Abbreviated title (ISO 4) J. Clin. Invest. Language English Publication history 1924-present | Discipline Biomedicine Edited by Howard A. Rockman | |
Publisher American Society for Clinical Investigation (United States) | ||
The Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI) is a peer-reviewed biomedical research journal published by the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI).
Contents
Evaluation and peer review of research
The JCI receives submissions from authors worldwide. Unlike at most commercial journals, an Editorial Board made up of scientists actively engaged in scientific discovery rigorously evaluates each submitted article for scientific merit to determine its suitability for the JCI. Submitted manuscripts are sent out for external peer review if the board member with specific expertise in the subject area handling the manuscript believes it represents a substantial conceptual advance and is appropriate for the broad readership of the JCI. The JCI strives for timely and thoughtful decisions on manuscripts that incorporate the recommendations from peer review and the discussion at a weekly Editorial Board meeting.
Scope
Research articles focus on the mechanisms of disease, with an emphasis on basic research, early-stage clinical studies in humans, and new research tools and techniques. The JCI also publishes scientific reviews in edited series or as stand-alone articles, commentaries on research, editorials, and feature items. Multimedia content on the journal's website provides in-depth perspectives on article content and other information of interest to JCI readers. A companion to the journal, JCI This Month, launched in January 2013, summarizes and highlights the content of each month's issue.
Current Editorial Board
The Editorial Board comprises scientists associated with an academic medical center, which changes every five years, allowing for new editorial perspectives and areas of expertise. Since 2012, the journal has been headed by Editor in Chief Dr. Howard A. Rockman and an Editorial Board of peer scientists at Duke University Medical Center, the University of North Carolina, Duke-NUS, and the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute.
Influential research
The top-cited JCI articles as of July 2015, according to Scopus
Business model
The JCI is a nonprofit publication of the ASCI, with a publishing office in Ann Arbor, Michigan. All JCI research articles are freely available online upon publication. Revenue derives from submission fees, which support maintenance of an Editorial Board; article processing charges to authors for published articles; and subscription fees, which apply in the case of most non-research articles.
Open access
The JCI has made its research articles freely available to all readers since the journal established its online version in 1996. Although authors of research articles must transfer copyright to the journal prior to publication, the JCI allows liberal noncommercial reuse of article information. Authors may deposit their published articles in academic and other repositories. Authors may use and distribute their articles and the information contained therein following the fair-use doctrine of U.S. copyright law. For those research articles authored by employees of the U.S. government, no copyright applies, and these articles are considered to be in the public domain.
In 1996, when the journal established its online version, Ajit Varki (then Editor) wrote, "The vexing issue of the day is how to appropriately charge users for this electronic access. The nonprofit nature of the JCI allows consideration of a truly novel solution — not to charge anyone at all! It remains to be seen whether this will be fiscally feasible." A 2003 JCI editorial provides an update on the fiscal landscape: "The JCI has been able to turn technology to its advantage: in 1999, it became a self-published journal, and for several years it has used web-based technology to conduct peer review and other aspects of its business, resulting in greater efficiency at lower cost. Most importantly, it has been shifting from a reliance on print-subscription revenue to author charges."
The JCI was an early participant in PubMed Central (PMC), the U.S. government repository of open-access articles that began service in 2000. The JCI began participation in PMC in 2003 with the deposit of the JCI's entire publication history in scanned form where no native digital material existed and in full digital form otherwise (1996 and after). All JCI content was available in PMC without any delay until 2009, when JCI instituted a calendar-year embargo at PMC on most non-research articles. In 2014, the JCI instituted a 3-month embargo at PMC on all research articles; however, all research articles remain freely available at the time of publication at the JCI's own website.
History
The JCI was established by the ASCI in 1924 to serve as the major U.S. venue for research on disease and clinical medicine. A publication of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the journal initially received financial backing from the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (now known as Rockefeller University). The journal then turned to a model based on individual and university clinic subscriptions. At a time of financial struggles during the Great Depression, the Chemical Foundation ran the JCI (1931–1940). Page charges were instituted in 1965 to offset publication costs. Rockefeller University Press published the journal from 1967 until 1999. Since that time, the ASCI has self-published the JCI. In 1996, when the JCI launched its online version, it became one of the first major scientific journals to make its content available barrier-free online.
Several articles focus on the history of the journal:
Editors of the Journal of Clinical Investigation