Journal of Oncology Practice to Expand in 2016: New Section Dedicated to Practical, Authoritative Clinical Reviews

In early 2016, readers of Journal of Oncology Practice (JOP) will be greeted with an expanded journal, featuring a new section of succinct, focused, practical clinical reviews authored by expert opinion leaders in oncology.

These reviews are designed to provide busy, full-time clinicians with authoritative opinions on some of the thorny clinical problems faced by oncologists and will include evidence-based suggestions to guide decision making in patient care. Many of the reviews will tie in with issues of care delivery highlighted by original research presented in JOP. This clinical review content will help further JOP’s mission of providing evidence-based knowledge to guide and improve the delivery of high-quality, efficient care.  At the same time, JOP will continue featuring original research and perspectives on care delivery; quality and value of care; performance of clinical trials; health policy; improvement science; and business and socioeconomics.

Filling a Need

This expansion of JOP’s pages addresses a need among physicians, nurses, pharmacists, practice managers, and other clinicians for insight into the clinical thought processes that guide key opinion leaders through challenging clinical problems. These reviews will also highlight literature perhaps not as well known to readers, thus giving clinicians new insights into the care of patients.  

With the addition of this new section, JOP—now in its 10th year of publication—will be characterized by a unique mix of research on all aspects of health-care delivery (as well as reviews) with a clinical focus. The new content will serve as a springboard for discussing perspectives on the value and quality of care.

“JOP is enhancing its content to include very pointed and practical reviews on topics that are pertinent to any oncologic clinician,” said JOP Editor-in-Chief John V. Cox, DO, MBA, FACP, FASCO. “Our current content, which is focused on care delivery, is a perfect platform for including these practical reviews.

“JOP is very focused on original research that helps clinicians gain insight into how to deliver care,” Dr. Cox said. “That we now include content to help inform the clinical practice of oncology will make JOP even more valuable to the practicing physician.”

Each monthly issue of JOP will include two to three clinical review articles with expert commentary, penned by leaders in the field. The reviews will make reference to and highlight similar themes covered in current and past JOP articles, thus integrating the reviews into the larger landscape of JOP.

“ASCO, as the leading voice of oncology in the world, is in a unique position to wed these short, practical vignettes of clinical practice with robust original research on delivery of care,” Dr. Cox said.

Looking Ahead

In addition to new clinical reviews, JOP will also introduce new formats for all content, with the goal of providing content that is more accessible and immediately meaningful to readers. Most original reports will be presented in print as short summary reports, allowing busy clinicians to easily glean key research findings and takeaways in a short amount of time. Similarly, features such as highlighted text boxes that summarize key findings, as well as synopses of studies, will enable readers to quickly extract the main points of JOP articles. Readers will be able to find the entire full-length reports online, representing the PubMed indexed paper of record. As in the past, JOP will continue to publish nearly all of its content online, ahead of print.

“We recognize that most researchers seek a large and vigorous audience for their work,” Dr. Cox said. “By providing a short summary, we feel JOP will enlarge the audience that reads an individual report. In addition, should readers or researchers need to read the full-length version, the full report is easily available in the online presentation of JOP, which is the journal of record.” ■