The In Crowd (Musings on the relevance of transfusion journals)

Stay tuned because updates will occur

May's blog was stimulated a long time ago but returned to me recently when I was cleaning house and tossed out (recycled) several thick issues of the AABB journal Transfusion, which were piled on my computer desk, largely unread after scanning content indices.

The blog's title derives from a 1965 jazz instrumental by the Ramsey Lewis Trio.

Musings focus on the articles I read in Transfusion's May 2016 issue and what this says about the journal's relevance to someone with a medical laboratory technology/science background (me). For context, traditional measures of a journal's relative importance and Transfusion's top 10 cited articles are also discussed. 

The questions I hope to answer: 

1. What value is the AABB journal to practicing transfusion professionals (as opposed to its value to authors/researchers)?
2. Why am I (and presumably everyone) getting a paper version of the journal and not being given an option for an e-journal only?
3. What would my AABB membership fee be if all the costs associated with a paper version of Transfusion were eliminated?
4. What factors should affect a journal's overall relevance and importance?

The blog is written from a medical laboratory technology perspective, as that's my background, but the issues also relate to nursing and physicians. Regardless of where you live, please ask similar questions of your professional association's journal. For example, 

• How many papers do you typically read in your transfusion-related professional journal and where - at work on breaks, at home? 
• Do you scan titles only or a combination titles, authors and abstracts? 
• Which criteria determine whether you will read a given article?
• In deciding what to read, how important is an article's direct relevance to your daily work?
• How many articles, if any, do you read just for curiosity or fun?

Sometimes I wonder of journals even matter anymore but of course they do. And I miss the days when transfusion services regularly held journal clubs during lunch hours, often based on journal articles or conferences, in which all staff participated.

To promote continuity of the blog's ideas, consider reading the blog in its entirety and then return to access linked resources. Bet you can't.

1. AABB JOURNAL 'TRANSFUSION' - BRAGGING RIGHTS

So to begin, here's how most journals measure their worth. On its homepage, Transfusion gives its ISI journal citation ranking under the medical specialty, hematology, as well as its Impact Factor. Both are intended to show the relative importance of individual journals. 

In 2014 Transfusion's ISI Journal Citation Reports^© Ranking was 23/68 and its Impact Factor was 3.225. 

So what do ISI Journal Citation Reports© (JCR) Ranking and Impact Factor (IF) mean?

• JCR Ranking claims to objectively critically evaluate the world's leading journals using statistics. Uh-oh! That's a red flag if there ever was one. Just kidding because, as with any statistical data, users need to use their noggins to assess validity. 
• With a JCR rank of 23/68, my guess is that Transfusion ranks no. 23 of 68 journals and is in the top third of most hematology journal citations (two-thirds of similar journals have fewer overall citations, whatever complicated statistics are used).

• Impact Factor is the average number of annual citations recent journal articles have and obviously the higher, the better. As such, it's a proxy for the relative importance of a journal in its field. 
• With an IF of 3.225, recent Transfusion articles were cited an average of just over 3 times in a year.

But similar to surrogate tests such as elevated ALT and anti-HBc used to screen blood donors for non-A, non-B hepatitis before HCV was identified, issues exist for how well Impact Factors measure relative importance.

For interest, The Impact Factor was devised by Eugene Garfield, who explains its history in a 2006 JAMA article.

As an aside,  I love Garfield, because in my early pre-Internet years in Medical Laboratory Science, MLS subscribed to Current Contents, which I always enjoyed and looked forward to reading. If my memory is correct, each issue began with a fascinating Garfield comments/editorial. [See Further Reading]

2. TRANSFUSION'S TOP 10 CITED ARTICLES
Since 1975 I've been an AABB member and once read 90%+ of Transfusion's articles, but mostly for interest, not because they directly related to my work. 

Most reading was done because I'm curious and love transfusion medicine. After becoming an educator, motivation included the potential to discover 'juicy' tidbits that would interest or amuse students, and Transfusion's articles often did. 

In today's hectic and understaffed work environment, I wonder which of Transfusion's top 10 articles would be read during leisure time, on breaks or after hours, by 

• Clin lab technologists/scientists in a blood supplier or transfusion service laboratory? 
• Transfusion and blood conservation RNs?
• Hematologists/hematopathologists?

I suspect that not many in these three professions would read 3, 7 and 9 below, which is good because only 30% un-read is excellent. As an experiment, please assess which of the following you would read. I've linked the PubMed abstract for each article. 

Please think about which criteria helped decide whether you would read an article or not.

Transfusion's Top Ten Cited Articles: [Author's work location/country]

1. Activity-based costs of blood transfusions in surgical patients at four hospitals. (Shander A, et al) 2010;50:753-65. [USA]

2. Transfusion of older stored blood and risk of death: A meta-analysis. (Wang D, et al) 2012;52:1184-95. [USA]

3. Pathogen inactivation and removal methods for plasma-derived clotting factor concentrates. (Klamroth R, et al) 2014; 54:1406-17. [Germany]

4. Is fresh-frozen plasma clinically effective? An update of a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. (Yang L, et al) 2012;52:1673-86. [UK]

5. Fibrinogen as a therapeutic target for bleeding: A review of critical levels and replacement therapy. (Levy JH, et al) 2014; 54:1389-1405. [USA]

6. Duration of red blood cell storage and survival of transfused patients. (Edgren G, et al) 2010;50:1185-95. [Sweden]

7. Storage lesion: Role of red blood cell breakdown (Kim-Shapiro DB et al) 2011;51:844-51. [USA]

8. The use of fresh frozen plasma in England: High levels of inappropriate use in adults and children. (Stanworth S et al) 2011;51:62-70. [UK]

9. Adoptive transfer and selective reconstitution of streptamer-selected cytomegalovirus-specific CD8+ T cells leads to virus clearance in patients after allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. (Schmitt M et al) 2011;51:591-9. [Germany]

10. Transfusion-associated circulatory overload after plasma transfusion. (Narick C, et al) 2012;52:160-5. [USA]

So, what's your health profession and  how many of these top cited papers would you have read? Be honest. As both a lab technologist in the trenches and an educator, I'd have read all but #9.  

3. TRANSFUSION'S MAY 2016 ISSUE
Below are three papers I read in the May issue of Transfusion (Volume 56, Issue 5,pp. 1001–1249) that directly relate to my prior career as a med lab tech/scientist and educator. Yes, only three and I read them out of interest. These days,although retired from real work, my time is even more precious. 

The journal sections each paper is under are included. I've summarized each with a 'So What?' conclusion.

1. TRANSFUSION MEDICINE ILLUSTRATED (pp.1006–7)
Delayed hemolytic transfusion reaction captured by a cell phone camera.Margaret E. Gatti-Mays, S. Gerald Sandler [USA]

So what? The delayed hemolytic reaction was due to anti-Jk^a and shows a photo of the peripheral blood smear with multiple microspherocytes. Authors encourage physicians to use cell phone cameras to photograph peripheral blood smears and use them in clinical presentations. 

2. IMMUNOHEMATOLOGY (pp. 1182–4)
Anti-Mur as the most likely cause of mild hemolytic disease of the newborn. Sara Bakhtary, Anastasia Gikas, Bertil Glader, Jennifer Andrews [USA] 

So what? Full term infant had jaundice presumed to be due to anti-Mur, an antibody more commonly found in Asian patients in the USA, and one important to recognize since the Mur+ phenotype has a higher prevalence in this population.

3. LETTER TO EDITOR (pp.1247–8)
Sustained and significant increase in reporting of transfusion reactions with the implementation of an electronic reporting system. Rosanne St Bernard, Matthew Yan, Shuoyan Ning, Alioska Escorcia, Jacob M. Pendergrast, Christine Cserti-Gazdewich [Canada]

So what? In 2009 the authors transitioned from a paper-based to an electronic reporting system (ERS) for suspected transfusion reactions. The user-friendly process did not result in “junk inflations”. Instead reporter suspicions generally concurred with specialist conclusions. Accordingly, they endorse using an ERS for transfusion reaction reporting to improve hemovigilance.

ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS
Here are my answers  - conditioned by my professional experience and biases - to the questions posed about Transfusion. Your answers may differ and likely will.

Q1. What value is the AABB journal to practicing transfusion professionals (as opposed to its value to authors/researchers)?

A: Transfusion has value as a good read for anyone who's curious on current 'hot' clinical issues and to educators who must keep up-to-date with the latest and greatest, including esoteric research, which may or may not ultimately translate into something useful to practitioners.

The journal's relevance to the day-to-day working lives of medical laboratory technologists/scientists in laboratories is minimal. Most papers relate to clinical practice (MDs, RNs) or research (PhDs).

Q2. Why am I (and presumably everyone) getting a paper version of the journal and not being given an option for an e-journal only?

A: Transfusion is a glossy journal that costs many trees to produce, plus mailing costs, which are not insignificant. I don't need or want a paper copy.  

It's published monthly, plus has supplements of Annual Meeting abstracts and others such as conference proceedings. That's a lot of paper.

For May's issue I read only 7 of 248 pages, ~2.8%, which related directly to my work. And some issues have even fewer articles relevant to my needs and interests.

Q3. What would my AABB membership fee be if all the costs associated with a paper version of Transfusion were eliminated?

A: My 2016 AABB membership cost $124 USD, which at the time I paid was $170.27 CDN. Sure, membership is a good deal, less than 50 cents/day.

But how much of this does AABB pay per member to Transfusion's publisher, Wiley? Darned if I or any member knows.

Academic publishers such as Wiley and its subsidiaries, e.g., Wiley-Blackwell,  surely make most money from advertisers and libraries. It's interesting that they've been under pressure recently for being an oligarchy that gouges cash-strapped university and college libraries. [See Further Reading]

Q4. What factors should affect a journal's overall relevance and importance?

A. To me, Transfusion's relevance should relate not only to its citation ranking or impact factor. Rather, a key factor is how many articles in each issue busy transfusion professionals will actually read because they relate to their day-to-day jobs.   

Yes, it's easy to dismiss my views because immunohematology (beloved to med lab techs/scientists) is a dying art and increasingly irrelevant. But how many papers in the 2016 May issue would time-strapped nurses and physicians read in their spare time? You decide.

Transfusion comes with AABB membership. Shouldn't its content reflect the needs of ALL members, at least according to their membership percentage?

SUMMARY
Just a few of the many issues I'd love AABB to address:

1. AABB, please allow members to opt out of receiving a paper copy of Transfusion and please decrease membership fees accordingly. 

2. AABB seems an association mainly for physicians. Is it? Why does its journal offer only continuing MEDICAL education credits for reading select articles and successfully completing a test on the content? I think I know why...

Cannot help but wonder what percentage of AABB's membership constitutes physicians vs PhD researchers vs medical lab scientists vs nurses vs administrators. Transparency please. We'd love to know.

3. Never mind med lab technologists/scientists, how about more Transfusion articles relevant to nurses? They increasingly play a key role in our profession. 

Of course, I know from experience that asking AABB or any large organization such questions is pretty much useless and akin to pissing in the wind. Would love to be proven wrong.

FOR FUN
I decided to use 'The In Crowd' in the blog's title for these reasons:

1. It's a laid-back, simple tune that's easy to listen to. Indeed, over the years I've listened to it for many hours because I bought the Ramsey Lewis album of the same name many moons ago. 
2. Although it's an instrumental version, the lyrics fit with the blog's theme of promoting a journal based on its relative ranking and impact. Hey dude, don't ya wanna publish in the 'In Crowd' journal Transfusion?

I'm in with the in crowd.
I go where the in crowd goes.
I'm in with the in crowd.
And I know what the in crowd knows.

Tidbit: I've got this album somewhere if I could only recall where I stashed the few 33¹⁄3 rpm vinyl records I've kept.  

• The In Crowd (The Ramsey Lewis Trio vinyl album, recorded live at the Bohemian Caverns in Washington, D.C. in 1965)

As always, comments are most welcome. 

FURTHER READING

Academic publishers reap huge profits as libraries go broke (CBC, June 15, 2015) 

Larivière V, Haustein S, Mongeon P. The oligopoly of academic publishers in the digital era. PLoS ONE 10(6): e0127502. E-pub: June 10, 2015 (Free full text)

Just for fun
Confession: I've included these just so I have a record and can read on some long winter nights.

The writing of Eugene Garfield, including

Essays of an Information Scientist:1962 - 1973 

Essays of an Information Scientist:1974 - 1976 

Essays of an Information Scientist:1977 - 1978 

Ex:  Humor in Scientific Journals and Journals of Humor