Scientific Publishing

Guided by the vision of their expert editors-in-chief, the AACR’s ten scientific journals provide a vital forum for high-impact discoveries in basic, translational, clinical, and epidemiological cancer research.

NEW EDITORIAL LEADERSHIP FOR CANCER PREVENTION RESEARCH

Published since 2008, Cancer Prevention Research (CaPR) is the first scientific journal devoted exclusively to publishing the science of cancer prevention—including preclinical, clinical, and translational research. The enduring success of such a broad-based journal focusing on this critical area of cancer research is due in large part to its superior editorial leadership. In a year of editorial transition, the AACR gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the editors-in-chief who served the journal in 2024:

Michael N. Pollak, MD (editor-in-chief, 2019–2024). Dr. Pollak—along with his fellow editor-in-chief, Raymond N. DuBois, MD, PhD, FAACR—assumed the editorship of CaPR in January 2019.
Drs. Pollak and DuBois refined the journal’s scope, establishing CaPR as a forum to explore the most promising frontiers in cancer research, including immunologic approaches to risk reduction; the use of “big data” to identify previously unrecognized modifiable risk factors; the use of genetic profiles to personalize risk reduction; and the exploration of modifiable variations in the microbiome in relation to cancer risk.

Creating a publication venue for the most impactful papers across the full spectrum of cancer prevention research requires partnerships throughout the cancer research community. Dr. Pollak fostered such partnerships on behalf of CaPR during his tenure, developing relationships with the AACR Cancer Prevention and Cancer Evolution Working Groups to identify and publish the best prevention science from AACR members.

Dr. Pollak’s outreach also extended to the nation’s cancer centers. In 2022, he and Dr. DuBois launched Cancer Center Director Perspectives on Prevention, a series of invited articles in which cancer center directors offer their insights on cancer prevention, particularly in relation to the burden of cancer in their catchment areas. By empowering cancer center directors to share their prevention and interception experiences at the local, regional, and national levels, Drs. Pollak and DuBois made CaPR an even more critical resource in the field.

Throughout his tenure, Dr. Pollak’s leadership, vision, and commitment to collaboration—with Dr. DuBois, with AACR working groups, with cancer center directors, and with the entire cancer prevention community—elevated CaPR to its current position as the premier journal for cancer prevention science.

Nickolas Papadopoulos, PhD (editor-in-chief, 2024– ). In March, Nickolas Papadopoulos, PhD, assumed the role of editor-in-chief of Cancer Prevention Research. Dr. Papadopoulos is a professor of oncology and pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of translational genetics in The Ludwig Center at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

An AACR member since 1998, Dr. Papadopoulos is a member of the AACR Exploratory IND/Biomarker Driven Clinical Trials Task Force and previously served as a member of the AACR Cancer Progress Report Steering Committee (2019–2020). He has served on several AACR grant review committees, and in 2011, he served as the program chair for the AACR Special Conference on Metabolism and Cancer. As a member of three different collaborative research teams, Dr. Papadopoulos received the AACR Team Science Award in 2013, 2014, and 2017. He served on the editorial board of the AACR journal Cancer Discovery from 2020 until his appointment as CaPR editor-in-chief.

During his first year as editor-in-chief, Dr. Papadopoulos has worked to expand the scope of the journal. As an internationally acclaimed leader in the liquid biopsy field whose research has led to the development of more sensitive methods for the detection of circulating tumor DNA, he has worked to enhance the journal’s coverage of these and other screening tools to support the early detection of cancer. Under his joint leadership with Dr. DuBois, CaPR will further strengthen its position as the leading publication venue for the cancer prevention community.

ELEVATING THE QUALITY OF PEER REVIEW

Peer review is a critical element of the scientific publishing process, and efforts to enhance training and increase the pool of available reviewers are critical to improving the quality of scientific journals. The editors of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention took decisive steps to address this challenge in 2024 with the launch of a Peer Reviewer Training Program. The 25 early-career scientists who were selected through a competitive application process will receive extensive training in the art of peer review from experienced members of the journal's editorial board. Through this program, the dynamic community of CEBP peer reviewers will continue to expand as new classes receive this critical professional education.

SUPPORTING REPRODUCIBILITY IN CANCER SCIENCE

The AACR has a longstanding reputation in the cancer community as a leader in promoting the reproducibility and replicability of research findings. AACR journals bolstered this reputation in 2024 with the launch of a new program to expand the use of Research Resource Identifiers (RRIDs). RRIDs are unique, searchable identifiers that can be used to unambiguously identify the antibodies, experimental models, recombinant DNA, and software used in studies reported in journal articles. The AACR implemented a campaign to encourage the authors of all submitted manuscripts to include RRIDs for all relevant materials to ensure that the methods of each published study are fully transparent.

This new initiative is one of several policies and procedures that AACR journals have implemented over the last several years to foster the reproducibility of published results. For example, the AACR was one of the first scientific publishers to implement automated AI-based screening to verify the originality and integrity of images in accepted manuscripts. AACR journals also require or encourage authors to deposit or publish the datasets, custom software code, and experimental protocols used in their published studies to ensure that the high-impact results published in the journals can be verified, replicated, and extended to support future discoveries.

In 2024, AACR journals expanded their awards program to recognize investigators who advance the frontiers of cancer science and medicine. For the first time, each of the AACR’s ten journals honored the lead author(s) of a published research article that has had a significant impact on the fields represented by that journal. These awards were presented during a special reception at the AACR Annual Meeting 2024.

BLOOD CANCER DISCOVERY
AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING JOURNAL ARTICLE