Shape the future of AJGP: New advisory body seeks members

The Australian Journal of General Practice (AJGP) has long been a trusted source of relevant, evidence-based and engaging information to Australia’s GPs.
 
Now, those interested in helping to shape the journal’s future are invited to submit an expression of interest to join the publication’s new Journal Advisory Committee (JAC).
 
Editor-In-Chief of the AJGP, Professor David Wilkinson, said the ‘simple guiding goal’ of the publication, as the RACGP’s academic journal, is to meet the varied needs of Australia’s some 40,000 GPs and its thousands of global readers.
 
‘My view as Editor-In-Chief is that good governance requires there to be an advisory group to support and assist the editors and the production team in strategic direction setting, engagement with the profession more broadly, and hence being responsive to our members’ needs,’ he told newsGP.
 
‘Already, AJGP is one of the most widely read medical journals in Australia and is one of the most accessed resources for CPD. We hope to keep making it more and more relevant and useful.’ 
 
The committee’s inaugural Chair is Professor Paul Glasziou, an internationally recognised authority on evidence-based medicine and a leader in the development of the RACGP’s Handbook of Non-Drug Interventions, among many other achievements.
 
Under his leadership, 3–5 members are being sought to complete the JAC for terms of up to three years (with opportunity for renewal).
 
Members will be required to:

• provide strategic guidance and advice to the Editor-in-Chief and Publications team
•  contribute to the long-term direction and continuous improvement of the AJGP 
• attend up to three meetings each year
• prepare for and contribute to committee discussions
• act as ambassadors for the AJGP through their professional networks and activities. 

The AJGP has an average print readership of around 36,000 per edition, and annual online page views in the millions.

Its readership includes GPs, general practice registrars, international medical graduates, primary care academics and medical students, but as the journal is open access, this reach extends even further to patients and carers, and even international healthcare and education service providers.
 
Professor Glasziou told newsGP he is looking forward to working with not just his new committee members, ‘but more broadly the Australian general practice research community, which has a vibrant and diverse group of researchers doing important work to improve patient care’.
 
‘The current AJGP clinical articles are topical, evidence-based, and well used,’ he said.
 
‘So, a key focus of the JAC will be on research, by providing members with access to high-quality, cutting-edge research relevant to general practice.
 
‘We wish to improve research usability and use by the non-research community, while also improving its global impact.’
 
Professor Glasziou said he believes research should be seen as ‘a fundamental component of all primary care, not as a peripheral activity’.
 
‘I am most interested in improving two-way communication and understanding,’ he said.
 
‘First, researchers understanding the problems and needs of patients and clinicians working in primary care and, second, making research published in AJGP more relevant, comprehensible, and usable for clinicians looking to improve their clinical practice.’
 
Professor Wilkinson said he hoped the JAC ensures that AJGP will ‘continue to be a useful resource for members’.
 
‘Not everyone will find everything in each issue of use, but I hope there is something for everyone in most issues,’ he said.
 
Applications for the JAC close 14 August. Visit the AJGP website to learn more and submit an EOI.
 
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