The impact factor of Anales de Pediatría in 2024 (2.1) is a testament to the performance of the editorial team and sets the course for the coming years.1 This report also raises questions about the developments in scientific publishing and, consequently, pediatric research in Spain, as discussed in an article recently published in this journal.2

Scientific publication is the most visible expression of scientific output at all levels, from basic to clinical research. Without research, there is no progress.

The scientific literature in Spanish is scarce. The output is even scarcer in the field of pediatrics. In 2021, a search of the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) yielded 33 Spanish medical journals with an impact factor. Eight pediatric journals in the JCR are published in Spanish, of which only two are based in Spain (Table 1).

According to the report published by the editors of Anales de Pediatría, in 2024 the journal received a total of 663 manuscripts, of which only 54% were original articles. Considering that the rejection rate is 70%, only 107 articles were published that year. As Spanish-language pediatric journals close down,3 the chances of publishing in Spanish for the nearly 10 000 pediatricians practicing in Spain are very low. Not to mention the opportunity of publishing without compromising the requirements of high-quality publication.4

New publishing opportunities need to be created for articles that, despite being of high quality, cannot be accepted by Anales de Pediatría. One proposal is for the AEP itself to take on this challenge and, as has been done by other organizations, create a second journal published exclusively in an electronic format (e-Anales de Pediatría). Time will tell whether this is a good opportunity, either by achieving an impact factor or based on new measures of the relevance of a scientific article (e.g., Altmetric).5