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Critical Care: 20 Years in Publishing

In 1997, Critical Care launched in publication with the Editor-in-Chief, Jean-Louis Vincent, leading the Editorial Board in pioneering the field of critical care and emergency medicine. As the world was 'on the brink of an electronic revolution' (Hubbard & Vincent, 2006), the journal (or "forum" at the time) made use of the internet as a new resource: a platform for sharing breakthrough discoveries, or simply new ideas, in an emergency clinical setting.

In the past 20 years, the journal has contributed to improving the care of critically ill patients by acquiring, discussing, distributing and promoting information that remains relevant to intensivists.

We're looking back at the milestone achievements and highlights that have made Critical Care the field's leading journal, as it is today.  Associate Editor, Stephen Brett, shares his thoughts on the journal, below.

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Jean-Louis Vincent answers your questions

We invited you to submit your questions on Twitter, and Jean-Louis Vincent answered them. In our new podcast, our Editor-in-Chief talks to us about the future of the field of critical care medicine, and also answers some of your questions. Listen to the podcast here.

Our top ranked articles of all time

Acute kidney injury following cardiac surgery: current understanding and future directions
O'Neal et al.

The European guideline on management of major bleeding and coagulopathy following trauma: fourth edition
Rossaint et al.

Early identification of sepsis in hospital inpatients by ward nurses increases 30-day survival
Torsvik et al. 

qSOFA does not replace SIRS in the definition of sepsis
Vincent et al.

A positive fluid balance is an independent prognostic factor in patients with sepsis
Acheampong & Vincent

Management of bleeding and coagulopathy following major trauma: an updated European guideline
Spahn et al.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia in the ICU
Kalanuria et al. 

Hemodynamic consequences of severe lactic acidosis in shock states: from bench to bedside
Kimmoun et al. 

Acute renal failure – definition, outcome measures, animal models, fluid therapy and information technology needs: the Second International Consensus Conference of the Acute Dialysis Quality Initiative (ADQI) Group
Bellomo et al. 

Effect of oral melatonin and wearing earplugs and eye masks on nocturnal sleep in healthy subjects in a simulated intensive care unit environment: which might be a more promising strategy for ICU sleep deprivation?
Huang et al. 

Acute renal failure – definition, outcome measures, animal models, fluid therapy and information technology needs: the Second International Consensus Conference of the Acute Dialysis Quality Initiative (ADQI) Group
Bellomo et al.

Acute Kidney Injury Network: report of an initiative to improve outcomes in acute kidney injury
Mehta et al. 

RIFLE criteria for acute kidney injury are associated with hospital mortality in critically ill patients: a cohort analysis
Hoste et al.

A positive fluid balance is associated with a worse outcome in patients with acute renal failure
Payen et al.

Sepsis biomarkers: a review
Pierrakos & Vincent

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We asked our global authors why they publish with us

"I think that Critical Care is one of the most important journals in the field of critical care medicine. Publications are of a consistently high quality and, thanks to open access, there has been high visibility for my own papers. Not charging authors for letters helps clinicians and researchers exchange their own opinions about recent advances in critical care medicine and to discuss how to interpret results from large randomized controlled trials. In my opinion, as experimental research also remains well represented, senior researchers in the field will continue to routinely publish their clinical studies in Critical Care."
Prof Fabio S. Taccone is Assistant Professor at the Department of Intensive Care of Hopital Erasme in Brussels, Belgium

 

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"Critical Care has a very large and diverse readership. The journal regularly informs readers about new papers and, as a result, the papers are publicised very quickly - which I have found useful for both readers and authors. Critical Care also selects highly experienced reviewers, meaning papers usually improve between original submission and final acceptance. If papers are not accepted, the reviewers’ comments usually serve to improve the paper so that it gets accepted by another journal."
Dr Marlies Ostermann is a Consultant in Critical Care & Nephrology at Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation Trust, London and Honorary Senior Lecturer at King’s College London, UK

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"Critical Care is seen as one of the most influential journals in the field in China, articles always cover frontier research and practical technology for Chinese intensivists."
Prof Haibo Qiu is Chair of the Department of Critical Care Medicine at the Zhongda Hospital School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China

Critical Care

ISSN: 1364-8535