Introducing the ACOFP's new journal, Osteopathic Family Physician

Since its inception, the ACOFP has had the goal, “To advance the standards of (family) practice in the field of osteopathic medicine . . .” To that end, over the past 58 years, the ACOFP has published various newsletters and scientific journals. In 2000, the ACOFP started publishing a journal entitled Osteopathic Family Physician News. This journal contained a mix of scientific and practice management articles, Association news, and paid advertising. It read like a newsletter and has operated at a substantial deficit since the beginning. As a member benefit, it was not necessarily intended that a publication of this nature would generate positive revenue. However, the ACOFP must be able to demonstrate a member value consistent with the cost of production.

In January 2009, the ACOFP signed on with Elsevier Inc. to take Osteopathic Family Physician News, the ACOFP’s member publication, and transform it into the scientific journal Osteopathic Family Physician. This change will be evident in two ways: the size of the journal has been transformed from the current tabloid size to a standard journal size, and second, the content will be more scientifically focused.

Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical, and medical information products and services. Working in partnership with the global science and health communities, Elsevier publishes more than 2,000 journals and 1,900 new books per year, in addition to offering a suite of innovative electronic products such as ScienceDirect, MD Consult, Scopus, bibliographic databases, and online reference works.

Elsevier also has expertise in online publication, which will enhance the online publication of OFP. Currently, the OFP News is published to our website. Elsevier is able to index the journal and make it searchable not only on our site but by major internet search engines.

The ACOFP believes that the new journal, Osteopathic Family Physician, can strike a balance between the cost of production and its value to membership. By enhancing the quality of the ACOFP publication, members and nonmembers alike will see new value in membership in the ACOFP.

The ACOFP is working to have Osteopathic Family Physician become a publication that represents the best of osteopathic family medicine, including educational initiatives, original research, and important advances in practice management. Our further hope is that it would be viewed as an authoritative resource by those outside the profession who want to better understand the breadth and scope of osteopathic family medicine.

Osteopathic Family Physician, the official journal of the ACOFP, is a peer-reviewed publication whose purpose is to deliver information that helps osteopathic family physicians care for their patients, improve their practices, and better understand the activities the ACOFP is taking on their behalf. The content areas of the journal reflect the interests of Association members and other health professionals. These areas include diverse topics such as preventive medicine, managed care, osteopathic principles and practices, pain management, public health, medical education, and practice management.

The journal’s particular emphases include an active forum for the presentation of family medicine research in diverse settings involving medical students, residents, fellows, and practicing professionals. Osteopathic Family Physician provides a forum for careful systematic reviews of primary care. As the official journal of the ACOFP, Osteopathic Family Physician publishes policy statements, communications from the Board of Governors, and notices of important committee and special interest group projects.

Osteopathic Family Physician will be a medical journal directed to provide high-quality scientific information related to current trends in the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses and injuries commonly treated by osteopathic family physicians. It will also serve as a publication to nurture young writers by publishing articles submitted to the ACOFP. The journal will maintain a focus about those aspects of family medicine that are distinctly osteopathic.

In addition, the ACOFP Editorial Committee is preparing a series of lectures on scientific writing to be presented at upcoming ACOFP conventions. It is anticipated that these sessions will encourage osteopathic family physicians to begin to develop their writing skills and allow new writers to be identified.

Call for papers

The journal is an opportunity to disseminate the diversity of work in scientific research, case studies, and practice management conducted by ACOFP members. Articles submit-ted for publication must be original in nature and should be of clinical or didactic interest to osteopathic family physicians. Full submission guidelines are available athttp://ees.elsevier.com/acofp/.

Feedback

The ACOFP Editorial Committee welcomes your feed-back. In the first year, the ACOFP will be seeking your input, through surveys, about how these changes have fulfilled its goals. To submit feedback to the Editorial Committee, please send an email topublications@acofp.org.

Thank you for your time and feedback.