JAT Goes Fully Electronic and Monthly in 2015

Change: exciting, stressful, and sometimes scary. Change triggers our emotions, yet to grow and adapt, people and organizations must change. The Journal of Athletic Training (JAT) is about to experience change in ways unimaginable only 10 years ago. In 2015, JAT will become a solely electronic journal.

This change is not being undertaken without considerable discussion and planning. Some JAT readers will feel that a part of their professional life is disrupted when the printed issue does not arrive in their mailbox. Others who have elected not to receive a printed copy for many years may perceive only benefits. I am not yet a full convert to the digital world, but I recognize that this change is essential to continue to develop our profession's premier research journal.

I am writing at a time when JAT is experiencing a substantial backlog of high-quality accepted manuscripts awaiting publication. Delays in publishing the work of our colleagues are a disservice to them and to those who read JAT. These delays compromise the delivery of research and policy that can advance the care of our patients. Simply put, we need to publish more and in a more timely manner. However, doing so in print would be very costly and inconsistent with the continuing shift to digital media across the scholarly publishing world. Moreover, athletic training has become a global profession, with clinicians and scholars from around the world contributing to and reading JAT. We currently reach nearly all of this audience through our online version, and JAT's influence will only increase as the content expands.

The funds we save by not printing and mailing JAT will be invested in the development of a better and more frequently issued journal. In 2015, JAT will become a monthly publication, with a targeted 50% increase in published content. This change will clear the backlog and ultimately result in a much shorter delay from the time a paper is accepted to the time it is published.

These changes will also result in other benefits:

• Digital media allow for the use of color, enhanced graphics, and video.

• Clinicians and scholars will receive electronic notification of each issue's release with the table of contents.

• Readers can choose to save online articles in their electronic files and either print them on paper or download them for annotation with proprietary software.

Change is never easy, but these advances will further cement JAT's position as the official publication of the National Athletic Trainers' Association and our international partners—Taiwan Athletic Trainers' Society, Japan Athletic Trainers' Organization, and Athletic Rehabilitation Therapy Ireland—and better serve athletic trainers and the patients in their care. The editorial team at JAT is excited about these moves forward in this age of global electronic communication, which will enhance our ability to deliver athletic training research and policy in a timely manner to all those who share in our common goals of advancing the health and welfare of the physically active patients we serve.