At the AVMA, we have a deep commitment to strategic planning. That’s why all our plans for JAVMA and AJVR stem from analysis of the feedback you provide. In the Publications Division, in the 3.5 years I’ve been Editor-in-Chief, we developed an ambitious plan to improve the journals based on your responses to in-depth surveys and interviews, executed the plan, measured your satisfaction with the changes we made, and continued to build out the strategy of constantly increasing the value of your AVMA membership by publishing world-class scientific journals.
So for 2025, our Publications Strategic Plan lays out 3 overarching goals and the strategies to accomplish them.
Goal 1: Ensure that JAVMA and AJVR are the trusted voice of the veterinary profession for important clinical and scientific information.
To reach this critically important goal, and building on the survey research we did during 2024, we will work on increasing awareness of all the improvements we’ve made (see my November JAVMA and AJVR editorial: https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/262/11/javma.262.11.1438.xml). We’re going to do this by using our editorial database of over 40,000 reviewers and authors for targeted outreach and recruitment of the best articles. We’ll also start utilizing authors’ statistical analysis to highlight clinical significance rather than an overreliance on P values that have tended to dominate interpretation of data.
We’ll also continue to work with our colleagues in the Marketing and Communications Division to highlight to the profession and the public articles that will drive readership, engagement, and citations. One excellent example, a high-profile article on training dogs to do a voluntary head dunk, can be found here: https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/aop/javma.24.07.0480/javma.24.07.0480.xml?rskey=hLiwyD&result=5. It was very quickly picked up by 4 news outlets, a blog, a YouTube creator, and 3 Facebook pages.
Since we are seeing increased submissions, in particular to AJVR, another important tactic is the continued training of Student Associate Editors and Student Reviewers to evaluate articles for potential publication.
Goal 2: Support AVMA focus areas through journal outlets.
Specific strategies in support of major AVMA initiatives include producing a JAVMA supplemental issue authored by veterinary technicians. We believe this will be a first for the field and will clearly demonstrate the AVMA’s commitment to the technician community. Another strategy is to support the AVMA Emerging Technologies Task Force by producing an AJVR supplemental issue on artificial intelligence in veterinary medicine. I know we’ll all benefit from this carefully curated examination of a trending topic in our field.
Goal 3: Execute the Library Task Force strategic plan and build the AVMA library of the future.
If you dip into any of the newly digitized JAVMA and AJVR issues from the 1990s, you’ll recognize how incredibly interesting some of our older literature is. Take a look at Dr. Russell H. Anthony’s account of becoming a veterinarian on the GI Bill after World War II (https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/196/1/javma.1990.196.01.48.xml). This project, which will add the ’80s and ’70s this year, is made possible by our university librarians providing the content digitization at no charge to the AVMA.
Throughout 2025, I’ll keep you posted on how we’re progressing in the implementation of our strategic plan. As always, we welcome your comments and appreciate your continued support.
Respectfully,
Lisa A. Fortier DVM, PhD, DACVS
Editor-in-Chief, JAVMA and AJVR
Chief Publications Officer, AVMA
