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When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened.
-John M. Richardson, Jr.
As of July 2007, a new team of editors assumed responsibility for the Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. JPEN continues to be among the leading international journals in the field of clinical nutrition and nutrient pharmacology. This is a testament to the fine leadership that Dr Van Way and his staff provided during his tenure. However, I believe there is still much work to be done by our society (American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, A.S.P.E.N.) to improve the journal and our field. To assist in defining our starting point and our goals, I plan to make the progress of JPEN completely transparent via a yearly editorial entitled "The State of the Journal." This journal, while somewhat dependent on its editorial team, lives and dies with its readers and contributors. In short, JPEN's future rests with those of you reading this today. I will appeal to you throughout this communication to contribute not just your manuscripts but also your time and talents to allow JPEN to succeed in the mission defined at the conclusion of this update.
This is an incredibly exciting time to be in the field of nutrition therapy. New successes in obtaining funding for clinical and basic science nutrition research have led to an era of unprecedented growth in our understanding of nutrition's growing role as a key determinant in patient outcome. My new position gives me a unique vantage point from which to observe these rapid changes in our field. However, as our specialty evolves, our journal must evolve as well.
One key to the growth of our journal is stabilizing and improving our impact factor. Our impact factor in 2005 was 1.898; for technical reasons, our next impact factor will be released in the summer of 2008. Figure 1 shows that our impact factor has fluctuated a great deal in the last few years. We must stabilize this. It is my ultimate goal to have this number over 2.000 by the end of 2008. My long-term goal for JPEN is an impact factor over 3.000 by...