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JSAP is a monthly, free access journal for members of the BSAVA. It is also the official scientific journal of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association.
The impact factor is a measure of the average number of times recent JSAP articles were cited in 2020 and indicates the relevance of the content to the research community as well as to general practice. The way in which the impact factor is calculated underwent a significant change this year, with ‘early view’ articles from 2020 being counted as published from their date of first online publication rather than when they are published in a journal issue. This will have inflated the impact factor for JSAP and many other journals, but calculations show that JSAP is likely to have experienced a significant increase this year despite this.
Nicola Di Girolamo, Editor of JSAP, commented: “Authors, reviewers and the editorial team are working together in synergy to ensure that the JSAP publishes rigorous and impactful reports. The observed rise in the impact factor is the proof of the efforts made by this great community. The impact factor is an imperfect measure and we must emphasise that journal-based metrics should not substitute measures of robust, rigorous, and transparent research practices to evaluate the productivity of researchers. However, the impact factor is still regarded as a key metric by researchers in the veterinary field and this dramatic increase will certainly attract publications, even more than before, from leading researchers in the small animal field.”
Ian Mellor, Head of Publishing at BSAVA, added: “It is great to see JSAP’s impact factor break through the 1.5 barrier. This increase is a continuation of an ongoing trend over the past fifteen years. Although the change in method of calculation has affected this year’s figure, we believe JSAP would have shown strong growth in any case and this is down to the hard work of the current Editor and his predecessors, together with the team of Associate Editors, to ensure that JSAP publishes high quality and relevant articles.”
The Journal of Small Animal Practice publishes peer-reviewed articles covering veterinary medicine and surgery relating to dogs, cats and other companion animals. Links to the author guidelines, manuscript submission, other journal information and member access are available from www.bsavalibrary.com/JSAP.
For information on how to become a BSAVA member visit https://www.bsava.com/Membership/Member-categories