The COPD Foundation (COPDF) is launching a free, digital and open access journal titled “Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation (JCOPDF).”

The journal will publish quarterly, with the first issue launching in May 2014 to coincide with the COPDF’s 10th Anniversary, according to a press announcement from the foundation.

JCOPDF has begun accepting article submissions and RTs and other members of the medical community are invited to submit via email to [email protected]. Articles submitted to the JCOPDF will undergo rigorous peer review, and once accepted will be published online, according to the COPD Foundation.

“Providing wide access to educational materials and research is a critical part of the COPDF’s mission,” said John W. Walsh, president and co-founder of the COPDF. “An open access journal helps researchers and readers by removing the barrier that a subscription model creates. Traditionally, medical journals have been read by researchers, but open access has paved the way for the readership of scientific journals to expand beyond researchers to include professionals in the field, global users, journalists and students.”

The journal will be led by editor-in-chief James Crapo, MD, professor of Medicine at National Jewish Health and the University of Colorado Denver, a principal investigator of the COPDGene Study. More information on the JCOPDF’s editorial board is available here.

“The JCOPDF provides the COPD community with an outlet for high-quality articles that can be accessed quickly and easily,” Crapo said. “It’s vital that information about COPD research and medical discoveries be shared with a wider audience, from clinical trials to observational epidemiologic and genetic studies, because shared knowledge serves as the catalyst for medical breakthroughs.”