If you were in Charleston this past November, you know what I mean when I say the air was thick with purpose, and a little bit of worry. The Charleston Conference is always a place where librarians and publishers come together to discuss the tough questions facing our industry, and this year highlighted that scholarly communication is evolving against a backdrop of economic, technological, and policy-driven uncertainty.

The landscape of scholarly publishing has grown increasingly complex, and academic librarians managing collections face mounting pressure to navigate this complexity wisely. With library budgets stretched thin, multiple business models competing for resources, and the ever-present threat of predatory publishers exploiting the open access movement, the responsibility of vetting journals has never been more critical, or more challenging.

As we close out another banner year at JMIR Publications, we’re taking a moment to celebrate the incredible growth of our YouTube community. In 2025, our mission to make high-impact research accessible reached new heights through our video series:Decoding Digital Health: Author Stories.

As we close out another banner year at JMIR Publications, we’re taking a moment to celebrate the incredible growth of our YouTube community. In 2025, our mission to make high-impact research accessible reached new heights through our flagship playlist:Decoding Digital Health: Author Stories.

Clinical trials rely heavily on the Schedule of Activities (SoAs), the detailed roadmap that dictates what data must be collected and precisely when. Traditionally, this roadmap is presented as a static, tabular chart within the study protocol. However, real-world research is rarely static. Patients miss visits, unexpected events occur, and complex study designs (like in oncology) require multiple treatment cycles and conditional branching.

The foundation of modern, data-driven medicine rests on high-quality empirical evidence, primarily derived from Randomized Clinical Trials (RCTs). However, sharing the individual patient data (IPD) from these trials is heavily restricted by regulatory frameworks. For example, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which aims to protect patient privacy. This "privacy paradox" can hinder innovation, preventing researchers from reusing valuable data to develop predictive models or external control arms.

Despite progress, the demographics of those in leadership positions remain far from representative of the demographics of the general population. Indeed, there are cracks in the glass ceilings, but pipelines from junior to senior positions still show a major narrowing trend across medicine, science, and publishing: while women start with near parity in entry-level and training positions, the numbers drastically narrow at executive, full professor, and dean levels.  

As we step into 2026, the team at JMIR Publications is proud to look back and celebrate the impactful work from our authors that has shaped the landscape of digital health research.

JMIR Publications had a productive time at the AMIA 2025 Annual Symposium in Atlanta, Georgia! It was truly inspiring to engage with so many dedicated researchers, authors, and attendees who stopped by our booth, eager to share and discuss their current projects and groundbreaking research topics.

Labor shortages are straining healthcare systems worldwide, severely challenging their ability to sustain high-quality, person-centered care, especially for people with intellectual disabilities. As organizations search for innovative assistants, social robots are moving from concept to reality, showing potential to support both clients and overstretched professional caregivers.