The August manuscripts for Canadian Journal of Medical Specialties offer a true reflection of why this journal was launched.
Naugler et al and Soll & Dow each provide unique perspectives on issues that face Canadian medical practitioners. Their findings reflect what is happening here at home. While our experiences can be of benefit to readers outside of Canada it is likely that they would not have been accepted by an American journal.
It is a challenge faced every day in the world of Canadian specialty publishing – how do we support the work that represents our smaller numbers? How do we publish when much of the medical publishing world is more accessible to larger organizations and authors with financial support? How do we address the fact that, in today’s world, American content dominates.
In these challenging times it is even more essential that we maintain our voice. That we share Canadian research with Canadian readers. That we value quality over quantity. And that we support and foster our unique identity, address our unique challenges, and support our valuable colleagues.
There are close to 70 national specialty societies in Canada.1 Several have sub-specialties within their organizations. In my research in preparation for the launch of this journal I realized that less than half of those organizations have their own journal. And the majority of those are published outside of Canada using financial models that can be cost-prohibitive to many authors.
The remaining societies either do not have a journal to offer their members or pay out of their revenue to subscribe to an American journal. Many have no way to even share abstracts from their annual meetings. This means significant revenue is leaving the country and we face additional challenges attracting participants to our annual meetings.
Access to international research is, of course, important. But it is equally important to maintain a voice for Canadian research. Canadian abstracts. Canadian challenges… and Canadian solutions. I am proud to be part of a journal that is actively working to support all of these things.
But it takes a village. And so, I thank our authors for contributing their voice and our peer-reviewers and editors for bringing their expertise to the selection process. And, of course, a world of thanks to our readership and participating organizations for recognizing the value of these Canadian voices and the importance of sustaining them. We may live across a broad geography but we are very strongly connected.
A belated Happy Canada Day to you all.
ISSN 2819-2842