Published On-Line First

What we once dubbed ‘Published Ahead of Print’ (PAP), we now call ‘Published On-Line First‘ (POLF???). Whatever the phrase or acronym, I can attest to the benefit as an editor, a reader, and an author.  The publication flexibility that publishing on line provides is extraordinary.  We get many excellent manuscripts submitted for consideration.  The few that make it through our rigorous peer review must then wait in the queue to get on the actual pages of the journal; and so, with publishing on line, we can make the authors’ scientific findings available immediately, even before we have copy on paper.  The articles are immediately found on PubMed and are citable with their unique digital object identifier (DOI) number.

As a reader, I enjoy this functionality.  I rarely get my medical information any more from paper.  I still receive CJSM and other journals (Sports Health, JAMA, MSSE, etc.) in the mail.  I might page through them as I eat breakfast; I will have them on my nightstand to skim prior to sleep.  But most of the time, I am reading my medical journals on the laptop or iPad.  Or I’m sharing a link to a study with someone on twitter.  All of this can only be done with an on-line publishing functionality.  It’s brilliant.

Finally, as an author:  it is always exciting to get your manuscript through peer review.  Always exciting to see the months to years of hard work culminate with an accepted manuscript.  Historically, one would then wait for some time before actually seeing the manuscript in print.  Now, once a CJSM author has completed their post-acceptance corrections, reviewed the galley proofs, and so on, their work can be disseminated immediately.  As an example, here is a recent bit of excitement I just had as an author in the pages of CJSM: ‘Reliability of a computerized neurocognitive test in baseline concussion testing of high school athletes.’ 

I am off on vacation, and so I thought I would share a post on PAP from 2013.  More soon!