American Society of Plastic Surgeons
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PRS scores all-time-high Impact Factor, joins 'upper echelon' of journals

In three of the past four years, PRS has broken its own record for its Impact Factor score, but this year's score, 4.209 – the first time the journal has crossed the "4" threshold – is the most significant.

In InCites's just-released "2020 Journal Citation Report," PRS bested the 3.946 score from last year that had, until now, been it's highest mark. A journal's Impact Factor is a measure of how frequently the average article in the publication is cited throughout scientific literature during the year (it's calculated by dividing the number of citations in a year by the total number of articles published in the two previous years). Of 210 total journals in the "surgery" category, PRS ranks 22 – the highest entry for any plastic surgery-focused publication.

PRS Editor-in-Chief Rod Rohrich, MD, calls the 4.209 score not only historic for the journal, but also important for the specialty.

"When an Impact Factor is greater than 4, it signifies the publication is in the upper 10 percent echelon of peer-reviewed medical journals globally," he says. "It's very impressive for a small specialty like plastic surgery to have that kind of recognition."

James Stuzin, MD, co-editor of PRS, says not only does the high score bring the specialty recognition, it also places PRS in the highest academic tier of all surgery journals.

"For university-based surgeons, publishing their investigations in high-impact-factor journals is a prerequisite for academic advancement," he explains. "With PRS now over the '4' threshold, the journal becomes even more attractive for publication of the most important and relevant scientific information in the wide field of plastic surgery research and regenerative medicine.

"PRS is the first plastic surgery journal to obtain an Impact Factor greater than 4," he adds. "From my perspective, this achievement cements its position as the premier journal for global publication in our specialty."

Although articles on breast implants and breast reconstruction – including several articles relating to BIA-ALCL research – dominated citations over the past two years, other frequently referenced topics included social media, injectables, transgender surgery and the applicability of advancing technology in plastic surgery. The diversity of topics covered in the journal has sustained its success in recent years, with 2019 marking the fourth straight year that PRS tallied more than 30,000 total citations in a year – and its latest total of 39,008 representing its highest count to date.

PRS provides up-to-the-minute reports on the latest techniques and follow-up for all areas of plastic surgery – including breast reconstruction, experimental studies, maxillofacial reconstruction, hand and microsurgery, burn repair, cosmetic surgery, as well as news on medicolegal issues. The cosmetic section provides expanded coverage on new procedures and techniques and offers more cosmetic-specific content than any other journal.

Dr. Rohrich says the success is a culmination of the work put in by the entire PRS team, which includes ASPS staff, the publisher Wolters Kluwer, the journal's editorial board and more than 700 peer reviewers globally working diligently to collect and publish the content-rich journal every month. He says the successes of the past few years are a payoff for efforts that began nearly 20 years ago when the PRS team decided to make the journal a true multimedia package.

"When we began transforming PRS into an online, global multimedia resource with numerous innovations – from online videos, podcasts, evidence-based medicine, topic-based reading, video discussions and so much more – we really played a large part in advancing the role and use of social media to bring plastic surgeons not only to the consumer, but to the entire specialty," Dr. Rohrich says. "We've made incredible progress."