Dora Raymaker and Christina Nicolaidis pose with print copies of Autism in Adulthood
Six years ago, Christina Nicolaidis, MD, MPH, became the founding Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal Autism in Adulthood. Her collaborator Dora Raymaker, PhD, joined her as the journal’s Associate Editor. The 2022 Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate, 2023) recently announced that Autism in Adulthood’s first impact factor score is a 6.8. This marks the journal as having the highest Journal Impact Factor (JIF) of any journal on autism or intellectual and developmental disabilities and the second-highest JIF among 189 journals in the Rehabilitation coverage in Web of Science™. Of 88 journals in the Psychology, Developmental category, only 5 journals have a higher JIF than that of Autism in Adulthood.
JIF is a metric that reflects the number of citations of articles published in the last two years, as indexed by Clarivate’s Web of Science. The latest suite covers more than 21,500 journals across 250+ scientific and research disciplines and only journals that meet 24 rigorous selection criteria are selected for inclusion.
Impact factors are often used as a proxy for the relative influence of a journal within its field. The score also helps scholars choose which journals to publish in to amplify the reach of their work.
“While I have always said I care much more about our journal’s real world impact than imperfect metrics such as a Journal Impact Factor,” Nicolaidis explains, “receiving such a high JIF is a testament to the incredible power of Autism in Adulthood’s inclusive ethos and anti-ableist practices. Academics sometimes seem to pit community engagement and inclusion against scientific rigor and metrics. The fact that AiA has the highest JIF among all autism journals goes to show that it’s quite the opposite — our innovative, inclusive practices are our greatest strength.”
Autism in Adulthood aims to be the home for research and scholarship for the most pressing issues affecting autistic adults, from emerging adulthood to later in life. Over a third of the journal’s editorial board are autistic people. In addition to the traditional scientific peer review, submissions also get a review from an autistic person. Over 200 autistic adults volunteer to review manuscripts.
Raymaker says, “One of exciting things about Autism in Adulthood’s high JIF is that it means a large number of papers that have been meaningfully peer reviewed by the Autistic community are then being read, cited, and used to advance the state of the science. This is huge for a community that until recently was completely left out of autism research. This is how science becomes transformative.”
Nicolaidis and Raymaker are also co-directors of the Academic Autistic Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education (AASPIRE). Founded in 2006, the collaboration brings together the academic community and the autistic community to conduct research projects relevant to the needs of autistic adults on the autism spectrum. Nicolaidis and Raymaker credit the success of both Autism in Adulthood and AASPIRE to the dedication, creativity, and passion of the many scientists and community members who work together to recenter autistic people in autism research.