City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works

Publications and Queens College

2019

The Importance of Being a Consequential Journal

Alfredo Morabia CUNY Queens College

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The Importance of Being a Consequential Public Health 45 Years Ago Journal Medicating the Food Stamp Program ince January 2016, AJPH associate editor Roger unite to turn the evidence into practice. The Journal The food stamp program could be SVaughan and dean of the Boston University has promoted a public health dialogue between public converted into an improved nutrition School of Public Health Sandro Galea have diligently health practitioners of opposing political views and program if Congress were willing to published every month a review of the Journal’s between faith-based coalitions and secular public structure it as a medical program and to contents from the perspective of a “Public Health of health institutions. We have begun this year a con- minimize it as an incomes program....Ifthe Consequence.” Over four years they have scanned tinuing medical education (CME) program based on program were to be medicated, that is, no the 594 research articles we published and discussed AJPH articles that associate editors, authors, and the food stamps were awarded unless the 138 of them. Roughly one fourth. Hats off! American Public Health Association prepare together recipient had first visited a physician, the These monthly editorials helped us monitor whether to reward those who use these publications as training. program could be made more effective in the plan to orient the journal to support practice and Enrollments in the CME are taking off. reaching its nutritional objectives. Why policy was working. In the January 2016 issue in Our publications would also be inconsequential leave food stamp nutrition up to a social which the first Public Health of Consequence piece if nobody saw them and read them. Some statistics worker who must decide on the basis “ AJPH AJPH appeared, I wrote: Authors, aims to publish depict the reach of the journal. In June 2019, ar- of a financial statement as to whether ideas, information, and results that are translatable into ticles were cited 40 000 times in 2018, up from 35 000 the individual or family is eligible and ” times in 2015, making it one of the most cited scientific practice and policy. Indeed, over the past four years, the undernourished? . . . Why not have an journals. AJPH article online readings or downloads journal has published groundbreaking research about, attending Medicaid physician decide to mention only a few, the Flint, Michigan, water increased regularly from 1.14 million in fiscal year (FY) whether a person should be made eligible crisis, the impact of the Affordable Care Act, the 2015 to 3.55 million in FY2018. One AJPH article, for specified foods through food stamps? epidemic of Zika and microcephalia, and the epidemic “Weaponized Health Communication: Twitter Bots From AJPH, May 1974, p. 479 of despair among White Americans. The Journal has led and Russian Trolls Amplify the Vaccine Debate” by therevivalofgunviolencepreventionresearchand Broniatowski et al. (bit.ly/2G6AdBf), is currently the reported on the impact of policies such as the Berkeley, 37th most discussed article ever, out of the almost 12 California, soda excise tax on soda consumption million articles tracked by . It is also the fifth and California Proposition 47 on drug possession. most discussed article of 274 000 published scientific We reported on the potential impact of a mini- articles in October 2018. AJPH podcasts have been fi 47 Years Ago mum wage of $15 for fast food and for listened to 46 000 times on speci c apps, and already workers and on the impending loss of massive num- more than 25 000 times in 2019. The audience for our Nutrition for Children bers of members of the governmental public health accompanying podcast in Chinese has substantially Over the past decade the relation of workforce. We reported estimates of the prevalence of increased to about 700 listenings per month. We have nutritional factors and opportunities has transgender persons in the United States and provided no count of the probably many more people who become a subject of sharply mounting a explaining why inclusion of les- listen to the mp3 directly from the AJPH Web site. interest for research and application. The bian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons in national These few examples, among many more, illustrate reason for this development is not hard to Journal surveys was justifiedandvalid.Weprovidedpublic how, over the past four years, the has striven to find. As under-privileged groups in the health perspectives of the anniversaries of, again to cite support public health actors by historical or population of the United States and only a few, the Black Panther Party (1966–2016), the recent empirical evidence relevant to public health pol- other countries aspire and act to improve Nurses’ Health Study (1976–2016), the Russian Revo- icy and intervention and the thinking that goes with it. their conditions, it is clear that among Thereisalwaysmoretodo,andwewelcomethechal- lution (1917–2017), the Great Influenza (1918–2018), the components that interact with “ ” lenge. We will put the monthly editorials on a “Public Stonewall and the text Our Bodies Ourselves disadvantage and poverty, nutrition, – Health of Consequence” to rest and await a new formula. (1969 2019), and the unfortunate graft of slavery in especially in infancy and childhood, occupies – But the spirit goes on as illustrated by the set of papers on North America (1619 2019). Several articles helped a position of central importance. This was the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) quantify the impact of structural racism on public health emphasized in the Final Report of the White indicators. And, importantly, since 2017, every Sep- assembled by Professor Marion Nestle in this issue. House Conference on Food, Nutrition and tember 11, AJPH and the Centers for Disease Control Alfredo Morabia, MD, PhD Health (1969). and Prevention have published a supplement reviewing Editor-in-Chief From AJPH, April 1972, p. 462 the state of the science to support public health pre- @AlfredoMorabia paredness and response to disasters. However, our publications would be inconse- doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2019.305391 quential if those in the public health field did not ◢ December 2019, Vol 109, No. 12 AJPH Morabia Editor’s Choice 1621