Oncotarget at the forefront of science

Modern science and academic research move at the speed of light. In order to stay current, journals have had to employ new tactics, like Oncotarget has done. With deciding to publish twice weekly and a commitment to open access, Oncotarget ensures the rapid dissemination of results, from the lab bench to the larger community. These long-standing practices combined with a new podcast, that can be found on Stitcher, PlayerFM, and iTunes, makes them not only a pioneer but a leading oncology journal. In fact, Oncotarget ranks number one in total oncology documents among all oncology journals. A high volume of publications and a commitment to publishing only vetted and valid work, actions acknowledged in a MEDLINE statement, have caused Oncotarget to reach a prestigious 5-year impact factor of 5.415. Check Oncotarget at scimagojr.com

Oncotarget publishes high impact and novel findings like the recently published article”Ketamine administered pregnant rats impair learning and memory in offspring via the CREB pathway”. The results in this article indicate that in utero exposure to ketamine alters the expression of key gene pathways. As demonstrated by several different behavioral tests, these gene pathways are critically involved in rat learning and memory. Watch this video on Youtube. It was discovered that alterations in these pathways lead to a change in the activity of a protein, CREB. This altered activity is critical in that dendritic spines are no longer able to grow and develop normally. The changes in dendritic spines likely result in the observed behavioral changes. Given the use of general anesthesia during pregnancy and the lack of knowledge on the risks associated with these exposures, these results are salient.


Oncotarget has and will remain to be a major journal in the oncology field. Their new podcast and decision to begin publishing twice a week make them a pioneer at a time when science needs to be disseminated faster and more efficiently. There is no doubt that Oncotarget will continue to have nothing less than a stellar impact factor in the years to come.