The landscape of academic publishing is at a critical juncture. A recent LinkedIn post by JMIR Publications founder Gunther Eysenbach regarding the Meta lawsuit by major legacy publishers has sparked a vital conversation about the future of Open Access (OA) and the evolving role of Artificial Intelligence.

Generative artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming scientific research, raising critical questions about how journals safeguard research integrity. A study published in the MIT Science Policy Review audited AI policies across global medical journals and called for a major shift—moving from static rules that merely police authors to an active, ongoing stewardship of the scientific record.

In this independent evaluation, JMIR Publications was recognized alongside JAMA and PLOS for operating at an AI Governance Readiness Level of 2, the highest level achieved amongst the journals evaluated  in the study sample.

Every June, the scholarly publishing ecosystem undergoes a familiar ritual. Inboxes and industry feeds flood with identical, celebratory corporate press releases as Clarivate drops the latest Journal Citation Reports (JCR). But for publishing executives navigating a market defined by massive commercial consolidation, the real value of these metrics lies beneath the surface. The true strategic question isn't "Did our scores go up?" but rather, "What do these metrics tell us about the structural shift in where researchers want to publish?"

Clarivate has released Journal Citation Reports 2026, including 2025 Journal Impact Factor results for 24 JMIR Publications journals. Of these, 12 ranked in the first quartile of their primary subject categories, 3 received a Journal Impact Factor for the first time, and 5 improved their quartile ranking over the prior year.

JMIR Publications, a leading publisher of academic journals dedicated to digital health and open science, today announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a three-year partnership with MetaROR (MetaResearch Open Review). The collaboration will focus on integrating MetaROR’s publish-review-curate platform with JMIR’s innovative publishing ecosystem—specifically its JMIRx overlay journal series, including JMIRx Med and JMIRx Bio.

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.

In response to "Is Subscribe to Open Good for Libraries?" Three librarians explain the model’s appeal and explore the challenges it presents. By Laurie Taylor, Miranda Bennett and Katherine Brooks | 02.17.2026

Since its inception in 1999, JMIR Publications has been more than just a publisher—it has been a laboratory for the future of scholarly communication. As one of the world's first open-access publishers, JMIR has consistently pushed the boundaries of how scientific knowledge is captured, shared, and preserved.

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.