The Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs is a peer-reviewed

Peer review

Peer review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility...

 scientific journal

Scientific journal

In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. There are thousands of scientific journals in publication, and many more have been published at various points in the past...

 that publishes original research articles on various aspects of the use and misuse of alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

 and other drug

Drug

A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.In pharmacology, a...

s. Topics covered include the biological, medical, epidemiological, social, psychological, and legal aspects of alcohol and other drug use, abuse, and dependence. The journal was established in 1940 as the Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, changed its name in 1975 to Journal of Studies on Alcohol, before obtaining its current name in 2007. The journal appears bimonthly and publishes supplements at irregular intervals. The Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs is a not for profit journal based in the Center of Alcohol Studies, Rutgers University

Rutgers University

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...

.

Impact factor

According to the Journal Citation Reports

Journal Citation Reports

Journal Citation Reports is an annual publication by the Healthcare & Science division of Thomson Reuters. It has been integrated with the Web of Knowledge, by Thomson Reuters, and is accessed from the Web of Science to JCR Web. It provides information about academic journals in the sciences and...

, the journal's 2010 impact factor

Impact factor

The impact factor, often abbreviated IF, is a measure reflecting the average number of citations to articles published in science and social science journals. It is frequently used as a proxy for the relative importance of a journal within its field, with journals with higher impact factors deemed...

 is 2.128, ranking it 6th out of 29 journals in the category "Substance Abuse" (social science).

Editors in chief

The editor in chief

Editor in chief

An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...

 of the journal since 1994 has been Marc A. Schuckit (UCSD). Previous editors in chief are Howard W. Haggard (1940–1958), Mark Keller (1958–1977), Timothy Coffee (1977–1984), Jack H. Mendelson and Nancy K. Mello (1984–1991), and John Carpenter (1991–1994).