Announcing JAMA Network Open—A New Journal From The JAMA Network

We are pleased to announce that in early 2018, The JAMA Network will launch a new journal—JAMA Network Open. 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. With the launch of JAMA Network Open, we simultaneously assert our editorial commitment to excellence and to the authorship community regardless of requirements of funders. This will be a fully open access journal and follows the launch of JAMA Oncology in 2015 and JAMA Cardiology in 2016, which are hybrid journals offering open access options for research articles.^1,2 Frederick P. Rivara, MD, MPH, current editor in chief of JAMA Pediatrics, will be the editor in chief of JAMA Network Open.

Medical journals and publishing have changed substantially during the past 2 decades following the emergence and ascendance of the internet and the mobilization of journal content. Journals have gone “digital”—virtually all journals release content online ahead of or instead of print, and connect with their readers via electronic table of contents and through social media. Open access publishing has risen to prominence concurrent with these changes, with a primary goal to make research findings more accessible to potential users around the world. In addition, many funders now require that authors publish their results in open access journals, and this requirement will almost assuredly expand in the future.

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. Between 2008 and 2016, the number of major articles indexed annually in Web of Science increased from 984 350 to 1 364 453 (Figure, A). During the same time, at JAMA and The JAMA Network specialty journals the number of research manuscripts submitted increased from 9006 to 14 676, but the number of research manuscripts published declined from 1739 to 1335 (Figure, B). In 2017, following the launches of JAMA Oncology and JAMA Cardiology, we estimate that more than 17 000 research manuscripts will be submitted to JAMA and the 11 specialty journals and approximately 1500 will be published. Clearly, the world’s research effort has increased substantially during the past decade. The number of articles published in JAMA and the 11 specialty journals is necessarily limited, and 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 expanding opportunities for authors of manuscripts in other important disciplines.

Figure.  Numbers of Major Articles Published in Web of Science and Research Articles Submitted and Accepted for JAMA Network Journals, 2008-2016

View LargeDownload

Following the launch of JAMA Oncology and JAMA Cardiology, advocates for additional new journals in The JAMA Network approached us with thoughtful proposals. Many disciplines are not represented in our current collection of titles, and thus there are opportunities to publish more discipline-specific journals. Rather than launch another subject-focused title, our preference is to expand The JAMA Network publishing platform to encompass all of clinical medicine and health care. The new JAMA Network website has made this decision possible³ because regardless of where an article is published on the site, content in a specific discipline is easily discoverable. In addition, it is now possible to search for a topic simultaneously across all of our titles or across selected journals. Do clinical oncologists care if an article is published in JAMA, JAMA Oncology, or JAMA Internal Medicine? Not likely—but they do care if the content is relevant to their practice and is discoverable and accessible.

JAMA Network Open will be a general medical journal that includes content from many disciplines, featuring scientific, medical, and health content in more than 40 subject areas (Box). About 25% of JAMA Network Open articles will be accompanied by open access Invited Commentaries because clinicians and investigators have told us that they value the insights of opinion pieces, and open access online commenting will be available for all articles. Authors will continue to be able to submit manuscripts to JAMA and 1 of the specialty journals and request the option for automatic transfer to another journal if the initial journal does not accept the manuscript, including JAMA Network Open. The addition of JAMA Network Open will enhance JAMA and the 11 specialty journals and broaden The JAMA Network.

The JAMA Network Open website will be similar to the websites for the other JAMA Network journals: it will use responsive design and be easy to search, access, and read via computer, tablet, or smartphone. The computer desktop HTML version of articles will display in split screen, with the text and links of articles on the left and tables, figures, references, and multimedia on the right. We will continue to publish PDF versions of articles for researchers and readers who prefer that format. Changes have been made to ensure that content will be easily discoverable based on the interest of a reader. The JAMA Network journal websites will continue to learn the preferences of a user, so related content will be highlighted to match the interests of that individual. This is especially important for a journal that will have content from many different specialties.

The mission statement of the new journal is as follows: “JAMA Network Open is an international, peer-reviewed, open access, general medical journal that publishes research and commentary on clinical care, health policy, and global health across all health disciplines and countries for clinicians, investigators, and policy makers. Our vision is to use new and emerging technologies to enhance communication of all content and make it freely available. Consistent with the rigorous editorial, peer review, and publishing standards of The JAMA Network, our goal is for JAMA Network Open to be the leading open access general medical journal in the world.”⁴

The decision to launch a new, fully open access journal was based primarily on 2 factors: first, there is sufficient worldwide scientific content to support such a journal, and second, we can and will maintain the editorial and publishing standards associated with JAMA and The JAMA Network specialty journals. Indeed, to ensure the success of JAMA Network Open, maintaining rigorous standards of peer review, editorial review and selection, revision, quality of reporting, manuscript editing, editorial policies, author services, publication reach, and publishing innovation is absolutely necessary and is our commitment to authors and readers.

JAMA Network Open will begin accepting manuscripts in early 2018. We look forward to receiving research manuscripts from authors around the world on clinical care, health policy, and global health across all medical and health disciplines. Please visit http://jamanetworkopen.com to learn more about the journal, its editors and editorial board, and information about submitting manuscripts, and to view the announcement Video.⁴

Corresponding Author: Howard Bauchner, MD, JAMA, 330 N Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60611 (howard.bauchner@jamanetwork.org).

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: All authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and none were reported.

Additional Contributions: We thank Colleen Kelly, JAMA Network Program Manager, and numerous JAMA Network editorial and publishing staff for their work in preparing for the launch of JAMA Network Open.