Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) brings 2023 to a close having achieved impressive accomplishments. This final Editor in Chief’s Column of the year provides updates on the journal’s increased impact factor; commitment to student development; publication of collections; formation of the Student Scientific Writing and Review Training Committee; upcoming 20th anniversary; and 2024 calls for papers. PCD has been positioned for success because of tremendous support from its editorial board, associate editors, Statistics Review Committee, and its pool of peer reviewers. PCD celebrates the hundreds of authors who submit articles annually to the journal for consideration. In addition, a major source of support to the journal has come from senior leadership in the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP).

The Council of Science Editors (CSE) is an international organization of more than 500 editorial professionals in the scientific, scientific publishing, and information science communities. The organization’s goal is to serve as an authoritative resource on current and emerging issues in the communication of scientific information (1). Similar to other scholarly publishing organizations, CSE continues to facilitate important conversations and training regarding why, how, and where principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) should be integrated into scholarly publishing. With guidance from CSE members with expertise in DEIA in scholarly publishing, and the approval of CSE’s Board of Directors, the organization established the DEI Committee in 2021 (which was expanded to the DEIA Committee in 2023). The purpose of the DEIA Committee is “to support the organization in building capacity among its leadership, members, and the profession at large to deliver programmatic activities and training that integrate [DEIA] best practices in science editing, publication management, scholarly publishing and communication, member recruitment, participation, and engagement” (2). | | Since the committee’s inception, CSE has implemented and/or participated in 8 broad-ranging DEIA-related activities: 1) adding new content to CSE’s Recommendations for Promoting Integrity in Scientific Journal Publications (3) related to DEIA best practices in scholarly publishing; 2) completing a DEIA sensitivity review of Scientific Style and Format (4), the CSE style manual, for its upcoming 9th edition, scheduled for publication in 2024; 3) a DEIA-related symposium to update members on CSE’s progress in achieving DEIA-related objectives and activities identified in CSE’s Strategic Plan (2); 4) establishing a DEIA column in Science Editor (5), CSE’s quarterly magazine; 5) implementing an inaugural 1-day DEIA short course to a range of professionals in scholarly publishing; 6) implementing its Ethics Clinic on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (6); 7) actively serving as a member organization for the Coalition for Diversity & Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC) (3); and 8) establishing CSE’s DEIA Scholarly Resources web page (7).

This year the motto for Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) ought to be, “More of everything in 2023!” I’m pleased and proud to share the journal’s accomplishments to date and preview what we expect in the coming months. | | This has been a year of change and growth for the journal. While we continue to focus on content that aligns with our vision to disseminate peer-reviewed public health findings, innovations, and practices, we have also committed to publishing more collections in 2023 than ever before. The decision to publish up to 7 collections this year — almost twice as many as in 2022 — is due in part to our commitment to best practices related to health equity and to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This commitment is reflected not only in the topics that we will publish this year, but also in the makeup of the most recent appointments to our volunteer boards. | | We also seek to provide more detailed guidance to authors on addressing issues of health equity in preparing manuscripts. We have posted a series of questions on the PCD website that address health equity considerations both in the process of research and in manuscript preparation. In presenting these guidelines, PCD joins with other journals in the forefront of the scholarly publishing community to frankly and directly address issues such as racism, negative social determinants of health, and other health inequities, looking to solutions that ameliorate these conditions and substantively and equitably improve the health and well-being of everyone.

With this student collection, PCD celebrates the 10-year anniversary of our efforts to build scientific publishing skills and abilities among students. The primary aims of PCD’s student manuscripts have evolved over the years. Specifically, we aim to 1) provide an opportunity to become familiar with a journal’s manuscript submission requirements and peer review process; 2) foster connections among student knowledge and training, the conduct of quality research, and a journal’s publication expectations; 3) develop research and scientific writing skills to become producers of knowledge, rather than just consumers of knowledge; 4) provide an opportunity to become a first author on a peer-reviewed article; and 5) promote supportive, respectful, and mutually beneficial mentee relationships that strengthen students’ ability to generate and submit scholarly manuscripts throughout their professional careers (1). We believe that committing time, attention, and resources to providing student authors with valuable feedback (whether or not manuscripts are accepted) serves as a key capacity-building resource. Providing this feedback not only benefits PCD in the future but other peer-reviewed journals as well.

This position statement expresses Preventing Chronic Disease’s (PCD’s) commitment to continuously assess our focus, document our accomplishments, and identify new areas of growth. It begins with a brief overview of the burden of chronic diseases in the United States to emphasize why the journal remains committed to publishing peer-reviewed content that contributes new knowledge on innovative ways to ameliorate these long-standing public health challenges. Keeping PCD in the best position to publish relevant peer-reviewed articles requires that we continue our efforts to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as best practices at all levels of operation. Hence, this position statement discusses the evolution of the journal’s mission statement and its current topic areas of interest and proposes activities to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) through scientific leadership, the peer-review process, research focus, and provision of training and continuing education.

We were fortunate to have a productive, innovative, and successful year in 2018 (1–8). In 2019 we want to build on that success and explore new ways to bring the best in public health research, policy, and practice to our readers. Last year saw the introduction of 2 new manuscript types — Implementation Evaluation and Program Evaluation Briefs — to help us better identify submissions that provide careful, thoughtful, and rigorously conducted research and evaluation findings derived from the application of population-based approaches.

Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) addresses issues of importance in chronic disease research and practice, issues based not only on external input we receive from experts in the field of public health, but also from our associate editors and editorial board, senior leadership in the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, our dedicated and talented staff, and our readers. The targeted steps we have taken have helped us to recruit the best researchers in the field, including experts who ensure our published articles meet the highest scientific standards, thereby delivering quality content to our growing readership and finding ways to expand the scope of the journal’s expertise. We are excited to see many of the plans we initiated over the past few years come to fruition.

Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) is a valuable resource for researchers, evaluators, and policy makers. PCD receives submissions on various public health topics from authors all over the world. From January through mid-November 2018, PCD received over 600 new submissions and 140 resubmissions. It was a tremendously successful year during which PCD published rich, relevant, and timely content. In April, PCD published findings from the journal’s first-ever external review panel (1), which resulted in the following vision and mission statements: | | Vision. PCD will serve as an influential journal in the dissemination of proven and promising public health findings, innovations, and practices with editorial content respected for its integrity and relevance to chronic disease prevention. | Mission statement. The mission of PCD is to promote dialogue among researchers, practitioners, and policy makers worldwide on the integration and application of research findings and practical experience to improve population health.

Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) is committed to providing opportunities for future generations of researchers to contribute to public health and develop critical writing and reviewing skills. Since its introduction in 2011, PCD’s Student Research Paper Contest has been a success; each year the journal receives manuscripts prepared by students from around the world, and the number of entries continues to increase. This year, PCD set a record of 72 student submissions. With so many entries, we decided that the only fair way to judge the submissions would be to establish 4 winning categories by level of education: high school, undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral. This year’s submissions addressed a range of topics related to the screening, surveillance, and use of population-based approaches to prevent and control chronic diseases and focused on such health conditions as arthritis, asthma, cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular health, obesity, depression, and others.

This year has been an incredible one for Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD). The journal continues to publish timely peer-reviewed articles that serve as a vital resource to researchers, evaluators, practitioners, and policy makers. To assist us in continuing this mission, we have appointed an impressive group of volunteers who agreed to join PCD’s team of Associate Editors, our Editorial Board, and our Statistics Review Committee. These new appointees will help us advance our vision to disseminate proven and promising peer-reviewed public health findings, innovations, and practices with editorial content respected for its integrity and relevance to chronic disease prevention. Over the coming years, PCD looks forward to working closely with this diverse group of public health professionals, who bring an abundance of expertise across a wide range of research and practice areas. For more information on our Associate Editors, Editorial Board, and Statistics Review Committee members, please visit https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/about_the_journal/index.htm.

This year has been challenging in numerous ways, and it has been imperative for all of us in the public health field to respond decisively to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency in the short-term and in the long-term to look for new ways to address health disparities that have been highlighted by COVID-19. Now more than ever, Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) is committed to its mission to provide peer-reviewed content that promotes dialogue among researchers, practitioners, and policy makers worldwide and advances the field of public health as a whole. PCD has seen the success of its efforts reflected in the annual increase in the journal’s impact factor. In July 2020, PCD received its new Journal Impact Factor of 2.144, a jump from 2.038 the previous year in the Web of Science Journal Citation Reports. PCD’s other metrics are also strong: the journal has a Scimago Journal and Country Rank of 22 out of 145 US journals in the category of Public, Environmental and Occupational Health. PCD is also ranked third of 19 open access US journals in this category.

The role of both intentional and unintentional bias in society, including in scientific publishing, is receiving increased attention and discussion.1,2 Content assessed for publication in scientific journals and articles eventually published are not immune from bias. In fact, bias against individuals because of their race, gender, religion, disability, education, institutional setting, career status, sexual orientation, spoken language, and other characteristics remains a pressing issue in scientific publishing.3 Emerging diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) best practices are becoming increasingly important to promote equitable actions that advance diversity of disciplines, racial and ethnic diversity, institutional diversity, interdisciplinary fields, gender diversity, geographic diversity, and linguistic and cultural diversity,1 as well as inclusion of perspectives represented by this diversity. This commentary provides a brief overview of new content in CSE’s Recommendations for Promoting Integrity in Scientific Journal Publications regarding DEI best practices in scholarly publishing (Figure).

Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) started 2022 by celebrating the largest Impact Factor increase in the journal’s history. The journal’s Impact Factor increased from 2.803 in 2020 to 4.354 in 2021. The journal also retained its ranking at 4th place out of 30 US journals and 76th out of 585 journals worldwide in the Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health open access journal category. PCD achieved a new ranking in the top 10% of 27,339 journals evaluated by Scimago in 2021. The journal credits these impressive metrics to an outstanding group of volunteers serving as Associate Editors, Editorial Board members, and Statistics Review Committee members. The journal’s successes are also the result of a staff committed to constantly evolving, rethinking production processes, and improving the experiences of authors who seek to submit papers to the journal for consideration. In addition, the journal has also continued to receive unwavering support from CDC leadership, particularly senior leadership in the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

Scholarly publishing organization leaders, journal editor and editorial teams, and authors recognize that advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) best practices helps to enhance diversity across a variety of areas, including but not limited to, disciplinary, racial and ethnic, and linguistic and cultural diversity, and to promote the value and benefits gained from diversity of opinion, thought, and perspective.1,2 Recently, there have been important and long-needed discussions regarding why, how, and where principles of DEI should be integrated into scholarly publishing.1 In September 2021, the Council of Science Editors (CSE) Board of Directors (BOD) approved the formation of the CSE DEI Committee out of the existing DEI Task Force, formed the year before. The original task force, and later the committee, grew from the BOD’s commitment to establishing CSE as a leader in the field of scholarly publishing on integrating timely, effective, and responsive DEI principles in organizational culture and operations, as well as in educational opportunities for members. | | The purpose of the CSE DEI Committee is to support the organization in building capacity among its leadership, members, and the profession at large to deliver programmatic activities and training that integrate DEI best practices in science editing, publication management, scholarly publishing and communication, member recruitment, participation, and engagement. Since the BOD’s approval of the DEI Committee, the priority has been to recruit active members. The committee currently consists of nearly 20 members working in various capacities among organizations and journals in scholarly publishing. The committee spent time early on deciding where to focus its efforts to maximize participation and identify areas that would provide CSE members with resources, educational experiences, and opportunities to contribute feedback on the committee’s direction. Meeting once a month, the committee has worked diligently to position CSE as an international resource on DEI best practices. DEI Committee members have worked to integrate principles of DEI throughout CSE’s programs, services, and operations. This article provides highlights of activities undertaken by the committee since its inception and discusses future activities planned for 2023.

Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) initiated its first Student Paper Contest in 2011 (1). Since that time, the journal has received hundreds of student research papers from around the world. Last year, PCD celebrated its 10-year anniversary of building scientific publishing skills and abilities among students (2). Research mentors have used this journal as an avenue to introduce their students to the rigors of generating scholarly writings that focus on conceptualizing research; collecting, analyzing, and reporting data; and discussing the public health implications of research findings. Since 2011, regardless of whether papers are accepted, PCD has provided students with extensive feedback on their submissions.

This has been an extremely productive year for Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD). Can I edit this? At the midpoint of 2022 we already have many achievements to recognize and celebrate. Last year we crossed a high bar: in 2021 PCD received the biggest jump in impact factor in its history, from 2.144 to 2.803, making it fourth of 27 open-access US public health journals. We are pleased to report that the latest SJR: Scientific Journal Rankings release shows a sustained upward trend, with a new impact factor of 4.354, a 55% increase. Additionally, Scimago Journal Rank recently placed PCD fourth out of 30 US journals and 76th out of 585 journals worldwide in the category of Public Health, Environmental, and Occupational Health open access journals. The journal was also ranked in the top 10% of more than 27,000 journals evaluated by Scimago in 2021.

In June 2017, Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) invited a panel of 7 nationally recognized experts in scientific publishing to respond to key questions about the journal’s mission, quality of scientific content, scope of operations, intended audience, and future direction (1). PCD and the panel of experts recognized that chronic disease is a major contributor to poor health outcomes, an increase in health care costs, and a reduction in quality of life. Reducing the burden of chronic disease is a challenge requiring diverse collaborations and dissemination and adoption of effective interventions in multiple settings. The expert panel strongly encouraged the journal to focus more on complementing its rich body of published work on epidemiological studies with content that is attentive to evaluating population-based interventions and policies. © This publication is in the public domain and is therefore without copyright. All text from this work may be reprinted freely. Use of these materials should be properly cited.

Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) recognizes that public health and clinical interventions are often collaborative, multifaceted, multicomponent, and multisite with diverse participants, stakeholders, and partnerships (1). As such, evaluation of these efforts cannot rely solely on linear approaches to assess the complex mix of individual, familial, organizational, economic, environmental, and other contextual factors that contribute to the success of interventions. In light of that complexity, it is critically important that researchers, evaluators, and program implementers not focus solely on program outcomes but also spend time to rigorously examine and describe how the program’s components produced the reported outcome (2). It is important that they faithfully execute the implementation plan, success being contingent on the “degree to which a program is delivered as originally designed” (3) with consideration to local context to improve adoptability and sustainability (2).

The mission of Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) is to promote dialogue among researchers, practitioners, and policy makers worldwide on the integration and application of research findings and practical experience to improve population health (1). Published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), PCD is a peer-reviewed journal respected for its integrity and relevance to chronic disease prevention and whose articles are authored by experts worldwide. PCD is committed to publishing content that elucidates worldwide understanding of health disparities and determinants linked to disparate health outcomes. Toward that end, PCD was fortunate to have had the expertise of Dr Tim Cunningham as an associate editor. Until his untimely passing (2), Dr Cunningham provided exemplary review and oversight of manuscripts related to social determinants of health and health disparities. Through his efforts, PCD published critical research on this important topic. In honor of Dr Cunningham’s career and in appreciation for his service to the journal, PCD is dedicating to his memory this special collection of articles on effective and innovative ways to address causes of disparities from a multifactorial perspective.

Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) was established in 2004 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to enhance the science base on effective public health approaches to prevent and control chronic disease. After 14 years of progress, PCD conducted its first-ever external review to identify ways for the journal to continue to enhance its usefulness for its audience of researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. In June 2017, PCD invited a panel of 7 nationally recognized experts in scientific publishing (Appendix) to respond to key questions about PCD’s mission, quality of scientific content, scope of operation, intended audience, and future direction.

It was a remarkable year for Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) as we embarked on a journey to advance the journal’s mission and vision and achieve priorities. I was appointed editor in chief of PCD in October 2016, and this column marks my one-year anniversary. My first column, in February, established that I would publish 3 columns this year to announce actions and appointments, discuss timely public health topics, and update readers on the journal’s priorities. I also identified 10 priorities for the journal in 2017: | | Adopting a multilayered approach to peer review | Securing additional associate editors | Promoting global public health perspectives | Ensuring scientific integrity | Publishing collections of articles | Accelerating the dissemination of critical research | Introducing a new article type to focus on implementation evaluation | Maintaining the Student Research Paper Contest | Developing tools and resources for novice authors | Enhancing our brand as an innovator in scholarly publishing | In this final Editor in Chief’s Column for 2017, it is important to me to provide PCD readers with updates on each of these priorities, toward which considerable progress has been made.

Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) recently released its 2016 Year in Review, which highlights several important accomplishments. Last year was a year of growth and change for the journal, both in editorial quality and technological advances. We welcomed several new associate editors, expanding our team of elite researchers and practitioners committed to advancing the science and practice of public health. Their expertise has brought a wealth of knowledge to the journal and will enhance our visibility and influence. | Again in 2016 the number of manuscripts submitted for consideration increased, demonstrating that PCD continues to attract top-notch research and practice submissions. Part of that increase may have resulted from our improved outreach — tailoring content to our audiences and expanding to new audiences. Last year, PCD launched its own Twitter handle to increase the journal’s social media reach and complement its Facebook posts. Our articles are referenced by an ever-increasing media base that includes prestigious news sources such as Time, PBS NewsHour, WebMD, and ABC News.

It is an honor to serve as the third editor in chief of this globally recognized journal, which now reaches more than 70,000 subscribers, and a pleasure to provide the first of a series of communications for the editor in chief’s column. This column will be published 3 times annually in February, June, and October. I will provide updates on the journal’s progress, comment on timely public health topics, make announcements and acknowledgments, and raise issues of interest to Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) readers. Exciting days lie ahead for PCD, and we look forward to providing our readers with access to relevant, rigorous research and evaluation findings that can benefit public health practice. As a result of strong leadership, support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), and the unwavering commitment to excellence from a team of PCD staff members, the journal is well-positioned for an exceptional future.

This supplement provides a comprehensive and in-depth examination of proven clinical-community health strategies employed by the Alliance to Reduce Disparities in Diabetes, across five sites located in diverse geographic regions of the United States, including a tribal community. Alliance projects in these communities focused on African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, and American Indians as priority populations. Each project was implemented with an understanding that there are cultural norms, community characteristics, and health care system challenges that require sustained multicomponent approaches to ameliorate factors that exacerbate poor disease management and health outcomes. The articles increase understanding of what is required to implement evidence-based approaches shaped by local experiences in order to meet the needs of diverse communities affected by diabetes. Lessons learned have generic elements that can be used in other priority populations and settings.

Using an illness narratives framework, we provide 1 method that health care providers can use to obtain insight into the perceptions and experiences of their patients living with diabetes. We propose that understanding patients' cultural perspectives help explains their health behavior and can lead to more productive partnering between provider, patient, and community health resources that support adherence and improved health outcomes. We conclude with resources available to assist health care providers in their efforts to deliver culturally appropriate diabetes care and examples of culturally tailored community-based public health initiatives that have been effective in improving diabetes outcomes among African-American patients.