ERJ Open Research

ERJ Open Research
Title	ERJ Open Research
Discipline	Respiratory medicine
Abbreviation	ERJ Open Res.
Publisher	European Respiratory Society
Country	United Kingdom
Frequency	Continuous
History	2015–present

ERJ Open Research is an open-access, peer-reviewed medical journal focusing on respiratory medicine. It publishes original research, reviews, and clinical studies related to lung disease and respiratory science. The journal is associated with a major European professional society and serves clinicians, researchers, and policy-makers across specialties.

History

Launched in 2015, the journal emerged during a period of rapid growth in open-access publishing involving organizations such as the European Respiratory Society, American Thoracic Society, World Health Organization, National Institutes of Health, and Wellcome Trust. Its founding coincided with initiatives like the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association and high-profile debates reflected at conferences such as ERS International Congress, ATS International Conference, European Lung Foundation meetings, and gatherings at institutions including Imperial College London, University College London, Karolinska Institutet, University of Oxford, and Harvard Medical School. Early editorial board members had connections to centres like Royal Brompton Hospital, MRC London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, King’s College London, Université Paris-Saclay, Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The journal’s inception paralleled developments in initiatives such as the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment and policy shifts at funders including the European Commission, UK Research and Innovation, and Horizon 2020.

Scope and Aims

The journal’s remit covers clinical trials, translational research, epidemiology, and health services studies relevant to diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary fibrosis, tuberculosis, and pulmonary embolism. It addresses intersections with specialties and topics represented by institutions like Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Mount Sinai Hospital (Manhattan), and Massachusetts General Hospital. The aims reference frameworks set by organizations including the European Medicines Agency, Food and Drug Administration, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. It seeks to inform clinical practice guidelines such as those produced by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease and Global Initiative for Asthma, and to contribute evidence used by bodies like the World Health Assembly and professional groups including British Thoracic Society and Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand.

Editorial Structure and Peer Review

Editorial leadership has drawn on experts affiliated with universities and hospitals including University of Cambridge, University of Edinburgh, Ghent University Hospital, Leiden University Medical Center, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, and University of Barcelona. The editorial office coordinates peer review with reviewers from centres like University of Toronto, Monash University, University of Sydney, Seoul National University Hospital, Peking University Health Science Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, and All India Institute of Medical Sciences. The peer-review process aligns with standards advocated by groups such as the Committee on Publication Ethics, International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, and the Council of Science Editors, and uses reporting guidelines including CONSORT, PRISMA, STROBE, and CARE. Editorial decisions have been informed by methodological expertise from researchers at Erasmus University Medical Center, University of Groningen, University of Milan, Université Laval, University of Auckland, Karolinska Institutet, and Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel.

Publication Practices and Access

As an open-access journal published by the European Respiratory Society, it follows publishing models and licensing practices promoted by organizations such as Creative Commons, Directory of Open Access Journals, SPARC, and the Wellcome Trust open-access policy. It implements article types familiar from journals like The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Thorax (journal), Chest (journal), and European Respiratory Journal, including original articles, editorials, and case reports. Production workflows have involved suppliers and platforms similar to CrossRef, ORCID, PubMed Central, and indexing partnerships with services used by Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, MEDLINE, and Google Scholar. The journal’s accessibility aligns with mandates from funders such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UK Research and Innovation, and European Research Council.

Abstracting and Indexing

The journal is abstracted and indexed in bibliographic databases and services comparable to PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, EMBASE, CINAHL, DOAJ, and Google Scholar. Metadata are managed using standards from organizations such as CrossRef, NLM Catalog, ORCID, and DOI. Its articles are discoverable through library systems at institutions like Library of Congress, British Library, Bibliothèque nationale de France, National Diet Library, German National Library, and university consortia including Jisc.

Reception and Impact

The journal has been cited in clinical guidelines and systematic reviews produced by groups such as Cochrane Collaboration, Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease, Global Initiative for Asthma, European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, and International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. It has contributed evidence relevant to policy discussions at forums like the European Parliament, World Health Assembly, and advisory committees to agencies including the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and European Food Safety Authority. Academic reception includes citations by researchers at Stanford University, Yale University, Princeton University, Columbia University, University of California, San Francisco, and Duke University. Its role in the literature is situated alongside established journals such as The Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, BMJ, and specialty titles formerly mentioned.

Category:Open access journals Category:Respiratory medicine journals Category:European Respiratory Society publications