The JAMA Network will launch a new online general medical journal, JAMA Network Open, in early 2018. The new journal will publish peer-reviewed, fully open-access clinical research across all medical disciplines. “Open access” is free, immediate, online availability of research articles that permits others to access, read and reuse the content.
The weekly journal will be the 13th journal in The JAMA Network, which includes JAMA and 11 other specialty journals. The newest journal follows the launch of JAMA Oncology in 2015 and JAMA Cardiology in 2016, which are hybrid journals offering open access for research articles.
The founding editor-in-chief of JAMA Network Open will be Frederick P. Rivara, MD, MPH, now editor-in-chief of JAMA Pediatrics. Dr. Rivara is Seattle Children’s Guild Endowed Chair in Pediatrics, professor of pediatrics and adjunct professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington.
“Our editorial goal is to publish the very best clinical research across all disciplines, serving the worldwide community of investigators and clinicians and meeting the evolving needs and requirements of authors and funders,” Dr. Rivara and his co-authors wrote in an editorial published in JAMA. The editorial was co-written by JAMA Network Editor-in-Chief Howard Bauchner, MD, JAMA Network Publisher Thomas J. Easley, and Annette Flanagin, the executive managing editor of JAMA and JAMA Network.
Medical journals and publishing have changed over the past two decades and open access publishing has risen to prominence with the goal of making research findings available worldwide. Many funders also now require that authors publish their research in open-access journals, Dr. Rivara and his colleagues noted.
“Our decision to launch an open-access journal was based on careful thought and planning and represents our response to the rapidly evolving landscape of scientific discovery and medical journals and publishing,” they wrote.
The move comes after a period—between 2008 and 2016—when major article publications indexed in the Web of Science rose 38 percent and the number of research-article acceptances in JAMA Network journals dropped 23 percent.
“JAMA Network Open will provide another high-quality option for authors of research articles in disciplines already represented by our current titles as well as well as expanding opportunities for authors of pts in other disciplines,” says the JAMA editorial.
The new, general medical journal will feature health content from more than 40 medical and health subject areas, including anesthesiology, critical care medicine, health informatics, pathology and laboratory medicine, rheumatology, and substance use and addiction. About a quarter of articles published in JAMA Network Open will be accompanied by invited opinion pieces commenting on the newly published research. The journal will follow the same rigorous peer review, editorial and publishing standards as the other JAMA Network journals.
“The addition of JAMA Network Open will enhance JAMA and the 11 specialty journals and broaden The JAMA Network,” the editorial notes.
Visit the JAMA Network Open website to learn more, and to sign up for email updates. The journal will start accepting manuscripts early next year. The site also provides more information for authors and answers to frequently asked questions.
