Clinical Research & Practice with AC&R Editor-in-Chief Dr. Kelli Allen

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.