The American Journal of Gastroenterology (AJG) continues to thrive under the co-leadership of Brian E. Lacy, MD, PhD, FACG, and Brennan M. R. Spiegel, MD, MSHS, FACG. Senior Associate Editor Amy S. Oxentenko, MD, FACG, exited the Editorial Board in January 2021, and Sophie M. Balzora, MD, FACG, joined in her place. In 2020, the Journal saw submissions increase by 49.6% compared to 2019, with 4,086 submissions. As of July 31, 2021, submissions were down 21.5% compared to 2021, but increased by 23.9% compared to the same period in 2019. In 2020, the acceptance rate for main articles (Articles, Brief Communications, Reviews, and Red Section) was 9.7%—a 3.3% increase from 2019. The increase in submissions and rise in acceptance rate for these main article types is related, and the acceptance rate is expected to stabilize in 2021. The 2020 increase in manuscripts was most likely due to the coronavirus 2019 pandemic (COVID-19), as medical journals across the board experienced a similar increase. Not only did authors have more time to write due to stay-at-home orders, but the Journal received 441 COVID-19-related articles (11% of total submissions). The first COVID-19 related article was submitted on February 23, 2020 [“A COVID-19 case with positive RT-PCR test in the fecal sample.”] AJG took a different route in publishing COVID-19 papers, in that the accepted manuscript was published online prior to copyediting or typesetting. This sped up publication by about four weeks, allowing information about the new pathogen to be disseminated quickly. The Journal added a new COVID-19 Article box to the main website and opened the articles so that they could be read freely. A disclosure was placed at the top of the accepted manuscript notifying readers that it was
92 | 2020–2021 ACG AWARDS & LEADERSHIP
the accepted version, and still needed formatting and review before being published in its final form. This industry accepted method of publishing accepted manuscripts prior to editing could be considered for journal articles moving forward. Like the other ACG journals, AJG launched a Twitter account [@AmJGastro]. The account is monitored by Associate Editor Walter Chan, MD, MPH, FACG, and the ACG Communications team (Anne-Louise Oliphant and Becky Abel). As of July 31, 2021, the Twitter account has 2,785 followers, and has posted 578 tweets. Visual abstracts, article figures, or screen shots of the typeset article are usually posted with the tweets. The following five guidelines were published in AJG in 2021: \ Management of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (January 2021) \ Colorectal Cancer Screening 2021 (March 2021) \ Upper Gastrointestinal and Ulcer Bleeding (May 2021) \ Diagnosis and Management of Idiosyncratic DrugInduced Liver Injury (May 2021) \ Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Clostridioides difficile Infections (June 2021) As of July 2021, AJG’s impact factor rose to 10.864, up from 10.171. Of the top five cited papers from 2018-2019, four were ACG Clinical Guidelines. As 2021 ends, so does Dr. Lacy and Dr. Spiegel’s six-year coeditorship. In January 2022, Millie D. Long, MD, MPH, FACG, and Jasmohan S. Bajaj, MD, MS, FACG, will step up to lead the Journal and continue on the path set by the current editors.
