Submit Your “Best” Manuscripts to SETAC Journals

Yuichi Iwasaki, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)

Republished with permission from Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (ET&C), Volume 44, Issue 3, March 2025, with minor edits for style.

Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) activities, such as annual meetings, are always fun and inspiring, offering encounters with people who possess incredible knowledge and passion. These experiences enrich the journeys of researchers like me and have undoubtedly supported our career development. For instance, one of my memorable experiences was when a long-time SETAC member told me at a SETAC meeting, “Send me your manuscript, I am happy to edit it.” I sent several manuscripts, and he edited them beautifully. That helped make SETAC special to me. And to pay that positive SETAC spirit forward, I encourage researchers to submit their best manuscripts to SETAC's journals, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (ET&C) and Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (IEAM).

Although I am not a fan of the “publish or perish” treadmill, sharing our research is crucial. To avoid “perishing,” many researchers naturally seek reputable journals to publish their works because such accomplishments can enhance the visibility and perceived significance of their findings. The impact factor (IF), a metric reflecting the average number of citations per article published in a journal during a given period, is commonly used as an indicator of a journal’s influence. Because the IF is a journal-based metric, it is recommended not to use it as a measure of the quality of individual research articles, as an indication of an individual scientist’s contributions, or for hiring, promotion or funding decisions (See San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment). However, I believe that for most researchers, the IF is a crucial factor in deciding to which journal they submit their manuscripts.

The 2023 IFs for ET&C and IEAM are 3.6 and 3.0, respectively. Both are classified as Q2 journals in the field of environmental sciences, placing them in the second quartile for impact-factor ranking in their field. Aside from valuable discussions on the importance of scientific review and integrity in SETAC journals (Mebane et al., 2019; Wenning et al., 2014), it is a bit disappointing that a journal from a society we highly value no longer ranks among the top journals as ET&C did until 2014. Given the important role of IF in journal selection by authors, this trend might discourage researchers from submitting their best works to ET&C. I believe we should be concerned about this situation. As long as IF is prioritized, a positive feedback loop is likely at play, making it challenging to escape this cycle.

I completely understand the perspective that the quality and content of a published article is what matters most, not the reputation of a journal. However, some might see SETAC’s journals as “not a first choice” based on numerical metrics such as IF. This could affect how SETAC is perceived as a whole. “Without articulating a sense of unease, it may somehow become accepted by ourselves and those around us” (quoted and translated from a book by a Japanese author [Miyazaki, 2024]). Therefore, my message is simple: Let’s consider submitting our “best” papers to the journals owned by the societies we care about. Although there may be circumstances in which this is not always easy (myself included), given the IF is still used in contexts like hiring and promotion, it is never too late to adjust our priorities.

For the complete list of references, please see the original publication in ET&C.

Author’s contact: [email protected]