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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Dec 26, 2025; 17(12): 111748
Published online Dec 26, 2025. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v17.i12.111748
Published online Dec 26, 2025. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v17.i12.111748
Evolving target: A 16-year progressive framework for shifting the rubric of scientific publishing toward transparency, artificial intelligence, and the Economic Impact Factor for impact that matters
Shengwen Calvin Li, Department of Neurology, University of California-Irvine School of Medicine, Orange, CA 92868, United States
Shengwen Calvin Li, CHOC Children’s Research Institute, Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC®), Rady Children’s Health Orange County (RCH), Orange, CA 92868, United States
Author contributions: Li SC contributed to conceptualization, writing, and revision.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author reports no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Shengwen Calvin Li, PhD, Academic Fellow, Adjunct Professor, Head, Research Fellow, Senior Researcher, Senior Scientist, Department of Neurology, University of California-Irvine School of Medicine, 200 S Manchester Avenue, Suite 206, Orange, CA 92868, United States. sli@choc.org
Received: July 11, 2025
Revised: October 22, 2025
Accepted: November 18, 2025
Published online: December 26, 2025
Processing time: 170 Days and 0.5 Hours
Revised: October 22, 2025
Accepted: November 18, 2025
Published online: December 26, 2025
Processing time: 170 Days and 0.5 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This editorial reflects on a 16-year evolution at the World Journal of Stem Cells and introduces a forward-thinking model for scientific publishing. We propose the Economic Impact Factor as a complementary metric to traditional citation counts - emphasizing translational relevance, editorial transparency, and artificial intelligence-driven progress. Drawing from World Journal of Stem Cells’s publishing milestones, clinical impact, and thematic breadth, we advocate for a values-based framework that prioritizes what truly matters in science: Real-world applicability, peer-reviewed integrity, and sus