Driven by a shift in how information is consumed today and a focus on environmentally friendly publishing practices, the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) is transitioning its journals Critical Care Medicine (CCM) and Pediatric Critical Care Medicine (PCCM) to fully online formats beginning January 2025. The last printed editions of the two journals will be the December 2024 issues.
The journals will continue to offer members and subscribers the same high-quality, evidence-based, peer-reviewed content while allowing SCCM to focus its resources more effectively to better meet members’ needs. By transitioning the journals to fully online, SCCM aims to make it easier to access content anytime, anywhere digitally. Additionally, there will be more ways for readers to learn about new content through a variety of communications.
“In 2024, people learn differently and are less willing to wait months to get information,” said Jonathan E. Sevransky, MD, MHS, FCCM, incoming editor-in-chief of
CCM. “Few people read journals cover to cover now but rather look for a particular topic. Fully online is a format that many people are more comfortable using today and will provide them more rapid exposure to new information to help them care for patients.”
Recently, many journals have transitioned to fully online, a move that is in alignment with the
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, who note: “Medical publishing contributes to carbon emissions that exacerbate climate change, which is an urgent threat to human well-being and planetary health. Editors, publishers, journal owners, and other stakeholders should work together to develop immediate strategies to reduce carbon emissions, with a goal toward achieving net zero carbon emissions.”
“Ultimately, this fully online format will help us to identify opportunities for more in-depth and engaging content delivered in new ways in the form of podcasts, infographics, and videos, for example,” said Robert C. Tasker, MBBS, MD, MA, FRCP, RCPCH, editor-in-chief of
PCCM.
SCCM hopes to eventually provide interactive figures in the journals that will allow readers to reorder or assess data as they wish. “That will open up a whole new world and way of reading and digesting content,” said Dr. Tasker.
The new format also will move toward more customizable reader and author communications, streamlining the timely flow of articles, and the author submission process will be improved. Moving to fully online also means there will no longer be a fee for authors to publish color graphics, which will encourage more high-quality journal content.
CCM and
PCCM are following the path forged by
Critical Care Explorations, launched five years ago by SCCM and founding Editor-in-Chief Timothy G. Buchman, PhD, MD, MCCM, as a fully online journal. More information about the transition to fully online and the envisioned future of the journals will be presented by the editors during the 2025 Critical Care Congress.
Review SCCM’s FAQ for more information.
