Top 10 Sarcoma journals

July is Sarcoma Awareness Month, providing people with the opportunity to learn more about this rare form of cancer that claims the lives of more than 5,000 Americans annually. Between 2017 and 2019, over 350 people in the UK are recorded as dying from bone sarcoma.

There’s still a lot that is unknown about sarcomas, which are cancerous tumors that can occur almost anywhere in the body. Primarily, they tend to develop in the bones and soft tissues – including fat, muscles, blood vessels, nerves, deep skin tissues and fibrous tissues.

The 50 types of sarcoma fall into two categories – soft tissue sarcoma and bone sarcoma (also known as osteosarcoma). Children and young adults are more likely to get osteosarcoma, and the first line of treatment for all kinds of sarcoma is typically surgery to remove the tumor/cancerous cells.

While medical professionals don’t have a considerable understanding of what causes sarcoma, there are a number of risk factors that can increase someone’s chance of being diagnosed with the cancer: a family history of sarcoma, exposure to radiation from an earlier cancer treatment, or those who have a family history of inherited disorders – such as Von Recklinghausen’s disease (neurofibromatosis), Gardner syndrome, Werner syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome, Li-Fraumeni syndrome or retinoblastoma.

What’s crucial for a good outcome is receiving an early diagnosis, with the five-year survival rate for localized and treated sarcoma at 81% (compared to the overall five-year survival rate at 65%).

This July, we want to highlight the journals that contain the best and most recent research in sarcoma; in the hope that insights contained in these journals are able to make a difference to patients who have this unique type of cancer. The journals listed below are ranked in no particular order; we consider all of the top 10 journals to provide value in the treatment of sarcoma.

Journal Metrics

Impact factor: is based on Web of Science data and only includes documents such as articles and reviews. It measures the average number of times an article is cited by other journal articles and documents. An impact factor of 3 or more is considered good, 1 is average. This list uses the 2-year impact factor from SCImago.

CiteScore: is based on Scopus data for all indexed documents, including articles, letters and editorials. Like the  impact factor, it measures the average citations received per document published in a journal over a 4-year time period.

Impact factor and CiteScore have the most meaning when used to compare journals within the same therapeutic area of subject. Many academics value a journal’s impact factor over its Citescore; therefore, they use the impact factor to rank other journals in the same field.

SCImago Journal Rank (SJR): measures the citations received from a journal but it also considers the importance of the journal where the citations have come from. This measurement can be helpful to rank journals within the same field and category.

Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP): measures citations weighted by subject field. A SNIP over 1.0 means a journal has more citations than average.

1. Journal of Bone Oncology

Impact Factor: 4.072

CiteScore: 4.8

SJR: 1.015

SNIP: 1.195

As the first journal dedicated to cancer-induced bone diseases, the Journal of Bone Oncology is an international, peer-reviewed journal. From bone metastases to preclinical models of metastasis bone microenvironment in cancer, the journal also covers topics such as cancer treatment induced bone loss, bone imaging, bone biomarkers and a range of other orthopedic and bone tumor reviews, articles and studies..

2. Sarcoma

Impact Factor: 2.197

CiteScore: 3.2

SJR: 0.781

SNIP: 1.313

Sarcoma is an open access journal published by Hindawi. Publishing papers covering all aspects of connective tissue oncology research, it aims to provide a central platform for those working with this group of rarely seen patients. The goal of the Sarcoma journal is to be of interest to those working with bone and soft tissue tumors, from the basic sciences to molecular biology and pathology, to the clinical sciences of epidemiology, surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Recent article topics include: ‘Targeting the FAK-Src Complex in Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors, Ewing Sarcoma, and Rhabdomyosarcoma’ and ‘Free Vascularized Fibula Salvage of Failed CPH in Pediatric Sarcoma Patients’..

3. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians

Impact Factor: 508.7

CiteScore: 463.2

SJR: 56.204

SNIP: 143.645

The CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians is one of the world’s leading cancer journals, published by the American Cancer Society. It aims to provide medical professionals in the field of cancer care with the most up-to-date information about diagnosis, treatment and prevention. From scientific and educational information, to review articles and continuing education, it is able to reach a diverse range of specialists. The journal is published bi-monthly.

4. Nature Reviews Cancer

Impact Factor: 60.72

CiteScore: 78.3

SJR: 19.575

SNIP: 10.274

Nature Reviews Cancer is another world-leading journal, published in the UK by the Nature Publishing Group. It only publishes non-primary articles – such as reviews, news, views and comment articles – as opposed to primary articles (research articles). Authoritative, accessible and enhanced, the Nature Reviews Cancer journal aims to publish content that has clearly understandable figures, tables and other display items in order to maximize the usability and usefulness of each article.

5. European Journal of Surgical Oncology

Impact Factor: 3.617

CiteScore: 6.3

SJR: 1.395

SNIP: 1.57

The European Journal of Surgical Oncology is published in the UK by W.B. Saunders Ltd and through original research articles, reviews, editorials, debates and correspondence, aims to advance all areas of surgical oncology. Some of the most recent sarcoma-related articles include ‘Pelvic soft tissue sarcomas’, ‘The added value of chest imaging after neoadjuvant radiotherapy for soft tissue sarcoma of the extremities and trunk wall: A retrospective cohort study’ and ‘Standard medical treatment and new options in retroperitoneal sarcoma’.

6. Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology

Impact Factor: 66.68

CiteScore: 51.6

SJR: 12.214

SNIP: 7.697

The Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology journal covers a range of subjects relating to the field of oncology, from diagnosis to experimental therapies, genetics, palliative care, prevention, screening and signal transduction. Written by clinical academics and researchers, the journal captures its audience from the postgraduate level up, with a focus on practicing doctors, researchers and academics within the oncology speciality.

Some of the journal’s most recent sarcoma-related articles include “New treatment strategies for advanced-stage gastrointestinal stromal tumours” and “B cells and tertiary lymphoid structures as determinants of tumour immune contexture and clinical outcome.”

7. The Lancet Oncology

Impact Factor: 41.316

CiteScore: 53

SJR: 13.53

SNIP: 9.914

Published in the UK by the Lancet Publishing Group, The Lancet Oncology journal is a monthly journal that covers international issues relevant to clinical cancer specialists worldwide. While it publishes a range of reviews, comments, opinions, weekly news and commissions, it also particularly focuses on high-quality, peer-reviewed research and reports from clinical trials. From content that aids in advancing clinical practice, the journal also aims to challenge the status quo, advocate for changes in healthy policies where beneficial for patients, and tackle global challenges related to oncology. You will also find podcasts,  , infographics and curated web content – where applicable.

Within the journal website or the journal itself? I also think you should either define where applicable or give an indication of the amount of interactive content available

8. Cancer Cell

Impact Factor: 31.74

CiteScore: 40.2

SJR: 13.035

SNIP: 5.764

The Cancer Cell journal is published in the US by Cell Press, providing a high-profile forum to promote major advances in cancer research and oncology. The journal focuses on  published studies that provide significant gains in terms of insights into still unanswered questions about naturally-occurring cancers, including translational research. The journal also prefers to publish clinical investigations that allow for the establishment of new treatment, diagnosis and/or prevention of cancer.

9. Journal of Clinical Oncology

Impact Factor: 44.54

CiteScore: 37.00

SJR: 10.482

SNIP: 6.32

Published by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the primary focus of the Journal of Clinical Oncology is original reports, supported by editorials, commentaries, controversies, reviews and other work related to the field of caring for patients with cancer. The journal is published three times per month, and is dedicated to providing the highest quality articles for a range of medical professionals in the specialty of oncology, from students to researchers, individuals in training and practicing oncologists around the world.

10. Annals of Oncology

Impact Factor: 32.98

CiteScore: 33.5

SJR: 7.954

SNIP: 4.909

The Annals of Oncology is the journal of both the European Society for Medical Oncology and the Japanese Society of Medical Oncology. Its particular area of focus is on systemic anticancer therapy, randomized trials, top-level guidelines and new fields that are currently emerging for personalized medicine (molecular pathology, bioinformatics, modern statistics and biotechnologies). The journal is known for its rapid and efficient peer-reviewed publications related to innovative cancer treatments.