Early-career researchers and practitioners learn the value of scholarly publishing during their studies. However, few have opportunities to gain hands-on experience crafting research papers and engaging in formal peer review while they’re in school or just entering the field. In many ways, it’s up to scholarly societies to help bring them into the fold.
So, how can society publishers support up-and-coming authors, reviewers, and editors?
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) has taken an innovative approach. Since 2014, AACAP has helped scholars gain experience through JAACAP Connect, a journal the society launched to engage those new to the publishing process.
We reached out to AACAP’s Director of Scientific Publishing, Mary K. Billingsley, ELS, to learn more about the development of JAACAP Connect, including how it offers a pathway for top contributors to be featured in AACAP’s flagship title, the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, through the Best of Connect initiative.
Below is a recap of our discussion. This post is part of Scholastica’s Community Conversations blog series, where we invite Scholastica users to share their latest publishing initiatives and advice.
Many thanks to Mary for taking the time for this interview!
Interview with Mary K. Billingsley, ELS
Can you share a bit of background on your role in developing JAACAP Connect and your career journey at AACAP up to this point?
MB: This year actually marks 18 years for me at AACAP. When I started, there was only our flagship journal, JAACAP, which launched in 1962. In 2014, we launched JAACAP Connect, and in 2023, we launched JAACAP Open, our open-access scientific journal.
Why did the academy decide it was time to launch a journal geared towards early-career researchers?
MB: The idea for Connect started with one of the winners of our AACAP John F. McDermott, MD, Assistant Editor-in-Residence Award, which is named for a former JAACAP editor-in-chief and aims to build a pipeline of future editors. Awardees attend the Council of Science Editors annual meeting, participate in our peer-review skills development program, and receive one-on-one mentorship.
McDermott editors are encouraged to pursue a special project during their term, and the newly selected awardee at the time determined that her project would be launching a publication somewhat akin to the APA Residents’ Journal — but not limited to residents and fellows.
When we decided to launch JAACAP Connect, we didn’t really even have a budget to start the publication, so it was a spreadsheets-and-emails operation at the beginning. We did copy editing, typesetting, and layout in-house, which was not our usual editorial office fare. Eventually, we added professional peer review software and production through Scholastica, but Connect was a PDF for the first 10 years of its life.
McDermott awardees are still encouraged to have a special project, but Connect is a major focus of their program and gives them hands-on experience managing a journal. In the second year of their award term, they become editor of JAACAP Connect under the supervision of the JAACAP EIC, with direct support and mentorship. They remain editor of Connect during the year immediately following their 2-year award cycle, when the new awardee has been selected. Then they help train the new editor under a learn-do-teach model.
All of this has helped create a strong community around current and former McDermott editors. They continue to support each other and to benefit from that program even years after their term. I think one of my favorite things about our journals is our suite of developmental programs and the mentorship opportunities they create to encourage early-career psychiatrists to pursue publishing as part of their career.
Has anyone from AACAP’s early-career publishing training programs gone on to serve on the editorial board for your flagship journal?
MB: Yes, I think something like 65% of graduates from all of our developmental programs have gone on to serve in another role with our journals. Former McDermott and Contributing Editors have later served at nearly all levels of our journals, including senior-most editor of JAACAP Open. It’s wonderful to see early-career individuals move up from those roles and to feel like our programs are serving their purpose.
How does Connect incorporate training opportunities into its editorial processes?
MB: The Connect peer-review process operates very differently from our flagship journal. At JAACAP, peer reviewers number in the 1,000s. They’re invited for their knowledge and expertise in critical content areas, and they don’t need to have a formal affiliation with the journal to be called upon.
At Connect, members of the journal’s editorial board, including some mentors, serve as its go-to reviewer pool. It’s a much more limited group. They are assigned on a rotating basis, not necessarily as content experts, but based on their understanding of Connect’s mission and goals, to support and enhance authors’ communication of their work. They’re often early-career psychiatrists themselves, and serving on Connect’s editorial board gives them hands-on experience with running a publication as an editorial board member and serving as a peer reviewer.
The Connect editor makes a final recommendation on each paper, and the JAACAP editor-in-chief reviews all Connect articles before they’re accepted as a final sign-off. Everybody’s work is checked, and they receive feedback and mentorship. Through this cycle, mentorship is provided to authors, reviewers, and editors.
Do you think the “Best of Connect” initiative surfaces new authors to AACAP’s flagship journal who might have struggled to get published if they submitted directly to JAACAP?
MB: Absolutely. It’s meant to be encouraging first and foremost. Many of our Best of Connect articles are written by authors who have never published with JAACAP before.
The Connect editor and the flagship editor work together and select one article from each Connect issue to invite into the Best of Connect program. And under that program, authors undergo JAACAP’s rigorous peer review process. If accepted, their work is published in JAACAP, of course, with a link back to the original publication in Connect.
This is meant to serve as an extra incentive for authors to submit to Connect, understanding it can be a stepping stone to JAACAP. It also helps to promote and showcase some of the really special work that is published in Connect.
With submission numbers increasing across academic disciplines, do you think there is a need for more gateway publication venues such as JAACAP Connect?
MB: Yes, with submission numbers increasing, there is definitely a need for these publications. Our scientific journals, JAACAP and JAACAP Open, are highly competitive and might feel out of reach for first-time authors.
Offering a program for residents and ECRs to engage with publishing speaks directly to the Academy’s mission and priorities. AACAP’s residents and fellows in particular are hungry for opportunities to grow, and Connect provides an accessible publishing pathway. And we hope that their experience with Connect will encourage them to continue engaging with our journals.
And to take it a step further, at this moment in time when we’re seeing not just an increase in submissions but also a rise in integrity concerns, like AI-generated submissions and paper mills, it’s important for ECRs to have visibility into those issues and the opportunity to grapple with them. When the Connect editorial board encounters these issues and figures out how to communicate feedback to the authors, who are also learning to navigate this environment, that is part of the program’s value.
What advice would you give another society considering launching a companion journal like Connect, based on your experience?
MB: Having a strong community around your journals is key. We encourage authors to seek out mentors at their institution or through their community to support their work. And we look to AACAP leaders and to members of our JAACAP and JAACAP Open mastheads to encourage junior faculty and others to engage with Connect.
There have even been times when submissions to Connect outpaced capacity. In those instances, we’ve called on members of the scientific journal mastheads to help support Connect with peer review. And they volunteer to help, highlighting that mid-career and seasoned members of our journal community recognize the value of this gateway publication and the service that it provides and are willing to roll up their sleeves to support it.
It also bears mentioning that Connect is not a revenue-generating operation. It’s maintained in service to the AACAP community and the future of our journals program.
So, that commitment has to be there from the organization and the community to support a gateway publication like Connect.
Connect recently transitioned to Scholastica’s peer review system and hosting platform. When did you know it was time to move to dedicated software?
MB: It was probably well past time to move to something like this before we made the decision. The cycling of editors every two years within the award program meant there was always a new editor coming in, and each with their own individual style and work cadence. It was a struggle for them and for us to manage workflows in spreadsheets and emails. In addition, in the context of our full journal portfolio, Connect’s more homegrown profile started to feel out of sync.
It was clear that we needed to raise its level of professionalism and ease the logistical burden, so that we could all focus more on the content. Moving to Scholastica has done quite a bit to elevate the journal’s profile. We’ve seen an uptick in submissions, and our review process is tighter. Time to publication is down, and Connect is more accessible and more appealing for both authors and readers.
Thanks again to Mary for taking the time for this interview!
Interested in reading more Scholastica community conversations? Check out our last interview with Director of RTI Press, Anna Wetterberg, about how the Press works with the broader RTI organization to help authors reach wider audiences and her advice for publishers looking to expand their public engagement efforts.
