Our paper is accepted for publication and we would like to coordinate a press release. What is the process?

As valued author of JMIR Publications you can either

• Work with your own (university) press office to write a press release (this KB is for you!), or
• Use our press release service to get a press release drafted and disseminated to the media by us (see What is Your Press Release Service?)

Send us your press release and images, if any, including photos of the main author(s), to support@jmir.org.

JMIR will post press releases on our blog, www.digitalhealthscience.org. If authors wish to request the publication of their press release, please file a ticket with support@jmir.org. Please specify your manuscript ID and attach your press release document along with any relevant images. We will notify the authors if we determine that the press release is suitable to publish, or if it requires any revisions. Make sure the journal title appears properly (do NOT expand "JMIR" to "Journal of Medical Internet Research" in sister journals such as "JMIR Infodemiology" - the only journal that has "Journal of Medical Internet Research" in the title is the ""Journal of Medical Internet Research"! "JMIR" in journal titles is the brand and is not an acronym that should be expanded!) We may contact authors if we choose to blog in more detail about their research in other capacities.

We reserve the right to edit press releases to bring the article in line with house style. JMIR staff can also liaise with authors' press offices to review a press release (mainly to make sure the article is properly cited).

Coordinating a publication date

At JMIR, we are not a fan of "embargo" times, i.e., sending out press releases before the publication is online (see also What is your embargo period?). We do not encourage sending out press releases before the paper is published as we would like to see a citation with a link to the original article in the press story, and our experience is that the link or citation is often omitted by the media when the press release is disseminated before the paper is available. Ideally, we will publish a paper first and press offices will send out press releases on the same day, citing the recently published article.

Authors can coordinate a specific publication date with a Production Editor during typesetting (See How long is the post-acceptance process? for more information as to when typesetting occurs).

• If you have sent JMIR your press release to be posted on www.digitalhealthscience.org, please inform the Production Editor during typesetting. A publication date will be coordinated with the Production Editor and the communications manager will be notified when to post the press release on the blog. Note: JMIR will publish press releases at 10:45 am EST, unless otherwise arranged.
• If you do not wish for your press release to be disseminated on www.digitalhealthscience.org but still want to coordinate a publication date for your institution’s press release, please coordinate a release date with your Production Editor during typesetting.

Citing your paper properly

• Always link to the HTML (not PDF) version of the article on the JMIR website (not on PubMed Central or another proxy/mirror sites).
• Use the correct journal title. Do not expand "JMIR". Please cite the complete journal title (for example, "Journal of Medical Internet Research" or "JMIR Public Health & Surveillance" or "JMIR mHealth & uHealth"). Note that "JMIR" is a brand name and does not stand for "Journal of Medical Internet Research," therefore, do not expand the journal title, i.e. the correct journal title is "JMIR Infodemiology" and not "Journal of Medical Internet Research Infodemiology" etc. This is one of the most frequent issues we see in externally prepared press releases and we urge authors to be clear with their press office and if necessary correct the press release. 
• As all of our publications are open access journals and science writers or journalists can find the article for free, we prefer if a press release makes this clear. Phrases such as, "the open access journal, JMIR mHealth & uHealth" or "The research article is freely available on the internet at [URL]"  can be used.
• Cite the publication date and preferably the complete bibliographic information at the bottom of the press release. You can find the bibliographic information at the bottom of the PDF galley proofs.

See also:

• How long is the post-acceptance process?
• I am a reporter/news editor/blogger - are there are any reporting restrictions on the articles published on your website?
• What is Your Press Release Service?