Hypothesis , Vol. 34, No. 1, 2022 Completing the Transition from Newsletter to Journal Margaret A. Hoogland, MLS, AHIPa aClinical Medical Librarian and Associate Professor, University Libraries, The University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9932-3605 , margaret.hoogland@utoledo.edu, Twitter Background From 1987-2002, Hypothesis served as the newsletter for the Medical Library Association (MLA) Research Section. News of the Section began to appear toward the end of each issue in the new millennium. Articles became more prominently displayed in the front of each issue with Volume 16, Number 1, 2002. In 2005, the word ‘journal’ was added to Hypothesis for the first time and the title changed to, “Hypothesis : Journal of the MLA Research Section.” The newsletter included top research questions, members of the section, and short but noteworthy pieces by up-and-coming leaders. In 2012, Editor Diane Cooper1 and the Research Section leadership began transitioning Hypothesis into a journal. Peer reviewed articles were clearly identified to distinguish these submissions from those articles reviewed by one of the editors. In the Hypothesis archives, Volume 27, Number 1, was the first issue to include Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) for individual articles2. Despite being indexed in CINAHL, LISSA, and LISTA; Hypothesis accepted submissions via email until 2018, when then Co-editors Erin D. Foster (Foster) and Carol L. Perryman (Perryman) worked with MLA Headquarters to create an online submission system hosted on the MLA website. In 2020, Foster and Perryman transitioned Hypothesis to its current website, which is hosted by the Indiana University Purdue University Open Journal System (OJS) platform. Shortly after publishing the first issue in Summer 2020, they invited Community Manager of the Research Caucus, Margaret A. Hoogland (Hoogland), to serve as Co-editor. Transitioning to the Open Journal System website While a basic structure existed in OJS, it became clear that Hoogland’s curiosity and enjoyment of technology could be used to streamline some of the existing processes and to implement new OJS features. Below is a table describing some of the major changes we implemented during June 2020 - February 2022: 1 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9932-3605 https://www.orcid.org/ https://orcid.org/ mailto:margaret.hoogland@utoledo.edu https://twitter.com/hoogland_ma https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/hypothesis/issue/view/1601 https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/hypothesis/issue/archive Hypothesis , Vol. 34, No. 1, 2022 Table 1: Timeline of changes made to OJS platform to improve Editorial Team processes. Time Frame Accomplishment August - October 2020 Created email templates to improve communication among members for the Editorial Team, Peer Reviewers, and Authors. November 2020 Published second issue in OJS. November 2020-February 2021 Added back issues to OJS website. February 2021-February 2022 Created Peer Review forms that could be added to Author notification emails. Created an area on the website describing the available Submission Categories. Editors revisited descriptions and divided submission categories by review type. Created and implemented use of online Peer Review forms for all categories. Created and linked PDF copies of Peer Reviewer forms to facilitate taking notes. After publishing the second and entirely OJS based issue of Hypothesis in November 2021, Foster stepped down as Co-editor. In January 2022, Hypothesis published its short-term and long-term goals on the website and started soliciting regular input from the Research Caucus leaders. In late February 2022 after 5 years of hard work and many contributions such as crafting the Voices of Experience submission category and providing valuable feedback on our Peer Review forms, Perryman stepped down as Co-editor and plans to devote more time to conducting and participating on research projects and to working with the Texas Women’s University Library and Information Sciences student journal. Planning for the Future: March 2022-Present Starting in March 2022, the Editorial Team reassessed the existing structure, discussed next steps, and recruited new Section Editors (Research – Jonathan Eldredge, Failure – 2 https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/hypothesis/Peer_Reviewed Hypothesis , Vol. 34, No. 1, 2022 Heather Holmes, and Methods Moment – Nina Exner). From 2008-2013, most issues of Hypothesis included a column, called “The Research Mentor,” authored by Jonathan Eldredge. After an 8-year hiatus, “The Research Mentor” is back and we thank Jonathan Eldredge for agreeing to serve as column editor. Change and transitions frequently result in turnover and so in mid-March 2022, Heather Healy decided to step down as lead Copy Editor. We thank Heather for her input, assistance, hard work and for working with and transitioning duties to Andrea Ball and our newest Copy Editor, Christine Rigda, through the inaugural August issue. To assist in getting Hypothesis ready for PubMed Central inclusion in the upcoming years, we created a LaTex template3 for each submission category. Hoogland will be training and then transitioning duties to our new Production Editor, Alexandria Quesenberry Wilson, who previously served on the Hypothesis Marketing Team. In July, Hypothesis added a new subtitle, “Research Journal for Health Information Professionals” and new logo to our website, Twitter, and Facebook accounts. We encourage you to follow and like our posts on social media. In 2022-2023, expect to see and to hear more about Hypothesis on social media, in your caucuses, on your listservs, and at your state, national, regional, and local conferences. We intend to provide candid and encouraging yet thoughtful feedback for all submitters. We invite authors to submit their manuscripts regardless of how much or little experience they have with writing, research, and publishing. Recognizing that not everyone has employer support for participating in research or for completing Scholarly Activities, Hypothesis provides opportunities to interested Caucus members to serve as peer reviewers or as members of the Marketing Team. Volunteering in any capacity improves your understanding of journal requirements, research, and knowledge of the publishing process. If you would like to serve as a peer reviewer, which involves reviewing a minimum of one article per issue, or as a member of the Marketing Team, consider emailing hypothesisj@protonmail.com. We hope you enjoy our new look and first issue as Hypothesis : Research Journal for Health Information Professionals. Acknowledgements I thank Ted Polley for his patience with my questions and curiosity with OJS related questions and issues. I appreciate Jon Eldredge’s support and wisdom – I know it will continue. I would also like to thank my colleagues in the University Libraries at The University of Toledo, who listened patiently and provided feedback, as we implemented these changes. References 1. Cooper ID, Eldredge J, Woodson D. Our past and our future. Hypothesis [Internet]. 2012 [cited 11 May 2022];23(2). Available from: https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/hypothesis/issue/view/1622/608 3 https://twitter.com/MLAHypothesis?s=20 https://www.facebook.com/groups/87918304357 mailto:hypothesisj@protonmail.com https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/hypothesis/issue/view/1622/608 Hypothesis , Vol. 34, No. 1, 2022 2. Hypothesis: Research Journal of Health Information Professionals. 2015;27(1). Accessed 11 May 2022. Available from: https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/hypothesis/issue/archive 3. The LaTex project [Internet]. [cited 11 May 2022]. Available from: https://www.latex-project.org/. 4 https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/hypothesis/issue/archive https://www.latex-project.org/