Jan R. Boehnke, PhD, and Brittany Lapin, PhD MPH
Quality of Life Research Co-Editors-in-Chief
The Co-Editors in Chief of Quality of Life Research (QLR) would like to thank ISOQOL and its members for their support in 2022. We received 1,826 submissions and accepted 241 articles. The journal’s editorial board managed high workloads and helped us identify relevant content for the community of (health-related) quality of life researchers. Importantly, 824 unique reviewers contributed at least one review, supporting the high quality of our content.
We would also like to highlight the excellent content of the journal, identified by several indicators. First, QLR’s article of the year award was presented at the annual conference in Calgary. This is based on nomination from the Associate Editors, followed by their vote on the quality of the nominated papers:
- WINNER: Xiong, X., Dalziel, K., Carvalho, N. et al. Association between 24-hour movement behaviors and health-related quality of life in children. Qual Life Res 31, 231–240 (2022).
- Second place: Campbell, R., Ju, A., King, M.T. et al. Perceived benefits and limitations of using patient-reported outcome measures in clinical practice with individual patients: a systematic review of qualitative studies. Qual Life Res 31, 1597–1620 (2022).
- Third place: Hajek, A., Brettschneider, C., Mallon, T. et al. Social support and health-related quality of life among the oldest old — longitudinal evidence from the multicenter prospective AgeCoDe-AgeQualiDe study. Qual Life Res 31, 1667–1676 (2022).
Second, the downloads per year continue to increase, with 1,235,337 downloads in 2022. The three most downloaded papers in 2022 published in 2021-2022:
- Luijten, M.A.J., van Muilekom, M.M., Teela, L. et al. The impact of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic on mental and social health of children and adolescents. Qual Life Res 30, 2795–2804 (2021).
- Sawatzky, R., Kwon, JY., Barclay, R. et al. Implications of response shift for micro-, meso-, and macro-level healthcare decision-making using results of patient-reported outcome measures. Qual Life Res 30, 3343–3357 (2021).
- Ferreira, L.N., Pereira, L.N., da Fé Brás, M. et al. Quality of life under the COVID-19 quarantine. Qual Life Res 30, 1389–1405 (2021).
The most downloaded papers from the entire QLR catalogue based on article requests were:
- Haraldstad, K., Wahl, A., Andenæs, R., et al, the LIVSFORSK network. A systematic review of quality of life research in medicine and health sciences. Qual Life Res 28, 2641–2650 (2019).
- Herdman, M., Gudex, C., Lloyd, A. et al. Development and preliminary testing of the new five-level version of EQ-5D (EQ-5D-5L). Qual Life Res 20, 1727–1736 (2011).
- Luijten, M.A.J., van Muilekom, M.M., Teela, L. et al. The impact of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic on mental and social health of children and adolescents. Qual Life Res 30, 2795–2804 (2021).
The use of research and articles goes beyond academic citations or downloads of the papers. Articles are used in news outlets, social media, and a wide range of other communication channels. The Altmetric score is one way of summarising the use of research published in QLR across these outlets. Below are the three publications with the highest Altmetric score in 2022 (mentions on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Reddit, Blogs, news outlets, Faculty of 1000 reviews):
- McEvoy, J., Gandhi, S.K., Rizio, A.A. et al. Effect of tardive dyskinesia on quality of life in patients with bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and schizophrenia. Qual Life Res 28, 3303–3312 (2019).
- Shoshani, A., Mifano, K. & Czamanski-Cohen, J. The effects of the Make a Wish intervention on psychiatric symptoms and health-related quality of life of children with cancer: a randomised controlled trial. Qual Life Res 25, 1209–1218 (2016).
- Ainsworth, T.A., Spiegel, J.H. Quality of life of individuals with and without facial feminization surgery or gender reassignment surgery. Qual Life Res 19, 1019–1024 (2010).
Finally, the 2022 impact factor (IF, 2-year) is 3.5 (please note that the reporting of the impact factor has changed from 2022 onward to only one decimal), compared to 3.44 in 2021. The 5-year IF for the journal is 4.4, similar to 4.39 in 2021.
Overall, it was another successful year for Quality of Life Research! In large part, due to all your wonderful contributions as authors, reviewers, and readers.
Please reach out to us if you have ideas and/or are interested in leading an article collection on specific topics relevant to health-related quality of life.
This newsletter editorial represents the views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of ISOQOL.
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The International Society for Quality of Life Research (ISOQOL) is a global community of researchers, clinicians, health care professionals, industry professionals, consultants, and patient research partners advancing health related quality of life research (HRQL).
Together, we are creating a future in which patient perspective is integral to health research, care and policy.