| Abstrakt: |
Background: The Canada Communicable Disease Report (CCDR) is a peer reviewed scientific journal published since 1975. In 2011, a readership survey was conducted to inform a revitalization process. In late 2016, this survey was repeated to assess progress.Objective: To provide information about the results of the CCDR 2016 readership survey, which identified CCDR's readership and their needs, obtained feedback on the journal's revitalization and sought suggestions for further improvement.Methods: An online readership survey was conducted from September 7 to 28, 2016. Invitations were sent via email to CCDR subscribers. The survey was based on the 2011 version and checked for face-validity. Analysis included descriptive statistics and a qualitative assessment of comments for themes.Results: A total of 549 people responded to the survey (12% participation rate). The majority of respondents worked in public health (61%), clinical care (23%), academia (16%) and laboratory medicine (9%). Approximately 45% of respondents had received CCDR for less than four years, which is consistent with the fact that the number of subscribers more than doubled over this time. Over 90% of respondents reported they read the articles in CCDR (always 15%, often 43%, sometimes 35%). When asked about their primary source of infectious disease information in Canada, CCDR was the number one response, identified by 72% of respondents. When asked "What do you like best about CCDR?" typical comments were that it provided Canadian content, was well written, evidence-based, interesting and relevant. The number one suggestion for improvement was that CCDR should be listed with PubMed.Conclusion: The survey results suggest that CCDR has been successfully revitalized and is meeting its readership's needs for a scientific journal on infectious disease with Canadian content, high quality and relevance. Consistent with suggestions for improvement, CCDR will be joining the PubMed database over the next year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
