Indian Journal of Ophthalmology – Dream, Believe, Work, Achieve

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” - Eleanor Roosevelt

Towards the end of summer every year, Medical Journal Editors in general, become an anxious lot. They await with eager trepidation, like a school kid for exam results, the release of the Clarivate Journal Citation Reports (JCR), and the Impact Factor (IF). Their years of hard work would be summated by a digit or two and three decimal places as the IF, which would then be used by their peers, readers, and potential authors as a surrogate measure to “judge” their performance and the academic standing of their Journal.

“Yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream.”- Khalil Gibran

The wait ended this year on a very positive note for the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology (IJO) this year.[¹] We have scaled up the ladder of IF from 1.848 last year to a respectable 2.969 this year. The climb is rather steep, considering that the current editorial team took over in 2017 at an IF of 0.835, which translates to a delightful 266% growth [Fig. 1].[²³⁴] The best may be yet to come, with the impact of work of the current team translating to IF until 2024, much after our term ends. The Elsevier CiteScore also indicated a robust citation trajectory, rising from 2.1 in 2020 to 2.9 in 2021 [Fig. 2].[⁵] A growing CiteScore often harbingers a stronger IF.

Figure 1: The Journal Impact Factor for IJO has shown a rapid rise from 0.835 in 2016 to 2.969 in 2021, a growth of 266%

Figure 2: The CiteScore for IJO has steadily grown to reach 2.9 in 2021

“Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.” - Louisa May Alcott

There was more cause for joy as the fiery summer trailed off into the first shower of rains bringing in a whiff of soothing petrichor. Google Scholar Metrics gauges the visibility and influence of articles in scholarly publications. Based on its h5 index (46) and h5 median (70), IJO has jumped in international ranking to 12^th position, much ahead of its more famous peers [Table 1].[⁶] Google Scholar Metrics specifically measures the journal impact in the last 5 completed calendar years. A rise in this index perhaps supports our impression that IJO is indeed on a robust growth trajectory.

Table 1: Google Scholar Metrics, Ophthalmology Journal Ranking based on h5-index and h5-median 2022

“We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.”- Jesse Owens

While we naively celebrate every baby step towards progress with a child-like glee, we mean serious business, and are not resting at all. We are more hopeful and energized than ever, with peak passion and bigger and brighter dreams, and are working harder than possible, with the firm belief that we are on the right track.

“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one”- John Lennon

On behalf of Team IJO and All India Ophthalmological Society, I thank all the readers, authors, and reviewers for their constant trust and continued support.

“Trust is earned when actions meet words.” – Chris Butle