2012 ATA Publications Survey

In preparation for the 2012 ATA Strategic Planning sessions held this past March in Washington, DC the ATA recently polled members to analyze current publishing strategies. The ATA continues to maximize efforts to provide the best resources for the thyroid community. A 33% response rate to the poll was especially noteworthy (approx. 300 of 890 polled) as compared to what is considered a reasonable response rate of 5-10%. The ATA relied on the survey results to provide a reliable assessment of the readership of Thyroid, Clinical Thyroidology and other publications serving the thyroidology field. Thank you to all those who responded to the poll, we greatly value your time and feedback. Highlighted below are some survey data that you may be of interest to you.

• Nearly 90% of respondents indicated they are satisfied or very satisfied with ATA's flagship publication, THYROID Journal.
• Approximately 45% of respondents indicated they prefer to read professional journal articles in print; 35% indicated they more often read articles online or in electronic format. When asked directly about preferred method of access to the THYROID Journal now and in the future, the majority voted for both a print and online version.
• 70% of respondents indicated they target original research articles more frequently than review articles or summaries.
• 30% of respondents specified they have submitted work to the THYROID Journal and 60% of respondents have been published in THYROID.

Clearly, THYROID and our other publishing efforts are among the most important activities of the ATA and they are well received by ATA members. These data will be helpful in our planning for future enhancements and expansion in the ATA's publications strategy. Because of the rapidly changing technology and nature of the publishing industry we must continue to monitor and adjust our offerings to best meet the needs and demands of our members, the scientific community, and our patients.