Elsevier To Launch
New Open Access Global Epidemiology Journal In Early 2019
New Publication
Seeks To Adapt To Much Changed Publishing Landscape
Seeing an unmet need
for an epidemiologic research and teaching methods publication and one
which is open access and free to readers everywhere, the publisher
Elsevier is preparing to launch a new journal in 2019. It will be
called Global Epidemiology, not to create a focus for international
health topics, but to highlight its intention to appeal to a broad
array of international readers. The editor will be the University of
Minnesota’s George Maldonado. The other editors enlisted so far
include Sander Greenland as an editorial consultant, Rich
Rothenberg and Charles Poole as senior editors, and Anne
Jurek as associate editor.
Differences
When asked how the
journal would differ from existing epidemiology journals, Maldonado
said he would seek to have fuller and more complete descriptions of
methods, especially statistical and analytic procedures which he said
are almost never described fully enough. Also, the new editor will
seek to encourage more discussion of the limitations and their
potential impact on the study findings. In another vein, Maldonado
hopes to publish more teaching papers. He told the Monitor that he
writes these kind of papers but has found it difficult to get them
published. Consequently, he will be looking for papers which describe
new or innovative teaching methods and are very clearly written. As an
example, he said that authors of chapters for books might find it of
interest to submit manuscripts since they would not need to wait until
an entire book is completed to publish their work.
He also vowed to make
submission of papers as painless as possible for authors using new
tools now available to publishers (see below). In particular, he said
making the page proof process in the final stages of publication as
easy as possible was a priority for him.
Finally, Maldonado
told the Monitor he is keen to have a great deal of commentary
associated with the published papers in the journal. He intends to
allow authors to have their say, but to accompany these opinions with
commentary from others.
Needs Assessment
Asked about the need
for another epidemiology journal, Elsevier’s Alex Smith told
The Epidemiology Monitor that based on the company’s extensive market
research and knowledge of the publishing industry and its experience
in producing more than 2,500 journals, his company is very confident
the new journal will be successful and sustainable. An important
factor in this confidence is the interest that research funding
organizations have in making the results of the research they support
as widely available as possible and being willing to pay to have these
results published. Under the open access model, authors who submit to
Global Epidemiology will have to pay $1,750 per manuscript, according
to Smith. Authors from low and middle income countries will be
assessed a lower fee or no fee at all to help create a forum for
publishing work from the developing world.
More Producers
Another important
factor expected to impact the success and growth of the journal is
the finding that countries outside of North America and western Europe
are accounting for an ever larger share of the total output of
epidemiology research with China and Brazil now ranking in the top 5
epidemiology research producers.
The new journal will
not be sponsored by any single professional association of
epidemiologists but rather will seek to appeal to a broad group of
epidemiology subspecialities. Since the journal will be free and open
access to all readers, there is no subscription fee discount that can
be given. However, it is possible that the journal will give discounts
on the $1750 publishing fee for members of collaborating organizations
in exchange for some publicity and other supportive actions the
organizations could take to help build the “Global Epidemiology”
brand, according to Smith.
Your Paper Your Way
The new Journal is
expected to launch around February 2019 when a website will be
available for submitting papers. Publication of papers will occur in a
rolling fashion with no bundling of papers into single or monthly
issues. In what appears to be a major innovation, Elsevier will offer
a service called “your paper your way” which will allow authors to
submit their manuscripts in any format they wish to us and references
in any layout they choose. If accepted, the papers will be reformatted
by Elsevier into a common format for the Global Epidemiology format.
According to Smith, this new feature is in response to one of the most
frequently heard complaints from authors, namely that they have to
spend inordinate amounts of time learning and adopting difficult or
variable formats required by the journals. This challenge will not
longer be a deterrent according to Smith.
Editorial Control
All decisions
pertaining to the content and editorial integrity of the Journal will
be up to Maldonado. As a publisher or publication manger, Smith is
responsible for 5-10 separate journals and is there to assure the
smoothness of daily operations but not to dictate any editorial
policies. He will be involved in discussions of strategic issues with
the editor, however, Elsevier trusts the editor as the subject matter
expert and does not inject itself in editorial decisions.
According to the aims
and scope of the new peer-reviewed Journal, its mission is to provide
a publishing forum for high-quality epidemiologic research and
methodological development. It will be global in the broadest sense
inviting articles and seeking to stimulate open debate, across diverse
areas of interest, application and geography.
Types of Articles
The journal invites
the following types of articles, including but not necessarily limited
to:
·
Original
research reports (including reports of null results).
·
Review
articles.
·
Reports
of methodological developments and innovations. We give highest
priority to those that focus on the concepts, ideas and philosophical
foundations of epidemiologic methods
·
Teaching
articles: up-to-date discussions of epidemiological methods and
practices that achieve excellence in explanation, and that are
suitable for use in the classroom or for continuing education.
·
Validation studies to inform quantitative bias (uncertainty,
sensitivity) analyses.
·
Commentaries (usually invited).
·
Editorials (usually invited).
·
Letters
to the editor that comment on articles recently published in the
journal.
For other types of
articles, please contact the Editor-in-Chief before submission.
The journal can
be found online at:
https://bit.ly/2DnBlAg
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