BELLINGHAM, Washington, USA -- The Journal of Biomedical Optics (JBO), published by SPIE since 1996, will double its publication frequency with the transition from bimonthly to monthly publication in January.
The change will enable the journal to continue the steady growth in size and impact it has seen since its launch as a quarterly, and to better manage the increasing number of submissions, said Editor-in-Chief Lihong Wang (Washington Univ. of St. Louis).
"The growth of the journal is in line with the growth of the field of biomedical optics," Wang said. "JBO has become the default choice for the field."
JBO ranked 9th out of 71 journals in the optics category in 2-year impact factor in 2009, in the latest Journal Citation Report from Thomson Reuters, with an impact factor of 2.5. The journal's 5-year impact factor is 2.9.
JBO published 322 papers in 2009, and has published 291 to date this year. Downloads of JBO articles from the SPIE Digital Library have increased by more than 20% per year every year since 2004, with a total increase of more than 450% during this period.
Articles are published individually in the SPIE Digital Library as soon as they are accepted, copyedited, and typeset, and are collected in issues for archiving and print distribution.
All JBO Letters are open-access immediately on publication, and a new program of one-year deferred open-access for JBO papers for which authors have paid voluntary publication charges has been instituted. Abstracts and papers may be accessed in the SPIE Digital Library at SPIEDigitalLibrary.org/JBO.
"JBO has helped define our field with special sections on high-impact topics ranging from biophotonics in women's health to small-animal imaging, fluorescent proteins, cardiovascular photonics, and coherent Raman imaging, many of which have been 'firsts' for the scientific community," said Bruce Tromberg (Beckman Laser Institute, Univ. of California, Irvine), who stepped down at the end of 2009 after 10 years as Editor-in-Chief of JBO. "We have led the charge in high-profile growth areas, such as bench-to-bedside translational research and in vivo molecular imaging."
SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, was founded in 1955 to advance light-based technologies. Serving more than 180,000 constituents from 168 countries, the Society advances emerging technologies through interdisciplinary information exchange, continuing education, publications, patent precedent, and career and professional growth. SPIE annually organizes and sponsors approximately 25 major technical forums, exhibitions, and education programs in North America, Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific, and supports scholarships, grants, and other education programs around the world.
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