About Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology

Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology

Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology is the title under which the American Medical Association published one of the oldest continuously published dermatology journals in the world between 1920 and 1950. Its print ISSN is 0096-6029, the identifier recorded on the Journals World record together with a second identifier, 2376-3760. The journal is not a current submission destination under this exact title. It is a historical title in a long title chain that began in the nineteenth century, continued through several Archives titles in the middle of the twentieth century, and continues today as JAMA Dermatology. Understanding that chain is essential for anyone citing, searching for, or evaluating work that appeared under this name, because library catalogues, citation databases and the publisher's own archive organise the same journal under different titles for different years.

This profile explains what the journal was, when it was published, what it covered, who published it, how its articles should be cited and located today, and how it differs from the similarly named Archives of Dermatology and from the current JAMA Dermatology. It is written for researchers tracing older dermatology literature, for clinicians checking a historical reference, for librarians and students who encounter the title in a reference list, and for authors who need to understand why a modern submission cannot be sent to a title that ceased more than seventy years ago.

History and Title Chain

The lineage is documented by the publisher and by library records. The journal began in October 1882 as the Journal of Cutaneous and Venereal Diseases. A JAMA Dermatology historical account notes that the January 1984 issue of the Archives marked continuous publication for 1,215 months from that 1882 start, and that in 1920 the American Medical Association became responsible for publication and the journal was renamed Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology. The University of Pennsylvania Online Books Page gives the same sequence in catalogue form: the title began in 1920 as successor to the Journal of Cutaneous Diseases, was renamed A.M.A. Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology in 1950, and that title in turn was renamed A.M.A. Archives of Dermatology in 1955.

The German-language electronic journals library record maintained at Regensburg summarises the full title history with volume and year ranges: Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology for volumes 1 to 62, covering 1920 to 1950 issue 3; A.M.A. Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology for volume 62 issue 4 in 1950 through volume 71 in 1955; A.M.A. Archives of Dermatology for volumes 72 to 81, 1955 to 1960; Archives of Dermatology for volumes 82 to 148, 1960 to 2012; and JAMA Dermatology from volume 149 in 2013 onward. Those ranges matter in practice. A citation dated 1935 belongs to this title, a citation dated 1975 belongs to Archives of Dermatology, and a citation dated 2015 belongs to JAMA Dermatology, even though all three describe the same continuing journal.

The word Syphilology in the title reflects the medicine of its era. In the early twentieth century dermatology and the study of syphilis were closely linked in clinical practice, because syphilis frequently presented with skin signs and because the same specialists often treated both conditions. As syphilis treatment, diagnostic testing and the organisation of specialties changed, the combined wording fell away, first in the shortened A.M.A. Archives of Dermatology title in 1955 and then permanently. The removal of the word was a change in title and in specialty presentation, not the end of the journal.

Histories of American dermatology place the journal in a wider professional story that includes the founding of dermatology societies, specialist clinics and university teaching in the United States in the late nineteenth century. Against that background the AMA's assumption of publication in 1920 gave the journal a national professional home, a regular publishing operation in Chicago, and a place alongside the other AMA Archives specialty journals that later also adopted JAMA branding. The 1984 second-century editorial credited a succession of distinguished editors with guiding the journal's course, contents and direction, and thanked the retiring chief and assistant editors on behalf of the AMA, the editorial board and more than 18,000 recipients at that time.

Publisher, Place and Identity

The publisher recorded on the Journals World record is the American Medical Association, and that attribution is consistent with the publisher's own history and with library records. The AMA is based in Chicago, Illinois, and JAMA Dermatology is presented by the JAMA Network as a member of that network, a consortium of peer-reviewed general medical and specialty publications that includes JAMA, eleven specialty journals and JAMA Network Open. For the historical title, the practical identity checks are the title itself, the years 1920 to 1950, the volume range 1 to 62, and ISSN 0096-6029. Any record that combines this exact title with a start date far outside that range, or with a publisher other than the AMA, should be checked carefully against a library catalogue before it is trusted.

The second identifier on the Journals World record, 2376-3760, could not be verified from the publisher and library sources consulted for this profile as the print identifier for this title; the consistently documented print ISSN for Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology in the sources used here is 0096-6029. Readers should therefore cite the title and year together with 0096-6029 when identifying the historical run, and should not replace that identifier with identifiers belonging to later titles in the chain. Archives of Dermatology has its own identifiers, including 0003-987X and 1538-3652, and JAMA Dermatology has 2168-6068 and 2168-6084. Keeping those sets separate prevents a common cataloguing error in which articles from three different title periods are merged into a single misleading record.

Language and place are straightforward. The journal published in English in the United States for an American and international medical readership. Its articles are part of the American dermatology literature of the first half of the twentieth century, a period that includes the introduction of new diagnostic methods, changing treatments for syphilis and other skin diseases, wartime medicine, and the early development of dermatologic surgery and pathology as they are recognised today. That historical setting should be kept in mind when reading its clinical recommendations, many of which predate antibiotics in their modern form, modern imaging, and current trial methods.

Scope and Content in Its Period

The current JAMA Dermatology description, which the JAMA Network applies to the continuing journal, states that it publishes material that helps in the development and testing of the effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment in medical and surgical dermatology, paediatric and geriatric dermatology, and oncologic and aesthetic dermatologic surgery. That description is a reasonable guide to the broad territory the journal has covered across its life, including the Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology period, provided it is read historically. In the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s the journal's pages carried clinical observations, case reports, therapeutic reports, pathological discussion and professional commentary reflecting the tools then in use.

Syphilis coverage was central rather than incidental. Articles addressed its skin manifestations, its diagnosis, its course and its treatment at a time when therapy was changing and when the disease was a major public health concern. Alongside that work the journal published on other infectious skin diseases, inflammatory conditions, tumours of the skin, occupational and contact dermatoses, and the pathology underlying clinical appearances. For a modern reader the value of that material is often historical and evidentiary: it shows how a condition was recognised, which treatments were tried, and how expert opinion formed before later evidence superseded it.

The journal also served a professional function. Editorials, society material and review writing helped define standards for a specialty that was still establishing its place in American medicine. The second-century editorial's emphasis on editors and on continuity underlines that role. A specialty journal in this period was not only a container for research articles; it was a forum in which a field explained itself to itself, recorded its meetings and debates, and set expectations for training and practice.

Article types in the historical run should be described cautiously. Modern labels such as randomised trial, systematic review and reporting guideline belong to later eras and should not be projected backwards without checking the individual article. When citing a paper from this title, describe what the article itself is — a case report, a clinical series, a laboratory study, a review or an editorial — from its own text, rather than assuming a modern article-type taxonomy.

Indexing, Archives and How to Find Articles Today

The complete run is preserved through the JAMA Network archive. Dartmouth's biomedical libraries, describing the JAMA and Archives backfiles, list Archives of Dermatology from 1920 onward among the archive collections made readable online, alongside the other former Archives titles. The University of Pennsylvania listing notes persistent archives of complete issues, including HathiTrust holdings for volumes 1 to 22, covering 1920 to 1930, freely readable online, and Internet Archive copies beginning with volume 1 in 1920. Availability of later volumes depends on the holding library and on publisher access terms, because the journal was a subscription publication.

To locate a specific article, start with the citation as printed: authors, article title, journal title as it stood in that year, year, volume and pages. Search that combination in PubMed, in a library catalogue, and in the JAMA Network archive under the historical title. If a search under Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology fails for a paper dated after 1950, check the successor titles for that year rather than concluding the paper does not exist. Conversely, a paper dated before 1920 will be found, if at all, under the predecessor Journal of Cutaneous titles, not under this title.

Citation practice follows the same rule. Cite the journal title that appears on the article itself, abbreviated in the style required by the citing journal. Do not modernise a 1930 citation to JAMA Dermatology, and do not backdate a 2020 JAMA Dermatology citation to the Archives title. Accurate title-at-date citation allows readers to follow the chain, allows indexers to match records, and preserves the historical record of when a finding entered the literature under which journal name.

Researchers doing systematic historical work should also record the volume. Because the title change in 1950 occurred part-way through volume 62, that volume is split between Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology and the A.M.A. title that followed. A volume-only search for volume 62 can therefore return material under two titles, both correct for their issue dates. Checking the issue month resolves the ambiguity.

Relationship to Archives of Dermatology and JAMA Dermatology

On Journals World, three separate records represent this lineage: this record for Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology, a record for Archives of Dermatology, and a record for JAMA Dermatology. That separation is correct. They are successive titles of a continuing journal, not three competing journals and not duplicates of one another. Each record covers a different title period with different ISSNs. The Archives of Dermatology record on the site is itself thin and carries identifiers 0003-987X and 1538-3652 with a high historical h-index reflecting the long run of that title, while the JAMA Dermatology record carries 2168-6068 and 2168-6084 and covers 2013 onward. Merging those records would destroy the title history that readers need.

The practical consequence for authors is clear. There is no editorial office for Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology and no submission route under this name. A researcher wishing to submit dermatology work to the continuing journal today must use JAMA Dermatology and follow its current instructions, which are published by the JAMA Network. A researcher wishing to cite or read the historical journal should use the archives described above. Any website claiming to accept new submissions for this historical title, or charging a fee to publish in it, should be treated with caution and checked against the JAMA Network's own site.

For editors and database managers, the lineage also explains citation counts. Metrics attached to later titles do not transfer backwards as metrics of the historical title, and a metric quoted for JAMA Dermatology or for Archives of Dermatology is not a metric for the 1920 to 1950 run. This profile therefore does not present a current impact factor, quartile or h-index for Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology as a standalone modern journal, because the title ceased before those modern journal-level products covered it in their present form. Where a database presents a combined lineage figure, it should be labelled as a lineage figure and its source and year should be given.

Reading Historical Dermatology Critically

Articles from 1920 to 1950 must be read in their own clinical context. Diagnostic names have changed, some conditions described as separate entities are now understood as one disease, and some single names of the period are now split into several conditions. Treatments reported in good faith in the journal may have been abandoned because later evidence showed harm or lack of benefit, and dosage, formulation and patient selection may differ entirely from modern practice. The journal is a primary source for the history of dermatology, not a guide to present treatment.

That caution increases rather than decreases its scholarly value. Historians of medicine use the run to trace how syphilis care changed, how dermatology separated from and related to other specialties, and how American professional publishing developed. Clinicians use it to find the first description of a sign, a technique or a reaction, and to understand why a long-standing practice began. Librarians use its title chain as a standard example of why serials cataloguing records title changes so carefully.

Ethical standards in publishing have also changed. Consent, patient photography, conflict disclosure and trial registration are governed today by requirements that did not exist in their current form during this title's run. A modern reader should note that difference when reproducing historical images or case details, and should follow current institutional rules for reuse even when the original article predates them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology still published? No, not under this title. It was published from 1920 to 1950, renamed in stages, and the continuing journal is now JAMA Dermatology. Can I submit a manuscript to it? No. Submissions to the continuing journal go to JAMA Dermatology through the JAMA Network. What is its ISSN? The documented print ISSN for this title is 0096-6029. The second identifier on the site record, 2376-3760, could not be verified from the sources consulted for the historical title and should not be used in place of 0096-6029 without a catalogue check.

Is it the same journal as Archives of Dermatology? It is the predecessor title of the same continuing journal, published 1920 to 1950, whereas Archives of Dermatology was the title from 1960 to 2012 after two intermediate A.M.A. titles. They should be cited separately by date. Where can I read old articles? Through the JAMA Network archive, through library holdings such as HathiTrust for early volumes, and through the Internet Archive for early issues, subject to each collection's terms.

What should I do if a reference list gives this title for a paper dated 1980? Treat it as an error to be checked. In 1980 the journal was titled Archives of Dermatology. Find the article under that title, correct the citation to the title at the date of publication, and keep a note of the correction if the work is part of a formal review.

Editorial Note on Sources and Verification

This profile is based on the publisher's own historical account in JAMA Dermatology, the JAMA Network's description of the continuing journal, the University of Pennsylvania Online Books Page serial listing, the Regensburg electronic journals library title-history record, and a university library description of the JAMA and Archives backfiles. Facts that those sources do not establish — for example a modern article processing charge, a current editorial board, or a present-day acceptance rate for a title that ceased in 1950 — are not stated, because they do not exist for this title. The absence of such information is itself the accurate information for a ceased historical title.

Readers who need a definitive catalogue entry for interlibrary loan or for a thesis bibliography should consult their national library's serial record for ISSN 0096-6029 and copy the title, publisher and dates from that record. If that record differs in a detail of volume dating from the summary given here, the catalogue record for the specific volume in hand should prevail for that citation.