JAMIA looks to the future amidst profound changes in the world of publishing

Rapid technological change has affected many aspects of our society, but perhaps none more profoundly than the world of publishing. Scientific journals largely have moved to primary publication online. Clinicians and researchers first learn of, and then read articles on the Internet—and print them locally when required. Thus, as all publishers, whether commercial or non-profit, have attempted to address online communities, they have had to reconsider their business models and track new opportunities. The end of the current five-year Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association ( JAMIA) publisher's contract in 2009 afforded the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) the opportunity to reconsider seriously its plans for the future of the journal. Thus, in May 2008, following an invited presentation by the Editor-in-Chief regarding the current status, perceived opportunities, and important decisions to be made for JAMIA , the AMIA Board of Directors began work on the renewal of the publishing contract for its flagship journal. The AMIA Board charged a task force comprising representatives from the Board of Directors, the AMIA Publications Committee, AMIA Staff, the JAMIA Editor, and a seasoned scholarly publishing consultant to assess future publishing options and to then issue a request for proposals. The task force convened frequently (electronically) during the first few months of its work, to examine the overarching principles of the process, to study the current publishing model, and to explore alternative approaches to publishing the association's scholarly journal. As their first order of business, the task force conducted a survey of all AMIA members to solicit comments on a variety of possible approaches. The survey asked members to indicate their personal preferences for five different publishing models, which included combinations of various options of print, online, and open-access versions of JAMIA . The survey results indicated that AMIA members' most favored (70%) …