Dear readers,
To help us plan mindfully for the future, we need your feedback on the many changes we have made lately to the print and online editions of JAVMA and AJVR. Our last survey that was specifically targeted at journal readers and authors was in 2016. A lot has changed in that time, and just in the past 2 years, we have decreased the frequency of print JAVMA to once monthly; created twice-yearly JAVMA supplemental issues on special topics like nutrition, surgery, and dermatology; and converted AJVR to an online-only, open access journal with no more print issues. Further, in both journals, we have added online-only content; generated virtual collections of articles we know will interest our members; published articles online ahead of print; started a popular monthly series, Currents in One Health, as well as monthly Editorials and Spotlights on veterinary colleges; launched our podcast, Veterinary Vertex; reorganized the table of contents; started a new manuscript category for Technical/Tutorial Videos; redesigned the journal newsletter and eTOC alerts; changed to eco-friendly paper and biodegradable paper wrappers for JAVMA; redesigned our journals webpage; and more. That's a lot! And we need to find out from you whether you approve of what we're doing.
We already have some methods to measure the success of these initiatives—downloads, clicks on social media, Altmetric and Dimension scores of audience engagement, individual emails from readers, and feedback in person at meetings—but those don't provide enough data for us to make strategic decisions or determine where to invest journal staff time and effort. Hence, we want to hear from you, our members and readers.
How can you help? We are putting the final touches on a readership/authorship survey that will be launched in Q1 of 2024, the results of which will help us make evidence-based, strategic decisions for further development of your journals. If you are one of the randomly selected members invited to participate in the survey, please take approximately 8 minutes to provide us with your opinions so that we can continue to enhance your experience as a reader. For those of you who have published with us, the survey will also gauge how your experience working with JAVMA and AJVR compares to that of publishing in other journals.
A second survey, confined to authorship questions, will follow in Q2. Survey recipients will be selected from the Web of Science database and will include people who have published during the last 5 years in journals, including open access journals, that have cited JAVMA or AJVR. We can't wait to see those results!
Of course we know that survey fatigue is real, but we hope that the short and targeted nature of our surveys will generate robust data for our strategic initiatives, which will always be geared to improve your experience with your journals. I will be back in touch with the results of each survey. In the meantime, if you have thoughts on key initiatives for your journals, I'm listening.
Respectfully,
Dr. Lisa A. Fortier DVM, PhD, DACVS
Editor-in-Chief, JAVMA and AJVR
Division Director of Publications, AVMA
