News & Publications

Bioethics Journal Rated 'Number One'

Albany, N.Y., July 25, 2007-The American Journal of Bioethics (AJOB), edited and produced at the Alden March Bioethics Institute (AMBI) of Albany Medical College, has for the second year in a row been ranked the leading journal in the field of bioethics by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). The Institute is the acknowledged authority on the impact of research in medicine and science. In fact, the ISI ranking, considered a "report card? for major journals, ranked AJOB "number one? by a wide margin ? almost 100 percent ? over other bioethics journals.

"The ISI 'Impact Factor' rating for AJOB is not only the highest ISI ranking of any journal edited in any subject in the New York Capital District, it shows AJOB also now ranks among a very prominent echelon of medical journals more generally,? says Glenn McGee, Ph.D., AJOB editor-in-chief and director of the Alden March Bioethics Institute. According to the rankings, an article in AJOB is far more likely to be read and cited than an article in better known journals, such as Health Affairs, Academic Medicine, Gene, American Journal of Managed Care, Health Services Research, or the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

"Whereas two years ago, AJOB was found only in the occasional hospital, today almost every hospital with more than 50 beds has the publication and/or electronic access to the journal. More than 13 million people read some part of the journal online, and the journal's role in major policy debates on issues like stem cells, emergency research, and insurance reform has been extensive,? says Sean Philpott, Ph.D., executive managing editor and the associate director of AMBI.

Several articles in the journal have become front page news, including a controversial report from the lab that fabricated stem cell research in Korea, and the announcement by scientists in AJOB that they were going to transplant a face. "One special issue in AJOB about emergency research had such an impact in Washington that Senator Charles Grassley literally forced the FDA to 'immediately convene a meeting with staff about the concerns about (the drug under study) expressed in The American Journal of Bioethics',? says McGee.

The ISI ranking is used by medical schools and academic researchers, as well as the media, government and industry, to identify the leading sources of information in science and medicine.

This year, AJOB became a monthly journal after going from four to six issues last year.

Albany Medical Center is northeastern New York's only academic health sciences center. It consists of Albany Medical College, Albany Medical Center Hospital and the Albany Medical Center Foundation, Inc.