The dust has settled at the Moscone Center and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) 2026 Annual Meeting is officially in the books! It was an incredible week in San Francisco. While I spent my days talking about open access journals at our booth and my evenings soaking up the surprisingly warm San Francisco weather after the exhibit floor closed, the incredible energy surrounding the future of digital mental health was obvious the entire week.

Telemedicine is a cornerstone of modern digital health strategies, promising to bridge geographic gaps and bring clinical care directly to patients. However, as virtual consultations become routine, a critical question emerges: are patients around the world sufficiently protected by legal and ethical infrastructure?

As wearable technology becomes a staple in both fitness and clinical monitoring, the demand for high-accuracy heart rate (HR) tracking continues to grow. While most smartwatches perform well at rest, the real challenge lies in maximal-intensity exercise, where heavy movement and physiological stress can interfere with optical sensors.

Real world data (RWD) is increasingly a key engine behind modern drug discovery and clinical decision making. However, anyone who has worked with electronic health records (EHRs) knows that this engine often relies on data that are fragmented and inconsistent. Laboratory results, which are the backbone of oncology care, are frequently plagued by inaccurate codes and missing units.

For over 25 years, JMIR Publications has operated on a simple premise: health research should be immediately and freely accessible to all. However, recent policy changes from major funders like Cancer Research UK (CRUK) now threaten to dismantle the very "Full Open Access" model that made this possible. By cutting all APC support, these policies risk stifling independent, scholar-led publishers while leaving the massive revenue streams of legacy publishers untouched. Below, we share our response to CRUK and propose five alternatives that reform the system without sacrificing the progress of the last two decades.

Are you heading to MIE 2026 in Genova? Don’t miss the chance to connect with Tiffany Leung, Scientific Editorial Director; Amy Mavragani, Scientific Editor; and Stefano Brini, Scientific Editor. They will be sharing their expertise across panels and tutorials.

When we think of wearables in health care, we often think of step counts or heart rate alerts. But for women participating in home based cognitive rehabilitation (or telerehabilitation) a different type of data might hold the key to protecting brain health: nighttime sleep.

The future of mental health is digital, and this May, the conversation is moving to San Francisco. JMIR Publications is thrilled to announce our attendance at the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Annual Meeting, taking place from May 16–19, 2026, at the Moscone Center. As the world’s leading open-access publisher in digital health, were descending on the City by the Bay to connect with our incredible community of authors, reviewers, and innovators.

Scandinavia has long been a unique outlier in the world of nicotine consumption. When much of the world still relied on cigarettes, Sweden and Norway famously embraced snus, a small pouch of powdered tobacco leaves placed under the lip, that helped these nations achieve some of the lowest smoking rates in Europe.