The Lancet Respiratory Medicine

The Lancet Respiratory Medicine is a peer-reviewed medical journal focused on clinical and translational research in pulmonary and critical care. Launched in 2013 by Elsevier under the brand of The Lancet family, it publishes research articles, reviews, commentaries, and practice guidelines addressing respiratory disease and intensive care. The journal targets clinicians, researchers, and policymakers working on conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary fibrosis, pneumonia, and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

History

Founded in 2013 as part of an expansion of The Lancet series alongside The Lancet Oncology and The Lancet Infectious Diseases, the journal emerged amid evolving global priorities exemplified by events such as the 2012 MERS outbreak, the 2013–2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, and ongoing concerns about influenza pandemic preparedness. Editorial leadership has included editors with affiliations to institutions like Imperial College London, University of Oxford, and Harvard Medical School. The journal developed during a period of intensified research funding from agencies such as the Wellcome Trust, the National Institutes of Health, and the European Commission, and has intersected with initiatives by organizations including the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Early prominent publications coincided with heightened attention to air pollution policy debates in cities such as London, Beijing, and Delhi, and with clinical controversies addressed at meetings like the European Respiratory Society Congress and the American Thoracic Society International Conference.

Scope and content

The journal covers randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, diagnostic studies, and translational research pertaining to diseases and interventions relevant to respiratory medicine. Typical topics include chronic diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis as well as infectious threats exemplified by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and seasonal H1N1 strains. Articles frequently intersect with specialties and organizations like critical care medicine, anesthesiology, cardiology, oncology, paediatric pulmonology, Royal Brompton Hospital, Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and research consortia such as the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease and the Global Initiative for Asthma. The journal publishes practice-changing trials comparable in influence to work appearing in New England Journal of Medicine, The BMJ, and JAMA. Its content engages stakeholders including regulators such as the Food and Drug Administration, health systems like the National Health Service, and philanthropic funders such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Editorial structure and peer review

Editorial oversight combines in-house editors affiliated with publishing groups and external editorial board members drawn from academic centers including University College London, Stanford University School of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Karolinska Institute, University of Toronto, and Seoul National University. The journal employs external peer review with reviewers who are often members of societies such as the European Respiratory Society, the American Thoracic Society, the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology, and the Respiratory Disease Research Network. Manuscripts undergo initial triage by editors before double-blind or single-blind review, and statistical review is provided by specialists affiliated with institutions like the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Editorial decisions are influenced by reporting standards exemplified by the CONSORT statement, the PRISMA guidelines, and ethical frameworks from bodies such as the Committee on Publication Ethics and the Declaration of Helsinki.

Abstracting and indexing

The journal is abstracted and indexed in major databases used by clinicians and researchers, including PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and clinical trial registries such as ClinicalTrials.gov. Its articles are discoverable through literature services associated with institutions like Yale School of Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, University of Pennsylvania Health System, and library consortia such as JSTOR and OCLC, supporting systematic reviewers at centers like the Cochrane Collaboration and guideline developers at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Impact and reception

The journal has achieved recognition measured by bibliometric indicators used by entities such as Clarivate Analytics and ranking platforms including Google Scholar Metrics. High-profile papers on topics like pandemic response, ventilatory strategies for acute respiratory distress syndrome, and novel therapies for pulmonary arterial hypertension have been widely cited and discussed at conferences including the World Health Assembly and the American College of Chest Physicians meetings. Reception has varied among academic groups and policy-makers, with commentary from clinicians at institutions like Massachusetts General Hospital, Cleveland Clinic, and Karolinska University Hospital, and critiques appearing in outlets such as Nature and Science as well as specialist journals including Thorax and Chest. The journal's influence intersects with regulatory decisions by the European Medicines Agency and clinical guideline updates from organizations such as the British Thoracic Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Category:Medical journals Category:Pulmonology