From Concept to Top Ranking Journal: Building JACI: In Practice

When The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice (JACI: In Practice) published its first issue in 2013, it marked an important expansion of the AAAAI’s presence in scientific publishing.

The AAAAI’s flagship, The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI) had long established the AAAAI as a leader in allergy and immunology research. With more high-quality research being submitted than JACI could accommodate, the AAAAI saw an opportunity to build on that strength, expanding the reach of its scientific publishing program with a journal focused on research with direct relevance to clinical care.

Michael Schatz, MD, MS, FAAAAI

Leading that effort from its inception was Michael Schatz, MD, MS, FAAAAI, who became the founding Editor-in-Chief of JACI: In Practice. Over the next 14 years, Dr. Schatz and the journal’s editorial team would take the publication from a new journal working to establish itself to a highly regarded and widely read part of allergy/immunology literature.

“Clinical research is particularly of interest for the many AAAAI members who are practicing clinicians,” said Dr. Schatz, “so the solution of a separate journal with an entirely clinical focus made sense.”

Building a Journal from the Ground Up

Dr. Schatz brought to the new journal experience spanning clinical care, research and leadership in the specialty. He served as AAAAI President from 2004–2005. His research has included extensive work in asthma outcomes, control and quality of care.

That intersection of rigorous research and its application to care would become central to the identity of JACI: In Practice.

But launching a scientific journal meant first establishing credibility with researchers, authors and readers. “The biggest challenge in the early days was getting submissions before we were indexed and received an impact factor,” he said.

Despite that challenge, JACI: In Practice had something that set it apart from other journals in the allergy space, which helped to cultivate submissions. “Most journals look for articles that are novel, internally valid and generalizable,” Dr. Schatz said. “In addition to those criteria, we require that the article is clinically impactful. We try to provide our readers only content that is relevant to their clinical practice, a focus most allergy journals don’t have.”

Over time, JACI: In Practice earned indexing in major scientific databases, attracted a growing body of high-quality submissions and established itself as a respected journal within allergy and immunology. Its growth also broadened AAAAI’s ability to disseminate research and strengthened the AAAAI’s overall presence in scientific publishing.

“The success of JACI: In Practice is most assuredly due to the leadership of Dr. Schatz. While he would unequivocally deny this and attribute it to a team effort, it was through his leadership, passion, vision and tireless efforts that the journal went from an idea to a top tier journal in our field in a very short period of time. He is a creative, forward-thinking leader who is never satisfied with the status quo and continually looks for new opportunities to innovate and improve. It has been a pleasure and honor to be part of the team that Dr. Schatz has so successfully led.”

Past AAAAI President David A. Khan, MD, FAAAAI, current Associate Editor of JACI: In Practice

Growing With the Field

Establishing the journal was only the beginning. During Dr. Schatz’s tenure, JACI: In Practice continued to evolve along with the science, the specialty and the ways readers engage with scientific information.

Each issue centers on a clinical theme and includes multiple review articles exploring that topic. The journal also offers continuing medical education opportunities, Difficult Cases and other features designed to help readers translate evidence into clinical decision-making.

“Our main change in printed content has been the addition of specific features that highlight certain important areas, such as heath disparities, quality improvement and artificial intelligence,” Dr. Schatz said. “We’ve also added features that focus on important research beyond our pages, practical tips through our Practice Pearls, and valuable teaching cases.”

Through those changes, the journal has remained anchored in the principle on which it was founded: publishing scientifically rigorous work that can make a meaningful contribution to clinical care, something Dr. Schatz is extremely proud of. “We are especially proud to have earned high impact factor scores for a clinical specialty journal, and our reader surveys consistently reflect how our readership values our clinically impactful content.” In their most recent readership survey, in fact, 95.5% of those surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that JACI: In Practice was beneficial to their current practice or professional work situation.

As JACI: In Practice prepares for a transition in editorial leadership in 2027, Dr. Schatz will leave the Editor-in-Chief role after leading the journal from its first issue through more than a decade of growth. As the journal enters its next chapter, he will remain involved during the transition to help ensure continuity for the editorial team, authors and readers.