In the academic community something that is very highly reagrded is the impact factor which is a standardized ranking of all scientific journals in the US. There are a very of sites on the internet which reveal the impact factor for most scientific journals including all of the major orthopaedic ones. Indeed, JBJS Am, CORR and J Ortho Trauma are probably some of the most highly regarded journals in the orthopaedic community based on impact factor. The specialty journals like Foot and Ankle Intl, AJOSM and Spine have less of an impact factor but are still impressive in the orthopaedic community. Journals that have some crossover between orthopaedics and other fields have more of an impact factor like: Osteoarthritis and Cartilage (3 times the impact factor of JBJS for example), Osteoporosis International and Tissue Engineering. So, while it is impressive to publish in the gold standard ortho journals, some academicians prefer the crossover journals because of increased readership. None of these journals, to broaden the scope, compare to the big scientific journals like "Science" and Nature, which have impact factors something in the range of 26 times that of JBJS. Also, while Am J Orthop and Orthopedics are certainly not as prestigious, many big names like Koval, Miller, Zuckerman, Matsen and Mankin still publish articles in them, so they should not be discounted. Plus, Am J Orthop has recently revised their submission protocols and scope, started anew with a new editor in chief and seems to be on the rise. I am interested in what the future will bring for this journal.
