Malaria Journal Ranks Number One in Field of Tropical Medicine

[<natasha.robshaw@biomedcentral.com>]

Malaria Journal Ranks Number One in Field of Tropical Medicine

New Impact Factors Underline Value of BioMed Central's Open 
Access journals

LONDON - June 21, 2007 - 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.

About BioMed Central

BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com) is an independent 
online publishing house committed to providing immediate access 
without charge to the peer-reviewed biological and medical 
research it publishes. This commitment is based on the view that 
open access to research is essential to the rapid and efficient 
communication of science. In addition to open-access original 
research, BioMed Central also publishes reviews and other 
subscription-based content.

* Thomson Scientific Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), 
Philadelphia, USA. Journal Citation Report, 2006.  The Impact 
Factors, calculated by Thomson Scientific (ISI), look at 2006 
citations in journal articles published in the period 2004-2005.

Natasha Robshaw
Sales and Marketing Director
BioMed Central
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E: natasha@biomedcentral.com
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