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The world is as interconnected as it has ever been. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that the factors that impact health, including social determinants, as well as the knowledge and treatments to combat disease, exist throughout the world. Rapid dissemination of trusted information to improve the health of populations and communities worldwide is paramount. High-quality, impactful research is being done globally and needs to be available to the public and scientific community in a way that minimizes barriers to access.

Children and families are an important and unique segment of the population. Their varied, evolving needs, including those who are most at risk for poor health, merit specifically tailored research and solutions. Journals whose mission focuses on improving the health of children and families are critical. With the plethora of journals that already exist, does the world need another? We believe the answer is yes.

Pediatrics Open Science is the newest journal in the American Academy of Pediatrics' (AAP) family of journals, its first that is fully open access and one of the first open access journals in the world whose focus is to improve child health. All of its articles will be available free to readers at the time of publications. Pediatrics Open Science will uphold all the high standards of publication of the AAP family of journals, including rigorous editor and peer review as well as high-quality editing and publishing processes.

We will publish research (including research briefs) and invited commentaries of the highest quality and impact, ones that advance our mission: "To improve the health of children and families by making pediatric research findings and perspectives accessible worldwide." We will do this while upholding our values, including ethical practices, transparency, creativity, curiosity, innovation, and respecting and encouraging the expression of diverse perspectives.

What area will Pediatrics Open Science focus on? We are a general journal devoted to improving the health of children and families, so we will publish articles related to any topics that address this mission. Examples include studies that evaluate the effectiveness of new technologies (such as artificial intelligence) or treatments, help us gain a better understanding of factors influencing child health (such as climate change and health policy), and ones that help improve the value and safety of health care delivered to children not only by implementing new practices but also decreasing waste in the system through de-implementation science. As the practice of pediatrics becomes more challenging and resource constrained, studies that help address factors impacting the pediatric workforce, including the organization and finance of pediatric care, provider well-being, and how pediatric providers are trained and continually educated, are critical.

Our editorial team includes a broad range of expertise and perspectives, and a desire to not only publish impactful work, but to do so in a journal that is innovative, responsive to the needs of authors, and adapts to the latest advances in science and publishing. We look forward to working with the pediatric community to improve child health worldwide, including through your ideas for how to make this journal one of the most impactful in the world.

John Patrick T. Co, MD, MPH, MBA, FAAP
Editor in Chief, Pediatrics Open Science

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