Substance Use & Addiction Journal (SAj) prioritizes transparency in publication, including sharing our current metrics.

In June, the 2024 Journal Citation Reports (JCR) were announced by Clarivate, which includes journal impact factors. Impact factors are assigned to each journal based on how often a journal’s published work is cited within the preceding two years. This year, our impact factor was split between two titles: our old journal (Substance Abuse) and new journal (Substance Use & Addiction Journal) titles. In short, citations included in this calculation were only of articles published in Substance Use & Addiction Journal that were cited in other articles in 2024 (which was 74, remarkably). This reduced the overall SAj impact factor to 2.4. We anticipate an increase in this metric after the SAj impact factor is consolidated under one title.

Our editorial efficiency metrics continue to be strong with continued improvement. As of August 13, 2025, over the 12 last months we have received 418 articles to consider (increase over the last month), rendering 481 decisions (increase, accounting for re-reviews of manuscripts), with mean time (days) from submission first or final decision at 38.2 (decrease) and 54.6 (decrease), respectively. Our accept ratio is 30.7, the lowest value in several years.

The SAj Editorial Team is eager to consider impactful manuscripts in the field of substance use for publication in SAj. As a peer-reviewed publication, we are also happy to receive volunteers who are interested in peer reviewing manuscripts. If you have any questions about either of these processes, please reach out to saj@amersa.org.

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Adam J. Gordon, MD MPH FASAM DFASAM, Editor-in-Chief, SAj  

Volume 46 Issue 3, July 2025

The most recent issue of Substance Use & Addiction Journal (SAj) was published this month. Included in this issue were manuscripts ranging from original research on experiences of trainees from underrepresented groups within addiction medicine training programs to a scoping review of the impact of plant-based nutrition for patients with SUD. The full table of contents can be found here. We are proud of the novel and impactful research and commentary available in SAj.

Introducing New Editorial Team Members

We are excited to introduce three new members of the SAj Editorial team!

Khadejah Mahmoud, PhD, MSN, RN has recently joined us in the role of Associate Editor.

Associate Editors (AEs) play a key role in peer-reviewed publishing, supporting the Substance Use & Addiction Journal (SAj) Editor-in-Chief as subject experts on various topics. AEs oversee assigned manuscripts, moving these papers through review and revision. AEs are responsible for assessing manuscript quality, obtaining peer reviews, requesting revisions, and making recommendations to the SAj Editor-in-Chief about acceptance or rejection of a manuscript.

Dr.  Mahmoud is an Assistant Professor at the Applied Science Private University, Faculty of Nursing, Amman, Jordan. She earned her PhD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing. She has also completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Health Policy and Management from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Dr. Mahmoud’s research focuses on promoting the use of person-centered language in substance use disorders, increase awareness related to substance use issues, develop stigma-reduction interventions, and facilitate the translation of best evidence-base knowledge and skills set into clinical practice, especially among persons with substance use disorders and women. She has also published extensively and disseminated her work in national and international conferences.

Welcome to the team, Dr. Mahmoud!

(From left to right: Dr. Khadejah Mahmoud, Dr. Evans Kyei, Dr. Rebekah Halmo)

The inaugural cohort of SAj Editorial Scholars also began this summer. The SAj Editorial Scholar Program engages early career clinical or health services scholars with SAj’s editorial team to learn about editorial decision-making and enhance skills in scientific communication.

Rebekah Halmo, PhD, MSW, LCSW, is a Research Scientist in the School of Nursing (SON) at Northeastern University’s Bouvé College of Health Sciences in Boston, MA. In this role, she engages a multidisciplinary team of health professions faculty, students, and staff to further the research scholarship of the SON and the broader Bouvé community. Dr. Halmo has extensive experience designing, implementing, and evaluating education and training initiatives aimed at enhancing the interprofessional behavioral health workforce in areas such as evidence-based treatment for substance and opioid use disorders, harm reduction approaches to substance use, behavioral health and primary care integration, SBIRT training for health professionals, trauma-informed school-based mental health services, and behavioral health workforce resilience. With a background in clinical social work, Dr. Halmo is particularly interested in applying a social justice lens to explore the intersection of substance use, stigma, and health equity. She aims to better understand the ways in which health professions education can be enhanced to effectively decrease stigma of addiction and to equip students and practitioners with the skills to provide high-quality, equitable harm reduction services to populations disproportionately impacted by substance use and overdose.

Evans F. Kyei, PhD, MSN, RN, is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Substance Use Research and Related Conditions (CSURRC) at the University of Alabama. He earned his PhD in Nursing with a concentration in health policy from the University of Massachusetts Boston. His work centers on advancing community-based solutions to address opioid overdose, substance misuse, and health disparities through research and policy engagement. Dr. Kyei’s research spans opioid prevention, community engagement, housing stability, and aging in place. He has led national studies on housing stress, insurance coverage, and substance use, and conducted global research on mental health nursing and treatment practices in Ghana. An active scholar, he has published widely, presented at national conferences, and serves as a peer reviewer. He is a member of AMERSA, Sigma Theta Tau, the Society of Behavioral Medicine, and Southern Nursing Research Society. His work has earned recognition through awards such as the Bollinger Grant and the Global Nursing Research Practice Grant. Dedicated to bridging research and practice, Dr. Kyei’s interdisciplinary work aims to improve health outcomes and inform policies for vulnerable and justice-involved populations.

We are thrilled to have Drs. Halmo and Kyei participating on the Editorial team over the next year. Applications for the next cohort of scholars will open in March 2026.

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Adam J. Gordon, MD MPH FASAM DFASAM, Editor-in-Chief, SAj  

Volume 46 Issue 2, April 2025

SAj Editorial Scholar Program

In January, the SAj Editorial Team announced the SAj Editorial Scholar Program, a program designed to engage early career clinical or health services scholars with SAj’s editorial team to learn about editorial decision-making and enhance skills in scientific communication. After reviewing a strong slate of qualified applicants, the SAj Editorial Team is pleased to announce the 2025 SAj Editorial Scholars, Rebekah Halmo, PhD, MSW, LCSW and Evans Kyei, PhD, MSN, RN.

Editorial Efficiency Metrics

Our volume of manuscripts be considered for the journal continue to be robust with over 341 articles considered for publication in the last 12 months and over 52 articles under current review. Average time from submission to first decision at 45 days and average time from submission to final decision is 55 days. Over 188 original research articles have been decided on in the last 12 months.

For more updates, please follow SAj on Bluesky, X, and LinkedIn. Click here to sign up for SAj Table of Contents alerts.

Adam J. Gordon, MD MPH FASAM DFASAM, Editor-in-Chief, SAj                                       April 2025

Substance Use & Addiction Journal (SAj) embarked on it 46^th year of publication with publication of Volume 46, Issue 1 in January 2025. In this issue, we are proud to publish In Support of the Decriminalization of Personal Drug and Paraphernalia Use and Possession: Position Statement of AMERSA, Inc. (Association for Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance Use and Addiction). This issue also included 12 papers from the NIH’s Integrative Management of Chronic Pain and OOUD for Whole Recovery (IMPOWR) Research Network, including 2 commentaries and 10 commentaries with protocol papers.

SAj Awards

During the 2024 AMERSA Annual Conference, we awarded the 2024 SAj Best Peer Reviewer Award to Joseph Mandato, a medical student, and SAj Most Downloaded Paper to Leslie Suen, MD, MAS; Michael Incze, MD, MSEd; Caty Simon; Honora Englander, MD; Jeffrey Bratberg, PharmD, FAPhA; Gail Groves Scott, MPH; and Rachel Winograd, PhD for their authorship of Methadone’s Resurgence in Bridging the Treatment Gap in the Overdose Crisis: Position Statement of AMERSA, Inc (Association for Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance Use and Addiction).

In December, the SAj Editorial Team announced that we will be selecting an “SAj Editors’ Choice Paper” on a quarterly basis from the papers published in the most recent issue. These articles will be highlighted in a collection on the Sage website (the publisher of SAj) and on the AMERSA website.

SAj Editorial Scholar Program

Consistent with the AMERSA strategic plan, we announced our SAj Editorial Scholar Program (https://amersa.org/saj-editorial-scholar-program/). Through this program, SAj seeks applications from multidisciplinary, post-graduate trained fellows/scholars and junior faculty to be an SAj Editorial Scholar. The goal of the SAj Editorial Scholar Program is to engage early career clinical or health services scholars with SAj’s editorial team to learn about editorial decision-making and enhance skills in scientific communication. This opportunity will be of interest to those interested in becoming journal editors as well as those looking to learn more about journal review processes. Applications are due on March 1, 2025.

Peer Review

SAj is always eager to add new peer reviewers to our slate of outstanding volunteers. The overall quality of the journal is significantly impacted by peer reviewers, whose volunteer efforts provide the Editorial Team with the information necessary to ensure that only the highest quality work appears in our journal. Comments and suggestions from peer reviewers can turn a marginal paper into a publishable work that advances the field. If you are interested in becoming a peer reviewer, please email saj@amersa.org.

For more updates, please follow SAj on Bluesky, X, and LinkedIn.

Adam J. Gordon, MD MPH FASAM DFASAM, Editor-in-Chief, SAj

We are excited to bring you the first SAj blog post of 2025! Before looking ahead to the new year, we would like to reflect on the activities of 2024.

2024 continued to be a busy year for the SAj Executive Editorial Team. The 44th volume of SAj, published in 2024, completed the transition to the new publisher, SAGE, Inc, with our new name, Substance Use & Addiction Journal on January 1, 2024.

The SAj Editorial Team, which include Editor-in-Chief (Dr. Gordon) and two Deputy Editors (Drs. Corte and Faseru), and our Associate Editors had some transitions. The Deputy Editors expanded their scope of activities and serve as a liaison to several AMERSA activities. Our three new Associate Editors (Taneisha Scheuermann, PhD (Psychology, University of Kansas), Elizabeth Siantz, PhD (Social Work, University of Utah), and Jessica Wyse, PhD (Psychology, Oregon Health Sciences) were fully onboarded into the editorial team. Dr. Binswanger resigned from the Associate Editorial team after a decade of service.

A major revision of our author instructions occurred. Changes highlighted SAj’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. In addition, consistent with this commitment, a person with lived experience was a named author in an SAj publication in 2024. SAj is now accepting “Commentaries with Protocol” manuscripts, and several authors published this article type in 2024. Several special sections from the NIH NIDA (IMPOWR Network) and a collaboration regarding Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) were accepted for publication in 2024.

We are considering several new ventures for SAj in 2025: 1) develop an “SAj Editorial Fellows” program; 2) expand DEI-related content in SAj; 3) work on getting more persons with lived experiences voices in the journal; 4) revamp the greater Editorial Board of SAj; ad 5) improve promotion and dissemination of SAj content (X/Twitter followers are 5,000+).

Thank you for your interest in SAj – we look forward to an eventful 2025!

Follow us on Bluesky, X, and LinkedIn for regular SAj-related updates. The current issue of SAj is available here.

Adam J. Gordon, MD MPH FASAM DFASAM, Editor-in-Chief, SAj