Bruce Gladden, a professor in the Auburn University College of Education's Department of Health and Human Performance, wrote an article for The Journal of Physiology that was the most downloaded paper in the journal for the month of July. The paper was downloaded a total of 949 times during July. Gladden was invited to write a topical review for the journal based on his well-known research efforts. He wrote an in-depth, broad-based review of lactate metabolism titled "Lactate Metabolism: A New Paradigm for the Third Millennium."

This review and his research involve basic physiology, which is the branch of biology that deals with the function and vital processes of living organisms or their parts and organs. While most of Gladden's work is closely related to exercise physiology in particular, this review article addressed issues across the broad spectrum of metabolism—from muscle cells to whole animal exercise, from sperm cells to brain cells, from wound healing to brain ischemia (lack of blood flow). The review appeared in The Journal of Physiology in June. During the month of June, the paper was the fifth most electronically accessed in the journal.

The Journal of Physiology retains its prominent position as the journal of choice for the publication of original peer-reviewed science covering all areas of physiology. The Institute of Scientific Information 2002 impact factor of 4.650 is consistent with the role of The Journal of Physiology as the key journal for papers reporting high-quality original science with a rapid influence on physiology. The long cited half-life (9.5 years) of articles published in The Journal of Physiology illustrates that this influence is sustained.