. However, only 10% of citations in any year are to the two previous MBEC years, and hence only these 10% contribute to our impact factor. We are troubled to find that many bioengineers do not read MBEC papers when they are published, but wait until they are cited by others.

To double our Impact Factor we need an additional 250 citations in the year being assessed, to papers published in MBEC in the previous two years. We need bioengineers to read papers when they are published.

6. Subject Indexes

The Subject Indexes for MBEC are available on the worldwide web at http://www.iee.org/Publish/Journals/ProfJourn/MBEC by clicking on "subject index". The Subject Index in booklet form, for papers published in MBEC for 2002 and 2003, is sent out to all authors and referees.

7. Free access to the on-line version of MBEC

The on-line version of MBEC is available. Those who subscribe this year also have access to previous years, from 2000.

Free access to the on-line version of MBEC is still available to individuals who register. The aim of this marketing strategy is to increase the visibility of MBEC, and hence also increase library subscriptions.

8. Marketing

The publishers are providing publicity material for IFMBE conferences. The contents of each issue is now emailed to everyone who has registered.

9. Medline

The March 2004 version of Medline includes papers up to the January 2004 issue of MBEC. MBEC is also cited in PubMed and other databases.

10. Referees

I wrote an editorial in the January 2004 issue thanking our referees. Anyone who would like to be a reviewer for MBEC, please email me at mbec@nuth.northy.nhs.uk together with your categories of expertise (e-form available on request).

11. Special Issues

Notes on guidance to editors of Special Issues have been prepared and circulated. The following Special Issues are in varying stages of production:

  • Biomechanical Interactions in Tissue Engineering and Surgical Repair. This is a Special Cellular Engineering Theme Issue from the European Union project (BITES): Alicia el Haj and Åke Öberg, editors.

Four papers (out of six submitted) and an editorial were published in the January 2004 issue.

  • Modelling and Simulation in Biomedical Systems (MEDICON). Ratko Magjarevic editor. Five papers (out of seven submitted) were published in the March 2004 issue, again with an editorial.
  • Neuromuscular Assessment of the Elderly - a European project associated with ergonomics and occupational medicine. Roberto Merletti editor.

Ten papers were submitted in November 2003. Two have been rejected, while eight have been accepted for publication. This Special Issue will be published in July.

12. Deputy Editor

Stephen Smye is now Deputy Editor; he has visited Newcastle for discussions on the role, including possible changes to the Editorial Board and other possible scientific advisory board / associate editor officers.

Alan Murray
Editor in Chief