Internationalization of the American Journal of Roentgenology: 1980-2002

The objective of this study was to analyze trends in the number of articles from international authors submitted to or published by the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR) between 1980 and 2002.

More than 5000 articles published by the AJR during three 3-year periods (1980-1982, 1990-1992, and 2000-2002) were categorized by country of residence of the corresponding author, type of article, subject matter and age of patients, organ system, and radiologic technique. Additionally, 6202 manuscripts submitted to the AJR (1991-1992 and 2001-2002) were used to calculate the acceptance rates for the two 2-year periods.

The percentage of articles published by the AJR from international authors was 10% (158/1610) in 1980-1982, 25% (441/1788) in 1990-1992, and 37% (602/1624) in 2000-2002 (p < 0.0001). Japanese, South Korean, and German authors achieved the largest increases during the 22 years covered by our research, and Canada had the largest decrease. The increase in international articles at the AJR was accompanied by an absolute decrease in publications from authors in the United States. Nonetheless, during 2000-2002, the acceptance rate for major papers from authors in the United States was 45% and the acceptance rate for foreign authors was 31%. During 1990-1992, the acceptance rates for major papers were 33% and 27%, respectively.

The contents of the AJR reflect a continually increasing number of international articles during the past two decades.