Am Fam Physician. 2007;76(12):1750
I have mentioned many times in this column that we are constantly looking for ways to update and improve AFP. As I reflect on the changes and progress we've made during 2007, I again realize how many talented, dedicated people we have who make it a priority to bring you the best read journal in primary care. The following are some of the changes and accomplishments we've made this year.
We introduced two new regular features this year—Close-ups: A Patient's Perspective (https://www.aafp.org/afp/closeups), which started in the April 15 issue, and AFP Journal Club, which debuted November 1 (https://www.aafp.org/afp/journalclub). We hope you find both of these departments valuable, and we look forward to your comments.
To make room for those two features, we retired the Quantum Sufficit column. We know readers enjoyed this look at some of the lighter medical news, but space limitations force us to choose the content that is most useful for the most readers.
In January, we started closer collaboration with the AAFP News Now staff to provide the most up-to-date information in the AFP Newsletter.
In early 2007, we welcomed Stephanie Hanaway as the new publisher of AAFP journals. She brings 20 years of experience in publishing, marketing, live events, and Web site development.
To help aspiring authors, we improved the AFP Authors' Guide, which is available online at https://www.aafp.org/afp/authors.
We welcomed our new John C. Rose Medical Editing Fellow, Uma Jayaraman, MD. She started her 12-month term with the medical editing staff at Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, D.C., in July.
This summer, the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education Accreditation Review Committee completed its survey of AAFP's continuing medical education (CME) program, and granted the Academy another six-year term of accreditation. This accreditation includes commendation for excellence (https://www.aafp.org/afp/20070815/inside.html). The CME articles in AFP are an integral part of the Academy's CME program, offering 96 CME credits this year.
We enhanced the evidence-based medicine (EBM) Toolkit and made it easier to access on the AFP Web site. We brought it to the AFP “home” page, updated the content, and improved the link features. The direct link to the EBM Toolkit is https://www.aafp.org/afp/ebmtoolkit.
We introduced two new article series this year. One series is in collaboration with the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine and will cover common, interesting, and often perplexing sports medicine dilemmas that family physicians encounter daily (https://www.aafp.org/afp/20070115/inside.html). The other new series, which began appearing this summer, results from collaboration between the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the AAFP (https://www.aafp.org/afp/20070815/inside.html). The articles in this series are based on the ACR Appropriateness Criteria, which include more than 160 guidelines developed by experts in diagnostic imaging, interventional radiology, and radiation oncology.
AFP published 17 articles related to the AAFP 2007 Annual Clinical Focus (ACF) on the management of chronic illness. The topics ranged from ischemic stroke, hypertriglyceridemia, diabetes, and ulcerative colitis to schizophrenia. In 2008, watch for articles related to the 2008 ACF program on infectious diseases.
New Technology Moves Us Forward
New technology has been a priority for us this year. We have incorporated new software that helps us process new articles to a standardized format and check references. This helps streamline manuscripts through the editing and layout processes. In addition, we continue working to translate the online version of AFP to an XML-based Web site that will make searching and navigating easier.
A technology enhancement set to launch next year is our Web-based manuscript submission system. This new system will streamline the submission, intake, and review process for all authors and AFP editors.
Your Feedback is Appreciated
Please feel free to let us know what you think. You can use the comment card in the first issue of each month, or simply send an e-mail to afpedit@aafp.org.