The open access publisher BioMed Central is pleased to announce its plans to publish the new innovative journal Research Involvement and Engagement, which aims to publish its first articles in June 2015.
Research Involvement and Engagement is an interdisciplinary, health and social care journal focusing on patient and wider involvement and engagement in research, at all stages. The journal will have a novel structure, co-produced by all key stakeholders, including patients, academics, policy makers and service users. All articles within the journal will be reviewed by both academics and patients, with both reports carrying equal weight in the editorial decision.
The journal will be led by two Editors-in-Chief: Sophie Staniszewska, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, UK, and Richard Stephens, an involved and engaged patient from the UK. Sophie Staniszewska is based at the Royal College of Nursing Research Institute at Warwick Medical School where she leads the Patient and Public Involvement Research Programme. Sophie is vice-chair of the UK National Institute for Health Research Breaking Boundaries Review and past chair of the Evidence, Knowledge and Learning Group of INVOLVE where she remains an associate member. Richard Stephens is a survivor of two cancers, a heart emergency and sundry other health challenges. He has participated in five clinical trials and six other research studies. As a patient advocate and representative in health and medical research, Richard Stephens' formal roles include chairing the UK National Cancer Research Institute's Consumer Liaison Group and membership with the English National Evaluation of Trials and Studies Co-Ordinating Centre's Patient and Public Involvement Steering Group.
Sophie Staniszewska and Richard Stephens said: "Research Involvement and Engagement aims to develop the evidence-base underpinning patient and public involvement and engagement in health research. Our joint editorship is a genuine collaboration between a patient and an academic, and signals our intention to work towards the co-production of knowledge that informs health care practice. We want to walk the walk as well as talk the talk, and we look forward to you joining us as fellow travelers on our journey, and as fellow contributors in this new journal."
Caroline Black, Editorial Director for Medical Evidence at BioMed Central, said: "We are proud to be launching such an innovative journal as Research Involvement and Engagement. We are confident the journal will support genuine and beneficial collaboration between patients and academics. Open access is particularly important for this journal as it has none of the barriers to access faced by many of our intended authors and readers."
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