We thank the author the letter titled “Research and Scientific Publication in Pediatrics in Spain” for his interest in the future of pediatric research and the dissemination of knowledge in Spanish-language scientific journals, and in Anales de Pediatría in particular.1 We share his concern regarding the limited space available for high-quality papers and the complicated balance between the demand for publication and editorial capacity. Dr Moreno-Villares invites us to engage in a necessary debate.
The letter proposes launching a second, exclusively online companion journal (e-Anales de Pediatría) to enable the publication of those papers for which, despite their quality, there is no room for in the main journal. At present, Anales de Pediatría is already an exclusively online golden open access journal, made possible by the financial and institutional support of the Asociación Española de Pediatría (Spanish Association of Pediatrics).
However, the pediatrics publication ecosystem in Spain includes other journals affiliated to regional and specialty societies that put out periodic publications, as evinced by the exchange of letters between editors of different scientific publications following the closure of Acta Pediátrica.2–4 Although some of them are facing challenges that threaten their survival—being less attractive to experienced authors, insufficient budgets, limited indexing and diffusion—they may provide the opportunity to build a network of associated journals that expands the publication field.
Large publishing groups have developed systems to transfer manuscripts among journals in an established network, the use of which is voluntary for authors, thus regulating their flow (Nature Portfolio, BMJ, The Lancet and JAMA Network).5–8 In the field of pediatrics, Archives of Disease in Childhood offers fast-track submission to its companion journal, BMJ Paediatrics Open, within the BMJ group; the American Academy of Pediatrics, in the process of submitting a paper to Pediatrics, offers authors the option of transfer to Pediatrics Open Science if the paper is not accepted; the JAMA Network offers resubmission from JAMA and its specialty journals—including JAMA Pediatrics—to JAMA Network Open, including transfer of reviews, if any are available, and, in the open-access sector, BMC Pediatrics integrates a formal transfer system within the BMC/Springer Nature portfolio.
Thus, it would be reasonable to explore a similar arrangement, adapted to the Spanish-language context and societies.
Besides Anales de Pediatría, it is important to keep in mind other Spanish journals in the pediatrics category, such as Revista de Pediatría de Atención Primaria, Formación Activa en Pediatría de Atención Primaria (FAPap) (official publications of the AEPap) and Evidencias en Pediatría, which expand the pathways for publication in Spanish in complementary areas of study. In addition, some regional societies also publish on a regular basis, for instance, the Boletín de Pediatría, the official publication of the Sociedad de Pediatría de Asturias, Cantabria y Castilla y León; the journal Canarias Pediátrica, affiliated to the Sociedades Canarias de Pediatría; Vox Paediatrica, the official publication of the Sociedad de Pediatría de Andalucía Occidental y Extremadura; the Boletín (bulletin) of the Sociedad Vasco-Navarra de Pediatría; Pediatria Catalana, of the Societat Catalana de Pediatria; the Boletín SPARS, of the Sociedad de Pediatría de Aragón, La Rioja y Soria; the Boletín SVP, of the Sociedad Valenciana de Pediatría; and, in East Andalusia, the Boletín de la SPAO.
There are also pediatric specialty societies that support journals such as Emergencias Pediátricas (Sociedad Española de Urgencias de Pediatría and Sociedad Latinoamericana de Emergencia Pediátrica). Others have only recently embarked on publication efforts, such as the Sociedad Española de Cuidados Intensivos and the Asociación Española de Nefrología Pediátrica, with the journals Revista Pediatría Crítica and Anales de Nefrología Pediátrica, respectively. In addition, the Asociación Española de Promoción y Apoyo a la Lactancia Materna publishes the Revista de Lactancia Materna.
The creation of this journal network would allow a better fit by subject for the papers, the use of previous review reports (where possible, and with the consent of authors and reviewers), the reduction of resubmission times, and optimization of resources in scientific societies. It would also place additional demands, such as editorial coordination, uniform quality standards, transparency for authors and readers, and mechanisms to preserve editorial independence of the publications. Collaborative work and joint efforts would be aimed at achieving compliance with the quality standards required by repositories for the indexing of scientific publications.
Any strategic decisions are the prerogative of the scientific societies that publish these journals. As the Editorial Committee, our role is to promote informed and transparent debate on how to expand publication opportunities in the Spanish language without compromising quality or sustainability.
We thank the author for this opportunity to reflect on improving the quality, visibility and accessibility of scientific publication in the Spanish language in the field of pediatrics.
