Arthritis Care & Research (AC&R), a peer-reviewed journal published monthly, comprises original research, review articles and editorials that “move clinical research and practice forward in a meaningful way,” according to AC&R Editor-in-Chief Kelli D. Allen, PhD. That includes research on evidence-based practice; clinical problems; practice guidelines; educational, social, and public health issues; health economics and healthcare policy; and future trends in rheumatology practice.
That covers a lot of ground, and it should because rheumatology is an expansive and complex area of medical expertise. The journal’s readers comprise a wide range of medical and research professionals, says Dr. Allen, a professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and research health scientist at Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, North Carolina.
Dr. Allen has now been editor in chief of AC&R since 2021 and will continue in that role through 2026. In the coming years, she looks forward to building on its contributions to the field via several avenues, by:
- Encouraging submissions of high-quality research;
- Highlighting key trends in rheumatology through articles and editorials;
- Using social media to disseminate findings and draw readers to the journal articles; and
- Putting an added emphasis on review articles to help busy healthcare professionals stay up to date on the latest information.
Bring on the Research
“AC&R has been around for a long time and has a reputation as a very well-respected journal in the field of rheumatology, but we certainly don’t take that reputation for granted,” she remarks.
Dr. Allen
“We try to make sure we are giving not only a good product to readers, but also a good experience to our authors. That means publishing rigorously peer-reviewed, high-quality and clinically relevant research. At the same time, we want to provide a good author experience, which means keeping our review times as short as possible, while giving thoughtful and constructive feedback to authors.”
To find research to publish in addition to what is submitted organically, the AC&R editorial board may reach out to authors with work of interest to the journal, including at ACR Convergence. “In addition, many of the people on the editorial board are researchers with their own circles of research peers and spheres of influence, so they also reach out in other ways to encourage submissions of research that would be of interest to our readers.”
Presenting a Package
Many of the monthly AC&R’s issues cover an assortment of topics, but each year the journal publishes a themed issue. An example is the January 2025 issue on environment, geography and rheumatic disease. “Hopefully, themed issues like this one encourage authors to submit to us papers on that topic,” she says. “And for readers, themed issues give them a nice package of articles and accompanying editorials covering the latest work in an area.” We’re already accepting papers for the 2026 themed issue on pain science and therapy in rheumatic disease. Announcements for other themed issues are forthcoming.
The journal’s website also groups special collections of recent articles on a particular topic, so readers have quick and easy access to them. As of 2024, for example, a special collection on diversity, equity and inclusion listed more than two dozen articles from 2021–2024 on such subjects as interpreting and addressing racial, ethnic and socioeconomic inequities in care and outcomes; the effects of COVID-19 on patients and practices globally, particularly among vulnerable communities; approaches to increase participation by under-represented groups in behavioral intervention programs and tactics to ensure health data includes the diversity of populations. Other special collections include recent articles on systemic sclerosis, reproductive issues in rheumatology, rheumatology training and workforce, and pediatric rheumatology.
Along those same lines, the AC&R editorial board periodically requests review articles from experts in different fields as a way to give readers comprehensive overviews of pertinent work on various topics of interest. “Our primary emphasis is on publishing original research and new findings, but it is also helpful for readers to see good, thorough summaries of current important issues,” she says. “To that end, we’re taking a strategic approach toward inviting expert review articles as an added benefit for our readership.”
For the Reader
The editorial board is always seeking ways to highlight the journal’s relevancy and increase access to articles through multiple means of communication. Toward that end, the editorial board and ACR journals team have been expanding opportunities presented by social media. “For posted articles, we are now tracking those that have more clicks and more responses, which is a good indicator that specific topics are of high interest to people,” Dr. Allen says, noting that such insights help the journal keep its finger on the pulse of its readers.
Brian Robinson, director of digital content for the ACR journals, is leading other efforts as well. This includes writing brief summaries of AC&R manuscripts and posting them with a link to the full article. “He’s doing a great job, and it’s been a useful service to reach people who may not necessarily have the time to read all of the articles,” Dr. Allen says. “We’ve been encouraging the authors to submit a visual abstract, or essentially put together a snapshot slide, explaining their findings. Brian can then post the visual abstracts on social media, so readers can quickly view the main message of a study and then click the link to the full article for greater detail. It’s really great way to reach more people about these new findings.”
Click to watch a quick video with Dr. Allen.
Professional & Personal
Through these different approaches, Dr. Allen has no doubt that AC&R will remain a central hub for original research, review articles and editorials that allow healthcare professionals to stay on top of advancements in the field and, ultimately, offer the most effective, state-of-the-art care to each of their patients.
Besides recognizing the journal’s significance to the field, Dr. Allen views her role as its editor in chief as a fulfilling one on a personal level. “I have had associate editor positions in other journals, and I have always enjoyed it. I do my own research—centering on osteoarthritis and other rheumatological conditions, and on racial/ethnic/gender differences in osteoarthritis and disease outcomes—but as the editor of AC&R, I get to learn a lot because the journal covers everything related to clinical research in rheumatology. That makes it fun and interesting, but it’s also about service.
“I’ve been affiliated with the ACR and the ARP, and participated in activities and volunteered on different committees with both organizations for a long time. I see the editorship of AC&R as another part of that: just wanting to do what I can for the ACR, the ARP and the rheumatology community. I like being able to contribute in some way to the bigger picture of rheumatology research.”
Leslie Mertz, PhD, is a freelance science journalist based in northern Michigan.
