World Association of Medical Editors announces free eLearning Program

Medical journal editors play a critical role in health-related scholarly publishing. Evaluating authors' research, sending it for peer review, requesting needed revisions, and selecting which content should be published are all steps in the essential progression from writing up to publishing research. Research integrity is increasingly facing such threats as predatory and pseudo-journals, paper mills, and AI-generated content. Medical journal editors need to have the knowledge and tools to evaluate research content and implement best practices. However, until now, medical journal editors have not had formal training that is up to date, accessible online, and free.

Now, the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) announces the launch of the eLearning Program (eLP), a free online program designed for medical journal editors and available to anyone involved in scholarly publishing. Addressing topics from developing an Editorial Board and the process of peer review to conflicts of interest, research ethics, and scientific misconduct, to publishing, indexing, copyright, corrections, and many more, the eLP incorporates best practice standards from COPE, ICMJE, WAME and others, with Core Competencies for editors of biomedical science and timely citations from the literature. The eLP includes pre- and post-tests and case scenarios to apply knowledge. Certificates are offered to those completing the Program. Furthermore, the eLP provides additional content specifically oriented for journals with fewer resources and those from low- and middle-income countries.

Rakesh Aggarwal, MD, DM, WAME President and Director of Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, India, in announcing the eLP, stated, "Journal editors need diverse skills – the WAME e-Learning Program provides a one-stop resource for obtaining these".

Anyone is eligible to sign up and take any and all of the eLP sections, entirely for free. WAME members who successfully complete the eLP are eligible for a WAME Certificate of Commendation. The eLP sections are:

· The Medical Journal Editor: The Medical Journal Editor: Overview, Editor Relations and Editorial Independence, What to Know Before Accepting an Editor-In-Chief Position, The Imperative for Medical Journal Editors to Stay Current

· Journal And Editorial Office Operations: Journal Mission Statements; Editorial Team and Editorial Board; Manuscript Tracking and Electronic Manuscript Processing Systems; Mentoring Editors, Reviewers, Authors; Attracting Manuscript Submissions; Starting A New Journal

· Manuscript Processing and Review: Instructions for Authors; Peer Review, Manuscript Decisions, and Author Correspondence; Initial Evaluation of Manuscripts; Evaluating Research Manuscripts

· Ethics: Conflicts of Interest, Authorship, Protection of Human Participants and Animals in Research, Scientific Integrity and Misconduct, Correcting the Published Record

· Publishing the Journal: Print Journals, Electronic Journals, Communicating with the Public and the Media, Journal Indexing, Translations

· Business And Legal Aspects of Scientific Publishing: Journal Business Models; Other Potential Revenue Sources; Copyright, Permissions, and Creative Commons Licenses; Journal Metrics and Evaluating Journal Performance

For more information, contact WAME at [email protected]