I have long been impressed by the need for a journal which would provide
a vehicle for the rapid publication of research findings on environmental
factors which might have broad impact on human health; a forum for exploration
in context and perspective of basic research on environmental constituents;
a focus for those aspects of environmental research which have implications
for human health; and a medium for publication and exchange of adequately
documented negative findings from research into these topics. It is my hope
that EHP will fulfill these goals. (Rall 1972).
For that first year of publication, EHP was considered by Dr. Rall
to be an experimental journal, with the hope and expectation that the fledging
publication would become a respected vehicle for communication of environmental
health issues--a voice for environmental health research. The journal was
not only to contain unsolicited papers on diverse topics but also publish
compilations of papers from scientific conferences devoted to single topics.
These goals were admirably met over the next 20 years with the publication
of 100 volumes of peer-reviewed research articles along with those based
on presentations at scientific conferences. Thus, EHP provided a forum
for the dissemination of credible environmental health information to meet
the needs of the scientific community; that is, the journal was a vehicle
that aided in the translation of research into practice. However, the research
papers often were not easily understood by the informed lay public.
The eventual expanded role of EHP as a vehicle for the dissemination
of authoritative information for both health professionals and the lay public
was foreseen in an editorial accompanying the second issue. The guest editorialist,
Edward Burger from the U.S. Office of Science and Technology, wrote about
the need for information to be disseminated beyond the scientific community.
Burger put forth that the public must be educated on regulatory matters dealing
with their health and the environment. He also noted that for the information
to be effective it must be presented in a balanced manner, avoiding sensationalism
(Burger 1972).
EHP’s Transformation
In 1992 Dr. Kenneth Olden, the next director of NIEHS, took a characteristically
bold step and made a sweeping restructuring of EHP. The journal would
now provide not only the best science for the professional but also would
offer the added dimension of environmental news, fulfilling the need first
expressed in Burger’s editorial published 20 years earlier. Olden’s
vision was that the new format would spark interest and stimulate research
on the impact of the environment on human health.
The first issue of the newly reformatted journal was published on Earth
Day, 22 April 1993, under the editorship of NIEHS scientists George W. Lucier
and Gary E.R. Hook, both of whom had guided the journal since the early 1970s. EHP became
a monthly journal that included sections devoted to environmental news, peer-reviewed
research, commentary, and opinion. Publishing peer-reviewed monographs was
retained as a series of supplements.
The goals of the restructured journal were clearly identified in Lucier
and Hook’s initial editorial, where they wrote:
Traditionally, laboratory researchers have tended to communicate primarily
with each other, and the dissemination of information to the public has been
slow and haphazard. It is clear that enhanced communications could contribute
to the avoidance of environmental crises through both increased understanding
of the underlying science and the identification of potential problems before
they become overwhelming, expensive, and perhaps irreversible. (Lucier and
Hook 1993)
This transformation of EHP positioned the journal to become
the principal vehicle for the dissemination of basic research as applied
to environmental public health. Again, the NIEHS took another step in participating
in the translation of research into practice and kept the institute in the
forefront of this movement.
From 1993 to 2002 the supplements series was very well-received by the
scientific community. However, because of resource limitations, only six
supplements could be published annually and each supplement addressed only
one or two topics. This limitation led to the idea of covering more topics
but in a more concise manner. Thus, the following year, the mini-monographs
were introduced. These were intended to meet the same principal goal as the
supplements--to provide a balanced, updated landmark statement on a particular
subject. Each mini-monograph comprised up to six concisely written manuscripts
that addressed a specific topic and included original research, reviews,
or a combination of original research and review. This series goes beyond
the limits of the traditional review article by providing insights and in-depth
coverage that a traditional review cannot. The mini-monographs provide a
quicker read and are intended for researchers, teachers, legislators, and
the informed public. An added feature is that mini-monographs are published
throughout the year as special sections in the journal.
The Electronic Age
Over the course of the first 3 years of the newly restructured journal, EHP embraced
new research technologies and grew as an important vehicle for the dissemination
of environmental health information and research findings. In 1996 EHP took
another bold step and began online publication of the journal. In a later
editorial, Hook and Lucier (1997) said that the new service being established
by the NIEHS ”can better serve the community of environmental health
scientists, regulatory agencies, and the interested public.” They also
noted that the availability of the electronic version was “designed
to facilitate the dissemination of environmental health information . . .
[and that] . . . the world of communications as it exists today is quite
different from what it used to be 10 years ago. Communication is becoming
more and more based on the Internet”. In the 9 years since the introduction
of the online version of EHP, the number of individuals visiting the
website monthly has increased to more than 150,000.
The EHP website (http://www.ehponline.org)
provides the same current, credible environmental news articles and research
findings available in the print version but offers additional services as
well. One of these is EHP-in-Press articles. These articles are peer-reviewed
papers published in downloadable PDF file format within 24 hours of acceptance.
Full citation is possible using the CrossRef Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
system (http://www.crossref.org/).
The CrossRef DOI system, which EHP began using in 2002, is a
reference-linking service that functions as a digital switchboard allowing
linkages through DOI codes that are tagged to article metadata supplied by
the participating publishers.
Through online publication along with the CrossRef DOI system, EHP makes
peer-reviewed research findings available much more rapidly. Instead of months
from acceptance to publication, we now are able to make the accepted peer-reviewed
manuscripts available on our website within 24 hours of acceptance. And,
it is worth repeating that these articles are fully citable using the assigned
DOI number.
Open Access
The move to online publication then spawned the very serious possibility
of EHP becoming an open access journal. If there is one issue
that breeds controversy in the world of publishing, it is the idea of open
access. This struggle for open access to the scientific literature that began
in earnest a decade ago continues unabated today.
The open access philosophy was formalized at an Open Society Institute
meeting in 2001 (http://www.soros.org/initiatives/information/focus_areas/openaccess).
The consensus goal of the meeting participants was to work to provide on
the internet peer-reviewed scientific literature without restriction. The
participants hoped that such a move would accelerate the pace of research,
stimulate learning, and improve the usefulness of the available literature.
After discussing these issues extensively, Dr. Olden decided the time was
right for EHP to adopt an open access model:
After carefully considering various scientific publishing models, we have
concluded that the rationale behind the open access philosophy--that science
best benefits society when it is freely and immediately available to all--is
just too compelling to ignore. And as part of the United States government,
we feel it is incumbent on us to take a leadership role in this area. (Olden
and Goehl 2004)
Not only did we begin making all current EHP content freely and
immediately available on our website, but we also opened up all archival
research content and news articles. We are also depositing EHP research
content into the National Library of Medicine (NLM) public digital library
archive PubMed Central (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/),
which is another essential feature of the open access model.
International Outreach Initiatives
Converting to an open access model allowed us to accelerate our international
translation efforts, which had begun almost 10 years previously when EHP began
providing free subscriptions to institutions in developing countries. Dr.
Olden felt that it was critical to make information available internationally
(Olden 1995).
EHP remains one of the few journals that provides complimentary
print copies of the journal to institutions in developing countries. Many
journals provide free or low-cost online access, but the problem with this
approach is that internet accessibility is often limited in some developing
countries.
Our next step in building our international program was to launch the EHP Chinese
language edition. A quarterly Chinese-language edition is now published jointly
by the NIEHS and the Shanghai Centers for Disease Control and is distributed
to 35,000 readers throughout the world. This edition contains original editorials,
translated environmental news articles, and synopses of news and research
articles.
Another aspect of our efforts to share international content is the posting
of online translations of summaries of EHP articles in Chinese,
French, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish (http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/
docs/iti.html). We provide this service because we understand the skill
and effort needed to translate articles from English to other languages.
By providing translated summaries of articles, interested readers can make
informed decisions on choosing the articles they would like to have fully
translated into their native languages. We are committed to doing everything
possible to allow the cutting-edge environmental health research published
in our journal to benefit people across the globe.
Capacity Building Efforts
All journal publishers face many formidable obstacles in their efforts
to publish critical health information. Regional journals in the developing
world face even more difficult challenges, including political and institutional
stability. The benefits of the regional journals are unique. One of the main
benefits is that these journals provide research articles relevant to local
situations that would not otherwise be published in international journals.
Other benefits are that these regional journals provide training opportunities
for young researchers and are a source for continuing medical education.
Dr. Olden understood that journal capacity building is critical to improving
world health. He committed NIEHS to work closely with the Fogarty International
Center (FIC) and the NLM to develop an initiative for regional journal capacity
building in developing countries. To date, the most extensive program is
in Africa.
On the African continent there is a severe shortage of viable medical and
scientific journals. The above-mentioned three agencies of the National Institutes
of Health are participating in building capacity through collaborations between
medical journal editors in the Northern hemisphere and in sub-Saharan Africa
(http://www.fic.nih.gov/about/drctradv20030916.html).
This African journal partnership is an ambitious program. Journal particpants
from the Northern hemisphere (Journal of the American Medical Association,
The Lancet, British Medical Journal, American Journal of Public Health,
and Environmental Health Perspectives) were partnered with journal
participants from the Southernhemisphere (African Health Sciences,
Ghana Medical Journal, Mali Medical, and Malawi Medical Journal). Through
the partnership program, computer hardware and software needs of the African
journals are met, training for editors, authors, and reviewers is provided,
business management issues are addressed, journal websites are developed
or enhanced, and systematic medical reviews on topics relevant to the region
are commissioned.
Another region of the world that has a very limited number of health journals
is Latin America. We are currently in the initial stages of developing a
partnership program similar to the African journal partnership. At this point,
partners and funding mechanisms are being sought. Potential partners include
the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH), Asociacion Latino
Americana de Educacion en Salud Publica, FIC, International Society for Environmental
Epidemiology (ISEE), International Training in Environmental and Occupational
Health (ITREOH) program awardees, NIEHS, NLM, and the Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO).
EHP is entering into partnerships with journals in other countries
with the same objective of developing strong regional journals that provide
high quality research articles in subject areas relevant to their own populations.
For example, EHP is working in partnership with the Mount Sinai School
of Medicine, which has a ITREOH grant from FIC, and the Asociacion Chilena
de Seguridad to support the development of the Latin American journal Ciencia
y Trabajo (www.cienciaytrabajo.cl) in providing news content and technical
consultation. We are also working with the Chineses journal Journal of
Environmental and Occupational Medicine to co-publish environmental medicine
articles in both Chinese and English.
Educational Initiative
The hope for improvement of our environment health lies with our children.
Knowing this, EHP and the Community Outreach and Education Program
(COEP) of the NIEHS have jointly launched a student edition of EHP.
After conducting a survey of 1,500 U.S. high school science teachers, we
determined that a science curriculum focused on news articles published in EHP would
be an ideal way to stimulate a student’s natural interest in the environment
to motivate science learning.
A one-year pilot project was launched this year in which 60 U.S. high school
science teachers are being provided with free print copies of the EHP Student
Edition for use in their classrooms. Monthly lesson plans are developed by
COEP members and provided on our website for free download by participating
teachers. The three standards-based lesson plans list specific skills and
meet all national and state educational standards of the schools. Lessons
are aligned with National Science Education Standards in biology, chemistry,
environmental science, earth science/geology, and physical science. The subject
focus rotates to complement the various scientific disciplines and demonstrate
the interdisciplinary nature of environmental health.
More than 60 teachers will be provided with print copies of the Student
Edition and any teacher can participate in the program by downloading articles
and lesson plans from the EHP science education website (www.ehponline.org/science-ed).
Conflicts of Interest
Because of the increasing importance of the research that EHP published,
we decided in 2002 to strengthen the journal’s position on the question
of conflicts of interests. To focus the concern because the phrase “conflicts
of interest” is such a broad term, in 2003 we decided to limit reportable
conflicts to competing financial interests. In the October 2004 issue, I
published an editorial addressing the issues.
We now clearly instruct our authors to err on the sign of caution, and
we have added the admonition that authors are to disclose all competing financial
interests that might in any way be perceived as representing a competing
financial interest. As has been our practice, EHP will
continue to publish all disclosures made by our authors. Because
we feel that full
disclosure is an absolute requirement we are now adding clear consequences
for an ethical violation. (Goehl 2004)
In addition, authors are no longer be permitted to refuse to declare conflicts.
The importance of declaring conflicts was emphasized: “When in doubt
about the need to report, authors should always err on the side of caution
and report all interests that might in any way be perceived as representing
a competing financial interest.”
We now impose a 3-year ban on publication for authors who willfully fail
to disclose a competing financial interest:
Implementation of the ban will be made in consultation with our editorial
board. If complete disclosure of possible conflicts would have caused the
journal to reject the manuscript, the article will be retracted. If the article
is not retracted but an ethical omission has occurred, an Expression of Concern
will be written, published in the journal, and added to the online version
of the article. (EHP 2005)
Future Directions
EHP has accomplished much over the past three decades. However,
there is still much to be done. Our efforts in the near future revolve around
six themes--ensuring the quality, credibility, and publication timeliness
of content; improved readability; improving accessibility; serving as a vehicle
for translation of basic research; participating in educational programs;
and promoting journal capacity building in the developing world.
Ensuring the quality, credibility, and timeliness of information published
are the foremost responsibilities of a journal. To address these areas, we
are looking for innovative ways to better use our editorial board. We are
also examining how to ensure that bias is not a factor in reporting research
findings.
Because the volume of information continues to increase and the time to
pursue that information decreases, we are addressing the issue of readability.
Successful dissemination of information depends on writing that is not only
clear and concise but that is also presented in a reader-friendly manner.
We have charged our our editors and designers with the task of accomplishing
these goals.
Our open-access publication model makes it possible for us to provide accessibility
to critical environmental health information. However, we look at open access
as only one approach. Other approaches we are exploring are specialty print
issues such as the Student Edition, CD distribution, translating content
into other languages, and providing content into other archives.
Assisting in the translation of basic research findings to clinical and
public health practice is another goal of EHP. In the near future
we will be participating in discussions with individuals who bring to the
table a broad range of skills to help us determine how EHP can
best contribute to this objective.
Our current pilot program to reach high school students through lesson
plans revolving around our news content is our first focused effort to engage
K-12 students. We plan to continue exploring other innovations in cooperation
with the NIEHS Science Education Committee.
Because of the global nature of the field of environmental health, development
of additional credible regional journals needs to be encouraged. EHP will
continue to participate in partnerships to promote journal capacity building
efforts. We are especially interested in partnerships that can help reduce
disparities in global health. Our participation will include making available
our news content for translation and re-publication in regional journals
and co-publication of qualified research articles.
Conclusion
EHP has become a valuable venue to promote the translation of research
findings to clinical and public health practice, and is read in nearly every
country of the world. Currently, with an impact factor of 3.40, EHP ranks
second of the 132 environmental sciences journals and fifth of the 90 public,
environmental, and occupational health journals. The journal is published
monthly with sections devoted to children’s environmental health, environmental
medicine, and toxicogenomics. Mini-monographs are published frequently throughout
the year.
Electronic submission and review are standard for the more than 1,000 manuscripts
received each year. All articles are published within 24 hours of acceptance
on our website as EHP-in-Press articles, which are completely citable
using the CrossRef DOI system.
The journal has many value-added services. The journal’s Environews
section provides analysis of topical issues. Science Selections summarizes
selected research papers appearing in the same issue, putting current EHP research
findings into perspective. Other services include book reviews of important
current publications, a calendar of events, position announcements, and updates
on the latest news from the NIEHS Division of Extramural Research and Training.
Our website (http://www.ehponline.org)
contains archived EHP issues and provides a search-by-topic feature.
Dr. Olden is credited with not only broadening the understanding of environmental
health but with giving the field a voice. Commenting on Dr. Olden’s
role in the development of EHP, Dr. Bernard Goldstein said
an excellent but only narrowly relevant scientific journal has been transformed
into a major means of multidisciplinary communication across the many basic
and applied sciences and across the many national and international cultures
relevant to environmental health. EHP is a truly remarkable example of the
importance of the context and distribution of good science as a means to
positively affect public health. (Goldstein 2005)
EHP has become more than a scientific journal bringing the
best environmental health research to the global research community. It is
also a news source for the balanced presentation of environmental health
news to scientists, health care providers, policy makers, and the informed
public. And yes, it is a movement with the objective of spreading credible
environmental health information throughout the world.
Summary
Over the past three decades, Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP)
has grown from an obscure, narrowly focused scientific journal to the premier
journal for the publication of research on the impact of the environment
on human health. NIEHS Director Kenneth Olden’s decision to restructure
and broaden the scope of the journal was a seminal moment in the journal’s
history. The inclusion of an environmental news section has allowed EHP to
better fill the role of helping to translate research findings into clinical
and public health practice. EHP’s conversion to an open access
journal has made the journal more readily accessible by people around the
world and is a key feature of an extensive global information-sharing program.
By imposing penalties for willful failure to report conflicts of competing
financial interest, EHP has taken a strong step toward further
ensuring the credibility of the published research. Future contributions
of the journal to improvements in public health can be attributed directly
to the journal’s founder, former NIEHS Director David P. Rall, and
the bold steps taken by Kenneth Olden.
doi:10.1289/ehp.7901 available via http://dx.doi.org/
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