Editorial

Abstract

As active scientists, the readers of this Editorial are well aware of how the complete digitization of scholarly journal content has transformed the scientific publishing world and how it has fostered the rapid availability, discoverability, and integration of publishing into research. Over the past 10 years, the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences (JPharmSci®) with support from the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and John Wiley & Sons Inc. (Wiley) has enhanced its ability to publish online in a timely manner the most significant scientific findings of pharmaceutical scientists worldwide. For example, manuscripts accepted for publication in JPharmSci® today are published online in Early View in approximately 3 weeks and they appear in online issues of the journal with complete pagination several months in advance of the distribution of the journal's printed issues.In an attempt to better understand the magnitude of these changes on the readers of JPharmSci®, the journal's Editorial Team and APhA asked Wiley in 2011 to survey pharmaceutical scientists about their modes of access to the journal's scientific content. The survey results showed that the readers of JPharmSci® are overwhelmingly accessing the journal's content primarily online, whether through their research institution, at their home, or via mobile device. This is also evident through the rapid growth in usage and readership of JPharmSci® through Wiley Online Library. Demand for print, on the contrary, is declining in the global marketplace, as institutional subscribers are moving toward online‐only subscription licenses because of cost concerns as well as user demand.As a result of the speed and extent of these trends, as well as the beliefs of Wiley, APhA, and the journal's Editorial Team that more benefits can be offered to the readers of the journal (e.g., the publication of more high quality articles and the end of color charges), it has been decided to complete the transition of JPharmSci® to an all digital delivery format by January 2013.Starting in July 2012, the Editors, Editorial Advisory Board members, APhA members, and all other nonlibrary subscriptions will be transitioned to the online‐only format. This means that the June 2012 print issue of JPharmSci® will be the last hardcopy issue of JPharmSci® that these customers will receive by mail, and all subscriptions moving forward will be digitally accessed through username and password login at the journal's web site on Wiley Online Library. Wiley plans to roll out digital‐only delivery to all library subscribers by the beginning of January 2013.In my opinion, this is a time of rapid change in the methods used by scientists to communicate with their peers worldwide. In my opinion, this transition to digital‐only delivery of the content of JPharmSci® will put our journal at the forefront of publishing in the pharmaceutical sciences. As active scientists, the readers of this Editorial are well aware of how the complete digitization of scholarly journal content has transformed the scientific publishing world and how it has fostered the rapid availability, discoverability, and integration of publishing into research. Over the past 10 years, the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences (JPharmSci®) with support from the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and John Wiley & Sons Inc. (Wiley) has enhanced its ability to publish online in a timely manner the most significant scientific findings of pharmaceutical scientists worldwide. For example, manuscripts accepted for publication in JPharmSci® today are published online in Early View in approximately 3 weeks and they appear in online issues of the journal with complete pagination several months in advance of the distribution of the journal's printed issues. In an attempt to better understand the magnitude of these changes on the readers of JPharmSci®, the journal's Editorial Team and APhA asked Wiley in 2011 to survey pharmaceutical scientists about their modes of access to the journal's scientific content. The survey results showed that the readers of JPharmSci® are overwhelmingly accessing the journal's content primarily online, whether through their research institution, at their home, or via mobile device. This is also evident through the rapid growth in usage and readership of JPharmSci® through Wiley Online Library. Demand for print, on the contrary, is declining in the global marketplace, as institutional subscribers are moving toward online‐only subscription licenses because of cost concerns as well as user demand. As a result of the speed and extent of these trends, as well as the beliefs of Wiley, APhA, and the journal's Editorial Team that more benefits can be offered to the readers of the journal (e.g., the publication of more high quality articles and the end of color charges), it has been decided to complete the transition of JPharmSci® to an all digital delivery format by January 2013. Starting in July 2012, the Editors, Editorial Advisory Board members, APhA members, and all other nonlibrary subscriptions will be transitioned to the online‐only format. This means that the June 2012 print issue of JPharmSci® will be the last hardcopy issue of JPharmSci® that these customers will receive by mail, and all subscriptions moving forward will be digitally accessed through username and password login at the journal's web site on Wiley Online Library. Wiley plans to roll out digital‐only delivery to all library subscribers by the beginning of January 2013. In my opinion, this is a time of rapid change in the methods used by scientists to communicate with their peers worldwide. In my opinion, this transition to digital‐only delivery of the content of JPharmSci® will put our journal at the forefront of publishing in the pharmaceutical sciences.