WONCA Europe - journal receives ‘Impact Factor’ in 2012

Since June 2009, A/Prof Jelle Stoffers has been the editor-in-chief of the European Journal of General Practice (EJGP). This is the official journal of the European Society of General Practice and Family Medicine (WONCA Europe).

The aim of the journal is to encourage scientific research in general practice/ family medicine and primary health care in Europe; to support education and stimulate debate relevant for the development of the discipline in Europe; and to facilitate the communication between the members of WONCA Europe and other parties involved in research and teaching. During the last two years, Jelle Stoffers and his international team of editors have worked hard to guarantee continuity and timely publication of the EJGP.

Recently, Jelle Stoffers - family physician and associate professor at Maastricht University - received the exciting news that the EJGP has been accepted for inclusion in the Science Citation Index Expanded, beginning with the first issue of 2009. Consequently, the EJGP will be listed with an ‘Impact Factor’ in the 2011 Journal Citation Reports, in June 2012. EJGP will be the fourteenth journal in the new subject category ‘Primary health care’.

Now that an important barrier for submitting research articles to the journal is levelled, Jelle Stoffers expects to publish papers of higher quality and more relevance, and to attract a wider readership. This opens a new perspective for the EJGP: to become a leading journal in the category ‘Primary Health Care’. 

“It’s my dream that every GP/ family doctor in Europe will read our journal”, Jelle Stoffers says. Members of the EGPRN already have free access to the online version of the EJGP. “I like what the Scandinavians do”, Jelle continues. “Their Nordic Federation of General Practice arranges free online access to the Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care for everyone!”.

Now it is up to everyone else who is committed to the case of family medicine in Europe, authors as well as readers of scientific publications, to show that EJGP can live up to its new status. The editorial team counts on a continued flow of good manuscripts on a broad variety of topics relevant for the development of primary care (http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ejgp).

“We are an enthusiastic team of editors, who will continue to give our authors the highest possible service in efficient manuscript flow, constructive feedback and guidance on writing. We want to offer European primary care a lively scientific journal that is representative for the creativity in this part of the world ”, Jelle Stoffers says.

Contact
Jelle Stoffers - Editor-in-Chief
European Journal of General Practice
http://informahealthcare.com/journal/gen
Ejgp-jstoffers@maastrichtuniversity.nl