Open Access Web-Only Peer-Reviewed Journal for Radiology Case Reports: Development and Implementation

Felix Chew
Department of Radiology, University of Washington

*Michael Richardson
Department of Radiology, University of Washington

*Kira Lichtenfeld
Department of Radiology, University of Washington

*Annemarie Relyea-Chew
Department of Radiology, University of Washington

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     Last modified: June 5, 2007
     Presentation date: 07/13/2007 9:40 AM in SFUHC Earl and Jennie Lohn Floor Policy Room
     (View Schedule)

Abstract
Rationale and Objectives: As the field of diagnostic radiology has grown in the direction of molecular imaging ever more expensive technology, its peer reviewed journals have been decreasing their capacity to publish case reports in favor of major articles and reviews. Our objective was to create an economically viable peer-reviewed journal that filled the need for a venue to publish case reports in diagnostic radiology.

Materials and Methods: The web-only open access model was chosen because it required little capital, had low fixed costs, offered authors the excellent exposure, and was easily scalable. The University of Washington became the publisher through the Digital Ventures group of its technology transfer program.

Results: Radiology Case Reports (http://radiology.casereports.net) began publishing in January 2006. In the first year, the infrastructure was developed with the recruitment of an international editorial board and 160 peer reviewers, mostly from academic medical centers. 70 submissions were received, and 40 articles were published. There have been 12,454 downloads of published articles from the website in the first year, including HTML documents, PDF documents, and podcasts. Most readers found the journal by using Google or other search engines to identify individual articles or images of interest.

Conclusion: In its first year, Radiology Case Reports has not only survived but is actually thriving. We plan to add section editors for various subspecialties and will begin publicizing and marketing the journal to potential authors. Our goal is to capture at least 50% of the market for radiology case reports.