Good news continues for JIM in 2021
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* Richard McCallum

*   publishing

Colleagues, I am writing to give you a mid-year progress report for the *Journal of Investigative Medicine* (JIM).

In the environment of ongoing COVID-19 challenges, with increasing clinical and/or administrative responsibilities for all researchers, JIM has continued to sustain the growth we witnessed in 2020. Here are some highlights for 2021 when compared with the data from June 2020.

*   There has been a steady increase in submissions over the past 2 years. Through June 2021, submissions have grown 50% versus the same time period in 2020 (figure 1).

*   The editorial team continues to work to improve the quality of JIM submissions, as evidenced by a decreased acceptance rate for all papers of 25% (figure 2).

*   Web traffic has been growing steadily in the past 5 years. We are seeing continued growth in 2021 with a 3% increase in web traffic and a 4% increase in article views versus the same time period last year.

*   JIM is making a concerted effort to increase our social media presence and has made tremendous progress, with a 57% increase in Twitter followers.

*   The improved quality of the content published in JIM was evident in our 2020 Impact Factor of 2.895, a 25% jump from 2019 (figure 3).

![Figure 1](/https://d3hme472k3gd2d.cloudfront.net/content/jim/69/7/1263/F1.medium.gif)

[Figure 1](/content/69/7/1263/F1)

Figure 1 
-There has been a steady increase in submissions to the Journal of Investigative Medicine over the past 2 years with a reflected 50% increase in the comparison of the same time frame between 2020 and 2021.

![Figure 2](/https://d3hme472k3gd2d.cloudfront.net/content/jim/69/7/1263/F2.medium.gif)

[Figure 2](/content/69/7/1263/F2)

Figure 2 
-The improvement in quality of JIM submissions can be evidenced by the 25% decrease in acceptance rate for all papers received.

![Figure 3](/https://d3hme472k3gd2d.cloudfront.net/content/jim/69/7/1263/F3.medium.gif)

[Figure 3](/content/69/7/1263/F3)

Figure 3 
-The enhanced quality of content published in JIM was evident in the resultant 2020 Impact Factor of 2.895, a 25% increase from 2019.

I want to personally thank our very hard-working and committed Associate Editors and the Editorial Board as well as the oversite of the AFMR Publication Committee. In addition, thanks to our Editorial Staff team: Hannah Martin in London, who keeps us on cue and is punctual with deadlines for the Journal and publication dates; Chloe Tuck and Rachel Wright, who handle all the journal review processes with ScholarOne, interacting with Associate Editors and the reviewers to maximize efficiency in reaching a decision and in turn minimizing the time to see the article in print; publisher Kathleen Lyons and her assistant Jaclyn Perhati and our digital marketing coordinator Peter Carille, who represent the BMJ office in New York; the American Federation for Medical Research (AFMR) team of Aurelie Alger, Taylor Baumgartner and Leslie Yerman, who integrate all the membership and meeting components as well as covering all social media aspects; my personal Editorial Assistant who labors well beyond her allotted time—Karina Espino—has also been key in organizing and initiating our monthly podcasts and makes me appear to be ‘in charge’.

Thanks again to our great ‘Team’. We look forward to the continued growth of JIM in 2021 as we rely on our AFMR members and readers to continue submitting their best research, as well as high-caliber reviews and faculty development articles.

Please let me know how JIM is meeting your needs and suggest new areas and directions. You will be able to do this in a survey we are sending to you this month to obtain your input, so please participate and complete this survey to help JIM continue to prosper.

Best wishes professionally and personally for the remainder of 2021.

## Ethics statements

### Patient consent for publication

Not applicable.

## Footnotes

*   Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

*   Competing interests None declared.

*   Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.