While this reality may be obvious in examples like the organising and sharing of information through Wikipedia or in the Human Genome Project, it is also very much true for rural health. When we carefully and inclusively bring together available, contextually appropriate research and evidence, we can begin to tackle some of the biggest challenges we face in rural health.
These are two of the big ideas that sit at the heart of the Australian Journal of Rural Health (AJRH), published by Wiley on behalf of the National Rural Health Alliance. First, that we can organise and share relevant research and evidence, in a way that it can be translated to improve rural health services, policy and approaches. Second, that we have a vision to be a game changer to improve the health of rural Australians.
It is my honour to be taking a leading role in this work. Having recently taken on the position of Editor-in-Chief, I am enjoying working with the highly skilled and committed AJRH team in organising and sharing research and evidence, and in contributing to the work of the whole rural health community, towards ‘changing the game’.
Of course, we realise there are many complex dimensions to changing the game, but we want to make sure that the AJRH has a foundational and constructive role in that big undertaking. Therefore, we are also looking to the whole rural health research community, across Australia, to contribute game-changing research and evidence.
The AJRH has a very strong tradition of sharing research. It has enjoyed great leadership in the past, right through to now. That strength is reflected in an impressive body of research. It is also reflected in details such as:
- continuing growth in usage (which is up to over 366,000 downloads via the Wiley Online Library)
- increased acceptance rate (which reflects improved quality and growth in published output)
- decreased timeframe to publication (which suggests improved experience to authors)
- significant increase in Altmetric Attention Score (to 875 in 2022, up from 498).
This background puts us in a good position. Further, the Wiley Open Access publishing agreement means that, in most cases, publishing with AJRH will be free to authors and freely available to all readers.
I look forward to working with the AJRH team, and the broader rural health community and consumers in this big undertaking.
- We need your partnership to contribute game-changing research and evidence.
- We need your involvement in reviewing and improving the research manuscripts that are submitted.
- We need your support in advocating for AJRH and using and sharing our research.
To find out more about AJRH and subscribe or contribute, visit www.ruralhealth.org.au/ajrh
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