Porter Trapp

IMRaD Write-Up: Professional Associations and Publications

Academic articles are an important part of any field of study, but these articles are one of
the most important methods of receiving and sharing research and new information. Access to
this information is made possible by the use of journals. Journals were created so that people
could stay up to date on information regarding their research and be able to find that new
information in one place. Biology is one field that has used journals extensively. The journals
that are popularly used in the biology and medical fields have contained some of the most
influential information that science has produced. Biology is how we learn about us as a species
and the life all around us, so any new information in that field is “life-changing”.

What I found, was that many of the journals that were publishing online were very well
received, although there were some that stood out. A website called dbiosla.org rated the top 100
biology and medics journals, and from there, a top 10 list was created. Some of the top 10
winners include Science, The New England Journal of Medicine, and JAMA: the Journal of the
American Association. I then used some of these statistics and scores from these lists to decide
which journals to look into with more depth. I also wanted to find some sort of association that
was applicable to these journals and biology in general, and that is when I found ASCB
(American Society for Cell Biology). ASCB and all the other journals were a good start to really
begin to find out all about the publications available for this field.

After researching the various journals, I found that Science was one of the most popular
and frequently referenced. Science has been very successful since it was first published in 1880.
It has been around longer than most, and appeals to a wider audience than many of the other
journals out today, which are both large reasons why it has had the success that it has had.
Another journal that was claimed to be often used by professionals was Cell. From 1995-2005, it
had the highest impact factor out of any other scientific journals. The impact score is how often
the journal is cited, so that means it was frequently used and quite popular and definitely on the
“cutting edge”.

What I concluded from this is that no matter what topic you are researching or are just
plain interested in, there is a journal that will cater to whatever you are looking for. If you want
to learn about cell biology/microbiology, then you will want to look at Cell. If you want to learn
about medical research in North America, then I would recommend JAMA. For someone just
looking to find a variety of topics all in one place, then Science is the best journal for that.
 Porter Trapp

Works Cited:
ScienceMag, AAAS/Science Prizes, retrieved from: http://www.sciencemag.org/prizes

SLA Biomedical & Life Science Division, Top 10 Journals in Biology and Medicine,
retrieved from: http://dbiosla.org/publications/resources/topten.html

ASCB, American Society for Cell Biology - About Us,

retrieved from: https://www.ascb.org/about-us/