Advancing pediatric health: the multifaceted scope of Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics

Article information

Clin Exp Pediatr. 2023;66(4):171-172

Publication date (electronic) : 2023 March 29

doi : https://doi.org/10.3345/cep.2023.00185

Jin Hee Oh, MD, PhD¹, Man Yong Han, MD^,2

¹Department of Pediatrics, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

²Department of Pediatrics, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea

Corresponding author: Man Yong Han, MD. Department of Pediatrics, CHA University School of Medicine, 59, Yatap-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam 13496, Korea Email: drmesh@gmail.com

Received 2022 June 10; Revised 2022 August 20; Accepted 2022 September 22.

Key message

Comprehensive efforts to manage pediatric diseases have continued to make remarkable progress globally. As of 2022, of the total 7,118 scientific journals in medicine ranked by SCImago, 320 are pediatric journals.

The title of Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics (CEP), a journal specializing in the diseases and health of children, has changed several times since its first issue was published in 1958 in Korea. In 1966, the journal’s title was changed from Chinese to Korean; then, in 2004, it was changed from Korean to English (i.e., Korean Journal of Pediatrics [KJP]). Three years ago, the name was changed to CEP to internationalize Korean pediatric research and worldwide academic exchanges. As the journal name suggests, CEP covers a wide range of experimental and clinical pediatric research topics [1].

CEP is listed in the Emerging Sources Citation Index as a core journal indexed by Clarivate Analytics. During the review process, it was identified that CEP published a paper outside its scope [2]. This review article introduced a model of deep learning at the cellular level and provided information on the concept of multiomics, an expanding research area. Topics are not limited to pediatric health or diseases but include generalized research applicable to all basic medical fields. Although basic research may affect pediatric diseases, it is not limited to pediatric-specific areas, so it is necessary to define how broadly the scope of CEP extends and disclose that it covers experimental research in other areas.

Research related to improving pediatric health and diseases includes basic research that identifies the mechanism of disease (bench experiments) and research that develops strategies for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases applicable to pediatric patients (bedside research). A diverse spectrum of research improves accessibility, reorganizes, and adjusts research results to enable their application within the social structure and provide tools to change clinician or patient behavior (translational research) [3]. Bench-to-bedside research, a starting point systematized as a social structure, ultimately covers all general diseases. Therefore, the subject may not be limited to pediatric diseases. In CEP, comprehensive basic research findings must be approached and explained in terms of pediatric diseases and health. Since the official journal title was changed from KJP to CEP in 2020, the basic experimental studies published as original and review articles in CEP focused on topics such as drug effects in bronchopulmonary dysplasia [4] and the effects of therapy on hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in neonatal rats [5]; such studies contain cardinal information specific to pediatric diseases. Therefore, from the CEP editorial committee’s perspective regarding journal scope, to be published as an experimental study, it must focus on research explaining the comprehensive association between potential effects and interpreting additional relationships to the trajectory from childhood to adulthood.

Another translational research area of focus is coordination of the societal structures and processes that orchestrate pediatric health and disease throughout society. These areas include pediatricians; policymakers who set the direction of pediatric research; committees that set pediatric insurance rates; research groups and networks promoting pediatric health; and public health managers. There are also groups and practitioners who embody evidence of the effect of lifestyle modifications (e.g., obesity, nutrition, lactation, development) and health policies applicable to schools, kindergartens, daycare centers, academies, postpartum care centers, and, as the most basic units, the family. The lag time for the translation of established research results to various groups, including general pediatricians, is reportedly 17 years [6]. Concentrated efforts are required to reduce the lag time when evidence-based medical knowledge is applied to daily life; because these changes occur in areas that are not easily noticeable to pediatric experts, the CEP must provide such content. Therefore, we must disseminate the results of groups of experts composed of both pediatricians and various other specialists, including nutritionists, general pediatricians, economists, data scientists, and psychologists [6]. The word “experimental” included in the journal’s name indicates that the journal publishes articles in the realm of implementation and translational research.

The next area requiring addressing by CEP is the parallel relationship between regional characteristics and globalization. Although CEP was historically born in Korea and most of its research findings originated there, it publishes international research to generalize knowledge and demonstrate international trends. These trends can be recognized in the case of the worldwide spread of coronavirus disease 2019, in which we observed how a disease in one region can affect the global population [7]. The exchange of regional information is very important in identifying both epidemics and disease patterns, and the CEP intends to manage globally and nationally unique information in detail.

CEP, the official journal of the Korean Pediatric Society, has a long history (>60 years) and has published under its current name for the past 3 years. Although the journal has been actively publishing for many years, relentless efforts will continue to discover new research areas, treat pediatric diseases, and promote pediatric health.