An Introduction to the new MedEdPublish Platform 

What’s happening?

The Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) has partnered with open research publisher, F1000, to migrate MedEdPublish onto a new publishing platform utilizing F1000’s trailblazing technology. This expands on their existing relationship with Taylor & Francis which runs across multiple projects including the publishing of Medical Teacher.

Following the migration, AMEE will continue to fully control the MedEdPublish Platform, setting its scope and strategic direction. F1000 will assist AMEE by building and maintaining the new publishing Platform, as well as providing additional support for authors.

All articles published on the existing MedEdPublish site will be migrated onto the new Platform, including all peer reviews and revisions.

What are the benefits?

The move will see several benefits and enhancements for authors, including a more streamlined submission process, speed of publication, a variety of article types accepted and the additional input of F1000’s expert editorial team. Their involvement, alongside F1000’s underlying technology, will make the publication process smoother and faster for authors.

Furthermore, F1000 supports FAIR data principles and so authors will be able to share their underlying data, further accelerating the pace of discovery, providing credit and recognition for authors, and improving public trust in research.

How will it affect me as an author? 

The existing MedEdPublish site will close to new submissions on May 19^th 2021. We will continue publishing content and will be accepting revised versions of previously-published articles until August 9^th. Reviews will continue to be placed in the journal until October 11th, after which the existing site will remain static.

The current MedEdPublish site will close down when all existing articles are ready to be migrated to the new platform. They will keep their existing DOIs, so they can continue to be read and cited. Please note that once this has happened, you will not be able to revise your article further.

AMEE will work with existing authors over the coming months to ensure that articles have the opportunity to be reviewed and revised before the old site closes.

New APC

Following the move to the new publishing Platform, the article processing charge (APC) for new submissions to MedEdPublish will be changing. F1000’s approach of openness and transparency around pricing align with AMEE and MedEdPublish’s core values and this is something we wish to reflect. We believe it is vitally important to be able to show authors, institutions and funders exactly what service we provide for the APC we charge. Alongside the new pricing we will therefore also be publishing a full breakdown for each of our new article type categories showing where this APC is being spent. This will include information on the services paid for by the APC, as well as the proportion returned directly to AMEE.

On the new Platform pricing will be based on article type, with a reduced APC for those article types which are quicker and simpler to check prior to publication, those which are easier to support the sharing of underlying data and those which are easier to obtain peer reviews for.

We will continue to fully support the Research4Life Access to Research in Health Programme, whereby full waivers are offered to authors from the HINARI Group A countries, and 50% discounts are available to authors from Group B countries. As MedEdPublish has grown in popularity and stature over the last 4 years the proportion of submissions from countries in the HINARI/AGORA list has grown. Our new pricing structure ensures that we can continue to adequately cover the cost of those waivers and discounts, so that we can continue to support publication for those who may not have access to the funds to pay the full APC. In addition, AMEE members will be eligible for a 5% discount to the APC and AMEE will be working over the coming months on future programs to support the publication of research from less well funded groups.

Find more information on MedEdPublish APCs.

What do I need to do?

If your article has been published and ‘recommended’, you don’t need to do anything. If your manuscript has been approved for publication we will be in touch to let you know if any changes need to be made, and when the final date to make these will be. If your article has been published but not yet ‘recommended’, you may wish to consider submitting a revised version of the article. We will be accepting article revisions until August 9^th 2021, but the earlier you submit your revised version, the better chance it has of being reviewed before the old site shuts down.