Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Published by Oxford University Press, Is Not Affiliated With NCI

The Journal of the National Cancer Institute (also known as JNCI) was created by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the 1940s to focus attention specifically on cancer research by providing the first venue for publication of exclusively cancer-related scientific papers. Over the years that the Journal was associated with NCI, the editorial board changed and grew as well; it initially consisted primarily of NCI scientists and subsequently grew to include scientists from outside NCI and eventually from outside the United States. These outside scientists now represent a majority of the editorial board.

Under the terms of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with NCI, which began in August 1996 and ran for about five years, Oxford University Press (OUP) gradually took over responsibility for the Journal and became the sole owner at the end of the privatization process. The JNCI now is not supported or controlled by the U.S. government. The two main goals of the CRADA were transfer and maintenance of the systems and standards responsible for the quality of the Journal and the development of an enhanced online version of the Journal.

The value of a journal is, in large part, in its name. Additionally, citation history carries over on the basis of name, and if the name changes, the citation history stops being included in citation reports. The CRADA was for the purpose of privatizing the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, so NCI could not withhold the name.