Past and Future of the Journal of Clinical Lipidology

From its very start in 2002, the National Lipid Association planned to pursue establishment of a scientific journal that would complement LipidSpin by publishing high level original research, case studies, influential reviews, and editorial commentary in clinical lipidology. Virgil Brown led the effort as we partnered with Elsevier, in our view the premier scientific publisher. The Journal of Clinical Lipidology (JCL) launched in 2007. Having Virgil as Editor-in-Chief, along with enthusiastic support of a stellar Editorial Board and submission of articles by renowned researchers, rapidly established credibility for JCL. The Journal precociously attained two major milestones in 2010: acceptance into the US Library of Medicine and receipt of its first impact factor.

JCL continued to grow in popularity and success. In 2014, average monthly article downloads for the Journal reached 6,615. For 10 years, Virgil Brown led the Journal with prowess, improving the number of cited articles and widening readership from a national to global scale. In 2017 Virgil stepped back, and I was asked to succeed him as Editor-in-Chief (I almost wrote, “…take his place,” but nobody could do that).

In 2017, my first major focus was to enhance the review process for the Journal, chiefly by recruiting a new group of Editorial Board members and Associate Editors while retaining highly valued current ones. The popular JCL Roundtable discussions continue to give Clinical Lipidologists worldwide the opportunity to digest new concepts in plain language and to get a sense of mutual inspiration and collegiality shared by experts who don’t always fully agree with each other.

Scientific Statements Committee, led by Terry Jacobson MD, FNLA, and Dave L. Dixon, PharmD, CLS, FNLA, to publish official NLA statements and recommendations. Historically, the NLA Recommendations for Patient-Centered Management of Dyslipidemia, Parts 1 and 2, were the most cited articles ever for JCL, leading to a peak Impact Factor of 5.812 in 2016 (currently 4.766).

JCL wants to be the destination of choice for clinical articles on inherited lipid disorders and their management, including familial hypercholesterolemia and lipoprotein(a) as well as rare and polygenic conditions. Our readership of practicing clinical lipidologists is probably our greatest draw for authors seeking a place to publish their newest discoveries.

Two Deputy Editors have been recruited to JCL leadership. Penny Kris-Etherton, RD, CLS, FNLA, former NLA President, brings additional emphasis in nutrition related to lipid and cardiovascular health. William (Bill) Boden, MD, Principal Investigator for the AIM-HIGH and COURAGE trials among others, has promoted the concept of invited reviews, beginning soon with a summary of published results from the landmark REDUCE-IT trial.

A major goal is to help the NLA define the field of clinical lipidology in medical practice and clinical science. The field is expanding beyond circulating lipoproteins to include lipid mediators such as ceramides and disorders like hepatic steatosis and steatohepatitis. Ethnic, sexual, and regional diversity in lipid management has been featured in recent articles. Atherosclerosis itself is fundamentally a lipid disorder. Disorders of energy metabolism such as obesity and diabetes must take into account altered lipid metabolism.