I am pleased to report that it has been a busy and successful 12 months for ISMPP, especially for our international activities.
As part of our continuing global outreach, I was privileged to speak at the Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Association of Medical Journal Editors (APAME) in August 2016, in Bangkok, Thailand, to introduce the attendees to ISMPP and its activities, and to update them on the latest Good Publication Practice (GPP3) guidelines. It was a unique opportunity to meet medical journal editors from as far afield as Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, India, and The Philippines. We discussed ISMPP’s vision and mission, the many benefits of ISMPP membership, and their interest in educational opportunities in the region to enhance integrity and transparency in medical publications and improve best practices.
In June 2016, Al Weigel, ISMPP President and CEO, was honored to present at the European Association of Science Editors (EASE) Conference in Strasbourg, France. This was a great opportunity to meet European medical journal editors and to share with them the value of ISMPP’s Certified Medical Publication ProfessionalTM (CMPPTM) credential.
In November 2016, ISMPP held the first “Country Champion” events in Shanghai, China; Mumbai, India; Tokyo, Japan; and Singapore. These very successful one-day meetings provided a forum for individuals in these regions to learn more about ISMPP and the benefits of membership, and to network with colleagues. Many thanks to those of you who made these events such a success. We hope these meetings will provide the blueprint for further “Country Champion” events in the future.
In addition to international events, ISMPP continues to grow and evolve in other areas. In keeping with the expanding use of social media and interest in publication metrics, ISMPP launched a new “Social Media and Web-based Metrics Working Group” this year, whose goal is to provide education and guidance on the definitions, opportunities, limitations, and developments of these platforms and metrics for the ISMPP community.
We also made some significant changes to the CMPP exam blueprint and the recertification policy. These changes will ensure that the CMPP credential accurately represents the responsibilities of a CMPP, and reflects the current professional environment in which we work.
Last, but not least, ISMPP collaborated with the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) and the European Medical Writers Association (EMWA) to release the first “Joint Position Statement on the Role of Professional Medical Writers.” This was ISMPP’s first collaborative undertaking with other leading professional organizations, and I was pleased to be able to launch the Joint Position Statement at the ISMPP European Meeting in January 2017. Through collaboration with like-minded professional organizations, we have the opportunity to raise the profile of medical publication professionals and reach a wider global audience. Let’s hope this will be the first of many more cooperative initiatives.
As my year as Chair of the ISMPP Board of Trustees draws to a close, I would like to thank all of our volunteers for their dedication to ISMPP, and the ISMPP staff for their diligence and support. It is your commitment to ISMPP that is helping us to achieve our vision: to be the leading global authority on the ethical and effective publication of medical research. I look forward to seeing you in National Harbor at the 13th Annual Meeting of ISMPP!
With best wishes,
Yvonne Yarker, Chair, 2016–2017 ISMPP Board of Trustees