Archives at 50 Years.

From Goldstein, Kant, Judd, Rice, and Green (1971) to Peled, Shilo, Marom, and Eick (2020), 2021 marks the “golden” year for the Journal. Sandwiched in-between these two articles, the Archives has more than 4100 entries in PubMed, including those that are still in advance online publication form. It is my deep regret that the Founding Editor of Archives, Richard Green, M.D., J.D. (1936–2019) could not be with us to celebrate this milestone (Herbert, 2019).

Quantitative growth has certainly been an element of the Journal’s evolution. In 1971, it published 374 pages. In 2020, it published 3088 pages (an 8.25-fold increase). When I became Editor in 2002, we had 80 new submissions. In 2020, we had 706 new submissions (an 8.82-fold increase). As noted in previous Editorials, this growth has necessitated a continued expansion of the Editorial Board. In 2021, the Journal has 19 Associate Editors: Cecilia Benoit, Sophie Bergeron, Lori Brotto, Brian Dodge, Shari Dworkin, Christina Dyar, Brian Feinstein, Joshua Grubbs, Lisa Dawn Hamilton, Roland Imhoff, Kathryn Macapagal, David Puts, Natalie Rosen, Alexander Schmidt, Lori Scott-Sheldon, Sky Stephens, Kyle Stephenson, Paul Vasey, and Jennifer Walsh. I am also pleased to note that, for 2021, we added 25 new members to the Editorial Board at large: Jasmine A. Abrams, Kristin M. Anders, Gurit E. Birnbaum, Beáta Bőthe, Sarah M. Burke, Griet De Cuypere, Nicola Doering, Luk Gijs, Jackie S. Huberman, Sara Jahnke, Francisco Gómez Jiménez, Sofia Jawed-Wessel, Steven A. John, Christian Joyal, David J. Ley, Lisa Littman, Michael C. Parent, Lanna Petterson, Stephanie Raposo, Uzma S. Rehman, Eric Y. Tenkorang, Liadh Timmins, Sara A. Vasilenko, Christopher D. Watkins, and Paul Yong.

Target Articles

Under Paul Vasey’s leadership, we inaugurated by invitation the Target Article series (Vasey & Zucker, 2016). In 2020, we published one Target Article (Feinstein, 2020), along with 7 Commentaries and a response by Feinstein. Seven other Target Articles are currently online first (Brady, Connor, Chaisson, Sharif Mohamed, & Robinson, 2019; Connor, Brady, Chaisson, Sharif Mohamed, & Robinson, 2019; Davis & Arnocky, 2020; Lalumière, Sawatsky, Dawson, & Suschinsky, 2019; Pfau, Jordan, & Breedlove, 2019; Reynolds, 2021; Ziogas, Habermeyer, Santtila, Poeppl, & Mokros, 2019). Researchers interested in proposing a Target Article should contact Dr. Vasey at paul.vasey@uleth.ca.

Special Sections

In 2020, we published two special sections: Social and Behavioral Science with Gay and Bisexual Men in the Era of Biomedical Prevention (Guest Edited by Michael Newcomb and H. Jonathon Rendina) and IASR 2018 Symposium on Consensual Non-Monogamy (Guest Edited by Lisa Dawn Hamilton). In the current issue, there is a special section entitled Innovative Knowledge Translation in Sex Research (Guest Edited by Natalie O. Rosen and Lori A. Brotto).

Two special sections are in the works: Consensual Non-Monogamy (Guest Edited by Lisa Dawn Hamilton, Carm de Santis, and Ashley E. Thompson) and Impact of COVID-19 on Sexual Health and Behavior (Guest Edited by Lori A. Scott-Sheldon, Kristen P. Mark, Rhonda Balzarini, and Lisa L. M. Welling).1

Guest Editorials, Commentaries, and Letters to the Editor

The journal also publishes Guest Editorials, Commentaries, and Letters to the Editor, all of which, in my view, play a useful role in intellectual discourse. Guest Editorials typically address a topic of general interest and which has received media attention (e.g., Scott-Sheldon & Chan, 2020). Commentaries address both specific and general issues of relevance to the sexological community (e.g., Imhoff, 2020; Lorenz, 2020; McCarthy et al., in press; Sakaluk, 2020). Not all journals publish Letters to the Editor. Letters to the Editor in Archives fall into two general categories: a response to a published paper (and the authors of such are always given the opportunity to reply) or on a topic that might be of interest to some readers of the journal. Not all Letters to the Editor are accepted for publication. Letters are vetted by me and, in the case of those that might be deemed “controversial,” subject to peer review. In 2020, we published three Guest Editorials, 9 Commentaries, and 31 Letters to the Editor.2

Manuscript Disposition (2019)

In 2019, the percentage of “rejected” manuscripts was 53.3%, “major revision” was 38.7%, and “provisional accept” was 7.8%. These figures remain fairly consistent with prior years (e.g., Zucker, 2018, 2020). For contributing authors, it is important to note that when manuscripts are given the designation of a Major Revision, the vast majority (of those that are resubmitted) are accepted for publication. (It is uncommon for a Major Revision to be declined after resubmission: to quote a colleague, “It happens,” but not very often.) This means that the initial decision indicates that the author has a “foot in the door” and that if she, he, or they can successfully respond to the first round of reviews it means that the manuscript is very likely to be accepted for publication.

Impact Factor (2019)

Table 1 shows the Impact Factor (IF) data 2019 for 91 sex/gender journals in the annual Web of Science/Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate Analytics), ranked by the 2-year IF score.

Table 1

Impact Factor for the year 2019: Sex- and gender-related journals ranked by 2-year Impact Factor (N = 91)a

Journal	2-Year Impact Factor	5-Year Impact Factor	2019 Total Cites	2019 articles	Immediacy Index	Cited Half-Life
Archives of Sexual Behavior	3.131	3.458	7470	161	1.460	7.0
Human Reproduction Update	12.684	14.480	9679	39	3.154	8.5
Fertility and Sterility	6.312	5.692	37,580	263	1.517	9.1
Human Reproduction	5.733	5.818	31,546	246	1.069	10.1
Journal of the International AIDS Society	5.553	5.867	4956	177	0.887	3.9
Psychoneuroendocrinology	4.732	5.355	19,286	393	1.003	6.8
AIDS	4.511	4.608	18,786	271	1.162	8.1
AIDS Patient Care and STDs	3.764	3.862	3553	50	0.380	7.3
Hormones and Behavior	3.684	3.987	10,889	110	0.868	9.2
Journal of Sex Research	3.683	4.213	5076	74	1.473	7.7
Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health	3.636	4.019	1371	16	0.438	8.7
Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes	3.475	3.706	13,970	294	0.656	6.8
Sexually Transmitted Infections	3.396	3.208	4701	98	0.959	7.4
International Journal of Transgenderismb	3.369	–	957	33	3.273	6.0
Menopause	3.305	2.980	5812	173	1.052	6.6
Journal of Sexual Medicine	3.293	3.754	10,551	150	0.444	7.0
LGBT Health	3.272	3.627	1008	46	0.551	3.4
Biology of Sex Differences	3.267	4.199	1289	48	0.741	4.3
AIDS and Behavior	3.147	3.298	10,151	351	0.758	5.5
Gender, Work, and Organization	3.101	3.537	2426	102	.0353	9.0
Evolution and Human Behavior	3.067	3.338	4238	54	0.833	9.8
Andrology	2.860	3.209	2431	99	0.667	3.8
Gender and Society	2.742	4.006	5426	35	0.457	14.3
Sexually Transmitted Diseases	2.740	2.647	5541	153	.0588	8.3
Asian Journal of Andrology	2.448	3.296	4068	88	0.875	6.0
Psychology of Women Quarterly	2.444	4.256	3989	53	0.657	13.4
Sex Roles	2.405	2.722	8554	108	0.685	12.1
Sexuality Research and Social Policy	2.405	2.269	1019	45	0.311	6.7
Women’s Health Issues	2.355	2.528	2322	76	0.934	6.0
European Journal of Women’s Studies	2.229	2.024	848	25	0.240	9.8
Hormone Research in Paediatrics	2.174	2.393	2146	51	0.373	5.1
Sexual Abuse	2.130	2.602	1337	45	1.244	9.0
BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health	2.125	2.156	94	41	0.585	NA
Journal of Women’s Health	2.104	2.626	5347	117	0.897	7.7
Feminist Legal Studies	2.097	1.765	369	10	1.600	8.0
Sexual Development	2.028	2.557	1023	18	0.611	6.8
Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology	2.000	2.445	1397	37	1.162	10.3
Culture, Health, and Sexuality	1.969	2.421	2563	97	0.722	6.2
Psychology of Men & Masculinity	1.941	2.793	1810	58	0.897	7.1
Sexual Medicine	1.923	2.131	401	63	0.381	3.5
AIDS Care	1.894	2.191	6455	216	0.523	6.7
Feminism and Psychology	1.882	1.693	1101	26	0.615	10.4
Journal of Homosexuality	1.873	2.072	3139	95	0.811	9.1
Violence Against Women	1.797	2.368	4060	92	0.424	10.2
Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy	1.775	2.052	2280	67	0.343	14.3
Body & Society	1.667	2.571	1201	18	0.556	10.7
Politics and Gender	1.650	2.538	1007	39	0.282	7.8
Feminist Media Studies	1.607	–	1281	59	0.390	5.3
Journal of Gender Studies	1.585	1.483	740	71	0.423	5.9
Sexual Health	1.584	1.625	1241	80	0.650	5.1
Gender, Place, and Culture	1.554	1.777	2045	116	0.353	7.6
BMC Women’s Health	1.544	2.205	2248	170	0.259	5.0
Feminist Criminology	1.535	1.989	535	27	0.481	7.7
Sexualities	1.532	1.761	1444	69	0.551	7.8
AIDS Education and Prevention	1.524	1.976	1586	39	0.128	10.2
Gender and Education	1.482	1.678	1563	55	0.491	9.3
Sex Education	1.480	1.760	889	47	0.383	6.0
Signs	1.447	1.519	3529	39	0.436	16.4
Evolutionary Psychology	1.427	1.603	976	39	0.128	7.1
International Journal of STD and AIDS	1.406	1.375	2958	205	0.195	6.9
International Journal of Impotence Research	1.388	1.474	2196	58	0.914	14.0
Men and Masculinities	1.344	2.324	1210	46	0.804	8.8
Feminist Review	1.341	1.768	1021	21	0.048	14.0
Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare	1.340	1.694	661	54	0.167	4.5
Psychology & Sexuality	1.292	–	386	27	0.148	5.9
International Journal of Sexual Health	1.191	1.389	439	35	0.057	5.8
Feminist Theory	1.189	1.456	819	25	0.440	11.3
Sexual and Relationship Therapy	1.125	1.542	601	32	0.688	7.4
Women & Health	1.095	1.466	1484	85	0.318	9.2
Sexuality and Disability	1.016	1.306	754	39	0.103	9.0
Women’s Studies International Forum	0.939	1.303	1880	94	0.202	9.8
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse	0.929	1.411	1078	48	0.625	7.8
Journal of Sexual Aggression	0.917	0.984	448	20	0.150	9.0
African Journal of AIDS Research	0.888	1.135	512	41	0.171	6.8
International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health	0.788	2.022	514	8	0.000	7.0
Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy	0.781	1.232	1656	42	0.119	12.5
Journal of the History of Sexuality	0.750	0.667	343	15	0.067	15.2
GLQ: A Journal of Gay and Lesbian Studies	0.667	1.733	934	50	0.080	12.8
Feminist Studies	0.639	0.752	1302	10	0.100	31.1
Australian Feminist Studies	0.638	1.154	397	29	0.138	6.7
Gender & Language	0.619	0.731	158	22	0.045	6.9
International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics	0.514	0.571	186	18	0.000	7.7
Zeitschrift für Sexualforschung	0.471	0.468	114	12	3.000	3.7
Women and Therapy	0.388	0.542	382	27	0.519	13.9
Gender and History	0.373	–	429	30	0.200	12.7
Frontiers: Journal of Women’s Studies	0.302	0.564	358	29	0.034	12.2
Asian Journal of Women’s Studies	0.291	0.409	127	29	0.034	6.5
differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies	0.290	1.031	463	19	0.000	12.2
Journal of Men’s Health	0.250	0.351	224	28	0.000	8.3
Indian Journal of Gender Studies	0.195	0.363	178	22	0.136	9.9
Feministische Studien	0.138	0.197	38	13	0.000	NA
Body Imagec	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA

Note: Total Cites indicates the total number of times that each journal has been cited by all journals included in the ISI database in 2018. Immediacy Index means cites in 2019 to articles published in 2019/number of articles published in 2018. Cited half-life is the median age of its articles cited in the current year. Half of the citations to the journal are to articles published within the cited half-life. Of 3483 Social Science (SSCI) journals, World Psychiatry had the highest 2-year Impact Factor (40.595). The median Impact Factor of the SSCI journals was 1.48. Of 9367 Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) journals, Cancer Journal for Clinicians had the highest 2-year Impact Factor (292.27)

aThere are other sex/gender journals that do not have Impact Factor data (e.g., Journal of Black Sexuality and Relationships [Vol. 1 = 2014], Journal of Language & Sexuality [Vol. 1 = 2012], Journal of Psychosexual Health [Vol. 1 = 2019], Journal of Theology and Sexuality [founded in 1994, now published by Taylor & Francis], Partner Abuse [Vol. 1 = 2010], Porn Studies [Vol. 1 = 2014], Psychology of Sexual Orientation & Gender Diversity [Vol. 1 = 2014], Sexualization, Media, & Society [Vol. 1 = 2016], Transgender Health [Vol. 1 = 2016], Transgender Studies Quarterly [Vol. 1 = 2014], and Violence and Gender [Vol. 1 = 2014]) (see also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sexology_journals)

bIn 2020, renamed International Journal of Transgender Health, not to be confused with the periodical Transgender Health, which as of yet does not have an Impact Factor rating

cBody Image (Vols. 28–31) was hit with a curveball in 2019 in that Clarivate Analytics, which provides the annual Journal Citation Reports information, deemed that it had an excessive number of self-cites. The journal appealed the decision, on the grounds that it was a highly specialized journal, but the appeal was denied (https://retractionwatch.com/2020/08/28/major-indexing-service-rejects-appeals-by-two-suppressed-journals/). If Clarivate Analytics consulted with specialty sex/gender Editors (like me), I would have taken the position that Body Image is a well-respected journal and that an exception to the rule would have been warranted

For the uninitiated to this treasure trove of numbers, a journal’s IF for a given year is a measure of the frequency with which its recent articles are cited on average during that year. “Recent” refers to the two prior calendar years or the five prior calendar years. Thus, Archives’ 2019 2-year IF is the number of times that its 2017 and 2018 articles were cited in 2019, divided by the number of articles the Archives published in 2017 and 2018 and the 5-year IF is the number of times that its 2014–2018 articles were cited in 2019, divided by the number of articles the Archives published between 2014 and 2018. The 5-year IF was introduced several years ago and one can find data on it going back to 2007. Although the IF is the best known metric for citation analysis, there are other measures, including the Immediacy Index (II) and the Cited Half-Life (CHL). The II is a measure of how frequently the journal’s “average article” is cited the same year in which it is published. Thus, the II for a year is calculated as the number of times articles from that journal are cited during that year, divided by the number of articles that journal published that year. The CHL is a measure of the longevity of the frequency of citations to articles in the journal, that is, for how long the average article maintains its currency. The CHL for a year is determined by the time required to account for a cumulative total of 50% of that year’s citations to the journal.

In 2019, 3483 journals in the Social Sciences received IF ratings. The median 2-year IF was 1.48. From Table 1, it can be seen that two journals, Gender and Education and Sex Education, were at the median for the 2-year IF. For 2019, Archives was ranked at the 86.4th percentile for the 2-year IF.

It can also be seen in Table 1 that the Archives is publishing a lot of articles/year: 161 in 2019. These numbers are notably higher than many of the other sex/gender social science periodicals (e.g., Journal of Sex Research: 74, Evolution and Human Behavior: 54; Psychology of Women Quarterly, 53; Sexual Abuse: 45). We even published more articles than Journal of Sexual Medicine (150). Of course, quantity does not equal quality. Moreover, one should recognize that to “maintain” an IF the numerator must keep pace with the denominator. On this point, we seem to be doing just fine and our initial disposition decisions have remained fairly constant in recent years. For those readers who enjoy numbers, Table 1 gives you a lot to chew on.