As ATS members, we should all be extremely proud of our family of journals. Our three journals are highly 
respected and provide valuable resources to the pulmonary, critical care, and sleep community. The journals are edited and peer-reviewed by many ATS members who devote their time to assuring their excellence. Under the direction of Diane Gern, chief of journals, the staff publications unit provides outstanding editorial supervision of these publications.
We are also fortunate to have a robust Publications Policy Committee, with current chair Bruce Levy, MD, ATSF and vice chair, Rob Tighe, MD. This committee is tasked with overseeing all ATS journals, assuring that the journals contribute to the ATS mission, conducting searches for editors, and working closely with the Documents Development and Implementation Committee.
In recent years, discussion among the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, the Publications Policy Committee, and the journal editors identified an unmet need in our family of journals. Based on feedback from the Education Committee, the Members in Transition and Training Committee, and others, it became apparent that ATS needs to devote more attention to medical education and the scholarship of education. Our emerging Section on Medical Education, started only a few years ago, now includes over 1,800 ATS members with active interests in medical education.
The Executive Committee, in discussion with the Publications Policy Committee, developed a business plan for a new journal to meet this need. The journal was conceived as an open-access model, with minimal submission fees and page charges. Importantly, the journal was also intended to complement our existing family of journals rather than competing with them. In a very short time, we moved from conception to Board of Directors approval to inception, including a successful search for our inaugural editor. We agreed to name the new journal “ATS Scholar” to highlight its focus on education.
The Board of Directors approved the appointment of Nitin Seam, MD, ATSF from the NIH as the inaugural editor. Many of you know Nitin from his service as chair of the Web Editorial Committee. When I discussed Nitin’s aspirations for our new journal, he emphasized how much medicine and medical publications have evolved in the twenty-first century. He said, “We are excited that ATS has provided us the opportunity to build ATS Scholar. Not only will we publish high-quality, peer-reviewed education articles that are free to access, but we will also maximize the online experience for our community of readers with a variety of related media.”
Nitin appointed Trish Kritek, MD, from the University of Washington, to be the senior deputy editor. Trish was one of the founding members of the Section on Medical Education, and she is pleased that ATS has demonstrated its engagement in education. As Trish states, “ATS Scholar is a wonderful next step, serving as a home for pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine educators to share their knowledge, teach skills, and demonstrate the results of their research.” She sees ATS Scholar as providing resources for patients and families, as well as professionals.
Kristi Burkart, MD, of Columbia University, will serve as deputy editor. Kristi has an extensive background in medical education, including service as the Fellowship Director at Columbia. When I asked about her enthusiasm for our new journal, she replied, “I believe ATS Scholar will take interactive medical journals to the next level by incorporating digital media and innovative technologies to deliver high quality content. As an online journal, ATS Scholar will be able to adapt and evolve to meet the changing needs of medical educators.”
The ATS Executive Committee could not be more pleased that we are launching this addition to our journals, and we are excited to start the process of manuscript submission. At present, we anticipate that ATS Scholar will solicit manuscript submissions this fall, with the first articles published in early 2020. We want to encourage educators to submit their best work to the new journal. ATS Scholar will be a wonderful addition to our robust family of journals, and demonstrates the commitment of ATS to the dissemination of cutting-edge educational scholarship for our members.
