Starting with the next issue (Volume 29, #1), the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine will be published in a digital only, open access format, thus beginning a new chapter in the Journal's history. Since its first issue in 1987, the Journal has enjoyed steady growth in numbers of submissions and published articles and the editorial board has expanded to meet these needs. Relative measures (such as impact factor) of the Journal's importance to the scientific community also have risen steadily. Most importantly, the Journal has served as an avenue for the distribution of scientific discoveries in veterinary internal medicine and a resource for our Diplomates and candidates. As the age of the hard copy Journal comes to a close, it seems appropriate to reminisce about the Journal's early days and recognize some of those who contributed to its development over the past 30 years.
Dr Al Legendre's suggestion in 1984 to the Board of Regents (BOR) of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) that the College establish its own journal was met with skepticism. The idea had arisen in conversations at the ACVIM Forum between Al and Ed Breitschwerdt, another ACVIM BOR member at the time. Others on the BOR feared that such an endeavor would be financially disastrous for the organization. Al persisted, however, and Dr Art Lage arranged for Al to meet with editors of the New England Journal of Medicine in Boston for insight about how to establish a high‐quality society journal. The first issue of the new Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine was published by the J.B. Lippincott Company of Philadelphia in January, 1987. As the inaugural editor‐in‐chief, Dr Legendre established an editorial board of well‐recognized experts consisting of Drs Ed Breitschwerdt (small animal internal medicine), Sandy DeLahunta (neurology), Tommy Divers (large animal internal medicine), Mark Kittleson (cardiology) and Grant Knowlen (consulting statistical editor). The Journal initially was published quarterly, and the first issue featured 6 scientific articles. The original office for the Journal was Al's basement, and his wife Carol handled all of the communications with authors and associate editors. All correspondence and transmission of manuscripts, reviews and edited copy occurred on paper. In the first few years after its inception, the number of high quality submissions grew, requiring expansion of the Journal to its current bimonthly publication schedule with Volume 4 in 1990.
In July 1993, Dr Guillermo Couto assumed the role of co‐editor‐in‐chief with Dr Legendre and the following year became the sole editor‐in‐chief. Also in 1994, W.B. Saunders Company became the Journal's publisher. Dr Couto was the sole editor‐in‐chief until 1997, when Dr Steve DiBartola joined him as co‐editor‐in‐chief. In July 1998, Dr Couto retired from the co‐editor's position and Dr Ken Hinchcliff assumed the role of co‐editor‐in‐chief. Also during this time, the ACVIM assumed responsibility for publication of the Journal in association with Allen Press as its printer. In 1997, the Journal published 58 articles and had an impact factor of 1.585. All manuscript processing still was carried out using hard copy, and the Journal was only available in paper format. At this time, the Journal had 7 associate editors, none of whom resided outside of the United States. In 2006, the Journal published 206 articles, had an impact factor of 1.683, and manuscripts were processed electronically, including transmittal of edited copy and galley proofs. At this time, the Journal had 12 associate editors (3 of whom resided in Europe), 2 consulting statistical editors, and 2 co‐editors‐in‐chief in the United States. The Journal had become the official publication of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, the European College of Veterinary Neurology, and the European College of Equine Internal Medicine, thus establishing itself as an international veterinary journal. In 2008 (its first year with Wiley), the Journal published 203 articles and had an impact factor of 1.885.
The Journal continued to flourish during its years with Wiley, and all aspects of article submission and processing were handled using Scholar One's Manuscript Central system for online manuscript handling. Today, the Journal has 13 associate editors (5 of whom reside outside of the United States), 2 consulting statistical editors, and 2 co‐editors‐in‐chief, one of whom resides in Australia. In 2013, the Journal published 221 articles and had an impact factor of 2.224. Its 5‐year impact factor of 2.378 in 2013 placed it ninth among 129 veterinary journals ranked by the Institute for Scientific Information and second among veterinary journals in Scopus Journal Rankings. The Journal's international reputation also has continued to grow. In 2013, 203 of 394 submitted manuscripts (52%) came from 27 countries other than the United States. Overall, submissions have grown 58% in the past 10 years, from 249 submissions in 2004 to 394 submissions in 2013.
At the 2013 Forum meeting in Seattle, the editors and the ACVIM BOR began discussing publishing options, including a digital open access publication format. Discussion continued at the board's midyear meeting in Denver in November 2013 and during a strategic planning meeting held in February 2014. At the conclusion of that meeting, the BOR approved a motion to transition to open access, pending a final review of the actual publishing and financial models. A request for proposals was sent to several publishers in April 2014. Five proposals were evaluated by the ACVIM BOR and the editors, and the decision was made to continue with Wiley under a digital only, open access publishing model.
The primary advantages of establishing a digital open access content format are increased access for users and increased global reach of the Journal. In effect, anyone with an internet connection anywhere in the world will be able to access Journal content without delay and at no cost. We expect that increased accessibility will lead to increased use of published content, increased citations, and increased impact of an already highly ranked journal. Other advantages of the open access agreement with Wiley include optimization of Journal content regardless of the device used to access the content through the company's “Anywhere Article” format. Wiley's “Anywhere Article” provides a PDF‐like reading experience along with the functional advantages of an HTML document, such as ability to click on and be transported to cited references, expand figures and tables and immediately access supplementary materials. A journal‐specific mobile “app” also will be developed, providing readers with a portable and even more engaging and personal mobile experience. In addition, members will be able to access digital content via customizable “table of contents alerts” emailed directly to them.
The open access publishing model is aligned with the ACVIM's mission of “enhancing animal and human health by advancing veterinary internal medicine through training, education, and discovery.” The advancement of science is based on others learning about, evaluating, replicating, and building upon an investigator's work, and open access facilitates this process by providing investigators with the broadest possible distribution of their work. The open access format will facilitate distribution of Journal content to the international community, private practitioners, veterinary students, and the general public. As private practitioners and consumers become more familiar with veterinary specialty practice, animal health will benefit, including increased referrals to veterinary specialists. Publication of articles in open access format should increase the number of times articles are read and cited, thus enhancing the Journal's scientific value and impact.
With anything new, challenges present themselves. In the case of open access, the cost of publication is a major challenge because income from print subscriptions is lost and the revenue to support open access publication comes from article processing charges (APCs), which are borne by authors, their grant funds, and their institutions. The ACVIM is keenly aware that many veterinary investigators carry out their work with limited funding and that departments in veterinary colleges have limited budgets to support APCs. As a consequence, the ACVIM BOR established a plan to subsidize the majority of the APC for its members. Other strategies also are available to defray the cost of open access publication. Investigators should include publication costs in their grant applications, regardless of the funding agency and amount of the grant request. Universities also are beginning to recognize that open access represents the future of scholarly publishing, and have developed programs to facilitate open access publication of research by the academic community. For example, effective October 20, 2014, the Ohio State University established an open access pilot fund for authors that will provide awards of up to $1000 per article for APCs provided the publications meet certain eligibility criteria. The ACVIM also is committed to developing internal programs to support residents and investigators who have limited access to funds for APCs.
The issue you are now reading (featuring 33 scientific articles) is the last print issue of the Journal. We realize that some readers will be dismayed to see the hard copy of the Journal disappear, and others are concerned about the quality of the Journal as we move to open access. As editors, we strongly believe that quality depends more on editorial and production standards (eg, rigorous scientific peer review, careful editing) than publishing format, and we assure you that we are dedicated to the production of a high quality journal. Looking back at what Dr Legendre said in the inaugural issue of the Journal, it is clear that our goal today remains the same: “The Journal is the official publication of the College and is designed to meet the needs of its members. It should appeal to all veterinarians who strive to gain a better understanding of the complexities of clinical medicine.” We believe keeping this goal relevant in an age of instantaneous digital interconnectivity will be achieved by taking an already successful journal and extending its reach and accessibility by adoption of an open access publishing format.