The state of the journal: the Journal of the Medical Library Association in 2020

Abstract

As the premier journal in health sciences librarianship, the Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA) continuously strives to publish high-quality work that advances research and practice and to provide irreplaceable value for readers, authors, and reviewers. This editorial reflects on the state of JMLA in 2020 by describing our editorial team and volume of submissions, highlighting recent initiatives that strengthen the journal’s position in the profession, and sharing future plans to enrich JMLA’s content and promote open science. Committed to ending structural racism and other inequities in the field, we also issue an ongoing call for submissions pertaining to social justice and critical perspectives on health sciences librarianship.

Looking back, looking forward

“…It is to remind us all—editors, authors, and readers—that manuscripts might move a bit more slowly to publication. We are gradually implementing the ideas mentioned in previous editorials to enlarge our peer reviewer pool [ 1 , 2 ].…”