San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science

Sixteen years ago, in October 2003, San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science (SFEWS) published its first article. An anniversary like this is a good time to remind ourselves of our history, and to ask if the journal is living up to the goals we set in 2003. And if so, are those goals consistent with today’s needs? In 2004, CDL’s eScholarship Publishing Group counted an average of 254 requests per month for SFEWS online articles. In 2010, that increased to 1,232 requests per month, and in 2014 to 1,764 per month. In the first 10 months of 2019, 4,420 articles were requested per month. Downloads have been consistently 35% to 40% of requests. Taking data from 2014 through 2017, the search engine Scopus’ CiteScore for SFEWS increased from 0.32 to 1.64; its rank is 82nd of 203 journals in the Water Science and Technology category for 2018, a remarkable climb from being ranked 120 of 179 in 2014. SFEWS is ranked fifth among 53 open access journals in the aquatic sciences, according to the Science Journal Ranking index; and in the top 25% among all 218 aquatic science journals ranked by that index. Thus, SFEWS has grown from an outlet designed to expand access to regional science to a well-respected scientific journal in its own right. Our look back shows that SFEWS has probably grown beyond our original expectations in size, influence, and stature.