The Journal continues to strive toward making its operations more efficient and its issues more interesting. With the implementation of our new online manuscript tracking system, Scholar One, the efficiency of our review process seems to have improved, resulting in a decrease in the mean interval from initial submission of original contributions to the initial decision regarding acceptability. The interval currently stands at less than 2 months.
The past year saw a growing number of submissions, which totaled 862, and the trend seems to be continuing in 2002. Compared with last years count at the beginning of June (the date of the preparation of this editorial), approximately 40 more manuscripts have been submitted this year. Although some of this trend is undoubtedly due to the expansion of our discipline, we hope it also reflects the esteem in which the American Journal of Epidemiology is held by our peers, not just in the United States but also abroad, where about 34 percent of our published papers originate. The increasing number of articles submitted to us has necessarily resulted in a decreased acceptance rate, which now stands at approximately 20 percent for original contributions. Thus, many interesting papers are not being published in the Journal merely because of lack of spaceeven though we publish 24 issues per year! We continue to encourage our readers to submit brief reports (2,000 words or less), which are placed on a "fast track" for both peer review and publication.
With regard to our new and/or reenergized sections, we have published several informative book reviews, as well as editorial comments on books, that might be of interest to our readers. In 2001, many articles were published in the new Practice of Epidemiology section, which deals with topics of interest to the practicing epidemiologist, including application of statistical methods and studies of reliability and validity of data collection procedures. These papers are subjected to the same stringent peer review process that our original contributions undergo. Although we have published a large number of commentaries related to original contributions, we would like to publish more, as well as stand-alone commentaries and point-counterpoint exchanges. We invite our readers to keep the Journal in mind as a possible vehicle for the publication of such pieces. Our participation in the Human Genome Epidemiology (HuGE) Network has also been fruitful, as reflected by the many HuGE reviews we have published. As you may recall, HuGE reviews are systematic assessments of the relations between various diseases and genetic variants, ranging from mutations associated with high disease risks to polymorphisms and normal variants associated with variable disease risks. With the completion of the initial sequence of the human genome, the number of discovered gene variants and their relation to human disease will grow. We continue to invite authors to contribute HuGE reviews to the Journal.
Some time ago, we announced the initiation of the Jubilee Project, which is aimed at offering free subscriptions to underdeveloped countries. The latter comprise the 67 poorest economies in the world, as measured by the United Nations Development Programs "Human Development Index" and by separate indices based on per capita gross national product and gross national income. We are happy to inform our readers that Oxford University Press, our publisher, with our strongest endorsement, has developed a twofold strategy for redressing the imbalance between information-rich and information-poor countries. Free online access to the Journal will be offered, effective immediately, to any established nonprofit educational, research, or health-care institution from these countries that applies for it. For countries with medium-income economies, representing a wider range of wealth and information deprivation, the Journal will be offered at reduced rates from the 2003 subscription year onward.
To widely advertise these new opportunities, we have held detailed discussions with two organizations that are especially concerned with providing scientific information to the developing world: the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications and the World Health Organization. In fact, in March of this year, Oxford University Press became an official participant in the World Health Organizations Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative (HINARI) program. The program will provide, via a single World Wide Web gateway, access to Journal content targeted toward meeting the specific needs of the research and health-care communities in developing nations. Phase 1 of HINARI will focus on offering free access to nonprofit health-care and research institutions and medical schools in countries where the per capita gross national product is less than US $1,000 per year. So far, 100 qualified libraries have registered for the service, and HINARI estimates that there are 500 that will ultimately qualify. Phase 2 of the HINARI initiative, which will start in 2003, parallels phase 2 of Oxfords strategy and will extend online availability at substantially reduced rates to institutions in countries with a per capita gross national product of US $1,000$2,999 per year. We are obviously very enthusiastic about extending the Journals readership to the thousands of researchers and public health practitioners in the developing world who otherwise would have no chance of gaining access to its papers.
We cannot finish this note without emphasizing the importance of our association with the Society for Epidemiologic Research (SER), whose leaders have been consistently and strongly supportive of the American Journal of Epidemiology. The Journals policies are established by its Board of Overseers, on which the SER is represented and has a strong voice. The SERs input has been instrumental in ensuring the continuing quality and success of the Journal.