Connect

Annales de Dermatologie: Two journals, a great success!

22 November 2022

Par Anne-Claire Nonnotte

Annales de dermatologie et de vénéréologie; Annales de Dermatologie et de Vénéréologie-FMC

The results after two years

Keywords Dermatology; Annales de dermatologie; Continuous medical education

It has been two years since the functioning of the Annales de dermatologie et de vénéréologie has changed. After many discussions, after sustained exchanges with the French Society of Dermatology (SFD) and its successive presidents, we have undertaken a major change in the life of the journal. It suffered from its two-headed character, i.e. a scientific part and an important CME part, all in French, brought together in a single journal. Over the years, we have seen that the CME part, which is very legitimate and exciting, leads in principle to a low impact factor, because these articles are not cited in the international literature. In addition, all specialties have noted that scientific journals in French are read by the French-speaking world, but not by English speakers or the rest of the world. Moreover, because of these impact factor problems, French authors preferred in the vast majority of cases to publish in international English-language journals. The Annales thus became an English-language journal, published exclusively online at the rate of four issues per year, the blue journal.

The success is real: we have a very large number of submissions (which have increased significantly over the past 2 years), with a high refusal rate, which is always a good sign. We are receiving submissions from some countries that have never requested the Annales before. As far as French research is concerned, many authors have submitted their original work, or letters, to the Annales de dermatologie et de vénéréologie in English. The success is real and we have no problem completing our issues, despite legitimate initial fears. As a result, the SFD and the French dermatologist community can be reassured about the future of the journal.

For the time being, it is too early to judge the result in terms of impact factor since there is a three-year delay. It is in 2024 and especially in 2025 that we will be able to observe the figures to see if the bet is successful.

At the same time, we created a new journal, the Annales de dermatologie et de vénéréologie - FMC, the red journal, sent by mail to all subscribers and members of the SFD. It is essentially devoted exclusively to the CME. It includes different types of articles, updates, thematic sheets, articles from EMC-Dermatologie, images, an ethics section for the first time in the history of French dermatology and, a great novelty or return to the roots, bibliographical analyses. We have thus revived a tradition that has existed since the origins of the Annales, which is that of giving readers interesting information that appeared in other journals, with a short commentary. In every other issue, it is the GRiDIST (Dermatological Infections and Sexually Transmitted Infections Group of the SFD) that provides the analyses. Alternately, these are summaries based on the analyses of the EM-Dermatology website, which is part of the entire Annales offer.

We have extraordinarily active section managers, who write articles themselves or solicit them from thematic groups. I would like to congratulate them and thank them very warmly for all the efforts they make to keep this magazine alive. These two years have been a great success in the quality of the articles and the iconography which is very present. We have very original sections, spectacular dermatoscopy images and dermato-surgery videos. It seems that readers are satisfied with a journal that probably corresponds more to the expectations of private doctors than the old version of the journal.

At least now things are clear: there is the scientific part published in English and the FMC part which is the subject of a specific journal exclusively intended for this purpose, remaining published on paper.

We will soon be launching a satisfaction survey among our readers and also with the SFD authorities. Let us not forget that the Annals of Dermatology are directly linked to the SFD, since they are the official organ of the society.

The editorial staff of course encourages readers not to hesitate to send their comments or disagreements with what is published. All constructive ideas are very important. The editorial staff is very open to continuous improvement of these journals.

Declaration of Interests The author declares that he has no links of interest.

Discover the Annals of Dermatology and Venereology FMC opens in new tab/window

Discover the Annals of Dermatology and Venereology opens in new tab/window

See our entire catalog on our website: www.elsevier-masson.fr opens in new tab/window

To consult all the products in the specialty, click here opens in new tab/window