Annual Report 2023

1.   Journal summary from Editor in Chief

AIMS Allergy and Immunology is an international Open Access journal devoted to publishing peer-reviewed, high quality, original papers in the field of immunology and allergy. At the beginning of the new year and together with the Editorial Office of AIMS Allergy and Immunology, I wish to testify my sincere gratitude to all authors, members of the editorial board and reviewers for their contribution to AIMS Allergy and Immunology in 2023, now we hope we could cooperate with you more this year.

In 2023, We received 26 manuscripts and 20 were published; these published papers include 8 Review articles, 6 Research articles, 2 Mini review, 1 Letter, 1 Case report, 1 Commentary and 1 Editorial. The authors of the manuscripts are from more than 10 countries. The data shows a significant increase of international collaborations on the research of allergy and immunology. During this 2023 we had 46% rejection ratio and publication time (from submission to online) was 94 days, illustrating the strict and efficient review process.

I'm delighted to share that our journal was got its first impact factor (0.7) in 2023. Congratulations!

I would like to share this exciting news with you and hope it could be a 2024 gift for our editorial board members. This is a further sign of the good work done in recent years. I'd like to express my gratitude to everyone who contributed to the journal. This will not only be a new landmark for our journal but also a great encouragement for all its supporters. This is the result of our efforts throughout the year. In fact, In 2023, the special issue “Young Investigator” published 9 articles.

In recognition of authors' expertise the Best Paper Award was launched by AIMS Allergy and Immunology and the manuscript “The immune system through the ages” (AIMS Allergy and Immunology, 2022, 6(3): 170–187), was the winner.

AIMS Allergy and Immunology editorial board has 71 members now, and 2 of which joined in 2023. We will continue to renew editorial board in 2024.

The road is still long and winding but we hope that in 2024, with the support of all the members of the editorial board and reviewers, AIMS Allergy and Immunology can receive and collect more excellent articles to be able to publish. The journal will dedicate to publishing high quality papers by regular issues as well as special issues organized by the members of the editorial board. We believe that all these efforts will increase the impact and citations of the papers published by AIMS Allergy and Immunology.

Please feel free to let us know your opinions, we will follow your suggestions and make updates to improve AIMS Allergy and Immunology.

Prof. Marcella Reale, Editor-in-Chief

AIMS Allergy and Immunology journal

Dept. of Innovative Technologies in Medicine and Dentistry

University “G. d'Annunzio” Chieti-Pescara

Via dei Vestini, Chieti, Italy

2.   Editorial development

2.1.   Manuscripts statistics

The publications of our AIMS Allergy and Immunology journal in 2023 increased (Figure 1). The journal received a total of 26 submissions, and 20 were online, with a rejection rate of 46%, which shows that, despite the decrease in submission, the quality of submissions has improved. The publication time (from submission to online) was 94 days, illustrating the efficient review process. In 2023, AIMS Allergy and Immunology places greater emphasis on publishing high-quality articles and hopes to receive more citations.

Figure 1.  Number of submissions and publications in the past 3 years.

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2.2.   Articles by country and region

Figures 2 and 3 provide the counts of submitted and online manuscripts per country and region. The country and region are derived by affiliation of the corresponding author. The authors of the manuscripts come from more than 10 countries and regions. Submissions to AIMS Allergy and Immunology are mostly from countries in Asia and Europe, such as China, Italy, etc.; final online papers are mostly from countries such as Italy, USA, etc.

Figure 2.  Submitted articles by country and region.

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Figure 3.  Online articles by country and region.

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2.3.   Articles type

We counted the categories of published articles (Table 1). These published papers include 8 Review articles, 6 Research articles, 2 Mini review, 1 Letter, 1 Case report, 1 Commentary and 1 Editorial.

Table 1.  The category of published articles.

Type	Number
Review	8
Research article	6
Mini review	2
Letter	1
Case report	1
Commentary	1
Editorial	1

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2.4.   Articles metrics

In 2023, AIMS Allergy and Immunology received its first Impact Factor (0.7), which is of great significance for the development of our journal. The following are specific metrics of articles in the journal.

Table 2 shows the top ten manuscripts in terms of downloads and views in last two years. This will be a motivation for the future promotion of journals and to help them get into the desired databases as early as possible (Data from journal homepage as of January 15, 2024).

Table 2.  The top 10 articles with highest viewed in last 2 years.

No.	Title	Viewed
1	Migratory dermatographic urticaria following COVID-19 vaccine booster in young adult male	6692
2	The gastrointestinal effects amongst Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, mast cell activation syndrome and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome	4036
3	Understanding sex differences in the allergic immune response to food	1830
4	Multiple sclerosis and allergic diseases: is there a relationship?	1706
5	Dietary and orally-delivered miRNAs: are they functional and ready to modulate immunity?	1473
6	Urinary VPAC1: A potential biomarker in prostate cancer	1438
7	Mast cells: A dark horse in osteoarthritis treatment	1232
8	Epigenetic regulation of the COVID-19 pathogenesis: its impact on the host immune response and disease progression	1215
9	A systematic review of the knowledge and training of food service workers on food allergies	1148
10	Glucuronoxylomannan: the salient polysaccharide in cryptococcal immunity	1119

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Table 3 shows the top seven manuscripts in terms of citations in last two years. This will help us increase the visibility and impact of the journal (Data from Web of Science as of January 15, 2024).

Table 3.  The top 7 articles with highest citations in last 2 years.

No.	Article	Citations
1	Assessment of efficacy of secondary prophylactic complex of bronchial obstruction syndrome in young children with respiratory disorders in neonatal period: analysis of symptoms and serological markers	16
2	Spleen in innate and adaptive immunity regulation	14
3	Homeostatic proliferation as a physiological process and a risk factor for autoimmune pathology	6
4	Systematic review on the clinical presentation and management of the COVID-19 associated multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C)	4
5	Role of RP105 and A20 in negative regulation of toll-like receptor activity in fibrosis: potential targets for therapeutic intervention	4
6	Antibody profiling reveals gender differences in response to SARS-COVID-2 infection	4
7	Role of RP105 and A20 in negative regulation of toll-like receptor activity in fibrosis: potential targets for therapeutic intervention	4

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2.5.   Special issue with the most papers

The “Young Investigator” Special Issue was launched by our editor-in-chief Prof. Marcella Reale with the aims to act a showcase for young scientist by allowing them to publish the results of their researches, foster knowledge of their colleagues' research in the field of allergy and immunology and fostering their interactions and professional development. This Special Issue attracted a great deal of attention and 9 papers published so far (Table 4).

Special issue

Young Investigator

Special issue editor: Prof. Marcella Reale

https://www.aimspress.com/allergy/article/6071/special-articles

Table 4.  Articles published in “Young Investigator” Special Issue.

No.	Article
1	Understanding sex differences in the allergic immune response to food
2	Multiple sclerosis and allergic diseases: is there a relationship?
3	Mast cells in severe respiratory virus infections: insights for treatment and vaccine administration
4	Dietary and orally-delivered miRNAs: are they functional and ready to modulate immunity?
5	Non-allergic rhinitis with eosinophilia syndrome treated with mepolizumab: A case report
6	The journey so far with SARS-CoV-2 variants: Pathogenesis, immunity and treatments
7	Exploring ginseng's potential role as an adjuvant therapy in COVID-19
8	Angioedema-post COVID symptoms
9	Suspected ALPS with clinical and laboratory findings: Three patients—three different diagnoses

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2.6.   Editorial board members

AIMS Allergy and Immunology has Editorial Board members representing researchers from 19 countries, which are shown in Figure 4. We are constantly assembling the editorial board to be representative to a variety of disciplines across the field of allergy and immunology. AIMS Allergy and Immunology has 71 members now, and 2 of them joined in 2023 (Dr. Campana from Medical University of Vienna with h-index of 27 and Dr. Alexiou from AFNP Med Company with h-index of 23). We will continue to invite dedicated experts and researchers in order to renew the Editorial Board in 2024.

Figure 4.  Country distribution of editorial board members.

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2.7.   Summary & plan

2.7.1.   Summary

In 2023, our journal developed smoothly. We have received 26 submissions and published 20 papers. The processing period (from received to published) and acceptance rate all remains stable. Each submitted article is processed carefully, fairly, promptly, and the accepted papers appear in the journal in the shortest time. In the past year, with the actively support of the authors, we have successfully published 9 papers in “Young Investigator” Special Issue. In 2023, with the support of the editorial board members and the editor-in-chief, as well as the contributions of authors and reviewers, AIMS Allergy and Immunology received its first Impact Factor (0.7).

2.7.2.   Plan in 2024

In 2024, we expect to publish more articles to enhance the reputation: (1) We will invite more experts in the field of allergy and immunology to publish a review or research article. (2) We will increase influence by soliciting and advertising high quality articles and special issues (topics). (3) We seek to be indexed by more databases. (4) We will continued enlargement of the Editorial Board. (5) We will assign the Best Paper Award for 2023.