More than three years ago, at the end of 2022, the executive committee of the Turkish Society of Radiology appointed me as the Chief Editor of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology (DIR). I felt this was the most gratifying offer for my academic career. Then, starting in early 2023, I began my duties alongside my esteemed colleagues in the editorial board.
The performance of a scientific journal can generally be evaluated under four criteria: the number of articles submitted, the time taken to review articles, the publication time after acceptance, and the journal’s citation status. When evaluating the number of submissions to our journal, we observed a decrease in 2023 compared to 2022, likely due to the introduction of the article processing charge (APC) at the end of 2022. However, we anticipate a gradual increase in submissions for 2024 and 2025. Regarding article review times, we achieved the fastest review time in 2025, compared to the previous three years.
As for the journal’s citation factor, like many scientific journals post-pandemic, we experienced a decrease; in 2023, our citation factor was 1.4. As the editorial board, we assessed this situation and focused on publishing articles that contribute to the literature, possess high scientific quality, and address current topics. This strategy yielded results: the journal’s impact factor for publications in 2025 was 1.7, and it is expected to reach 2.6 by June 2026. The rising immediacy index values in recent years (2024 - 2.1; 2025 - 2.5) indicate the potential for an increased impact factor in the coming years.
Beyond numerical data representing submission criteria, evaluation processes, publication periods, and impact factors, perhaps the most crucial determinant of a scientific journal’s place in international literature is its adherence to scientific principles in article evaluation and publication. Over the past three years, DIR has consistently upheld its scientific publishing principles, maintaining a self-citation rate of between 0.9% and 2%, thereby preventing artificial inflation of its impact factor.
I owe a debt of gratitude to the Turkish Society of Radiology, the owner of DIR, for allowing the journal’s editorial board to operate with complete scientific freedom. I would also like to thank our section editors, who meticulously reviewed the articles submitted during my tenure as Editor-in-Chief, as well as our reviewers, the authors, and our readers, whose feedback has contributed to the journal’s development. My thanks extend to Galenos Publishing House, which successfully managed all publishing processes for our journal.
It is a great honor for me to hand over the editorship of DIR to Dr. Şükrü Mehmet Ertürk, who has successfully represented our country in the international radiology community and has published numerous scientific articles and book chapters while also serving as a book editor. I am confident that Dr. Ertürk, who previously served as our journal’s publication coordinator, will lead the journal towards achieving its goals with his vision and leadership. I congratulate him and wish the new editorial board every success.
