The Journal of Comorbidity affiliates with the North American Primary Care Research Group.

The Journal of Comorbidity is pleased to announce that it has extended its society collaborations by forming another important partnership with the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG), a renowned multidisciplinary organization for primary care researchers based in North America and beyond. The new partnership reflects an ongoing commitment of both the Journal of Comorbidity and NAPCRG to strengthen and broaden their ties with the primary care community and to foster the dissemination of innovative research in the field of comorbidity and multimorbidity.

The partnership marks a celebration of the contribution of NAPCRG and its global members to conducting and reporting high-quality research on comorbidity/multimorbidity over the past 10 years. NAPCRG has been instrumental in growing awareness of and developing the field of comorbidity/multimorbidity through various workshops, seminars, and plenaries at its annual meetings held in North America. Furthermore, in 2007, NAPCRG helped organize a meeting funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health on the theme of multimorbidity; attended by over 30 participants from eight countries, this led to the creation of the International Research Community on Multimorbidity (IRCMo) [1]. IRCMo now has almost 1,000 subscribers who are connected through a blog that showcases the most recent developments and publications on comorbidity/multimorbidity research. IRCMo also publishes regular updates on publications that are particularly important in terms of capacity building in research.

NAPCRG also supports a Special Interest Group on comorbidity/multimorbidity that allows researchers to interact through online discussion boards on ‘NAPCRG Connect’ and to meet annually to exchange and develop ideas and form new collaborations. By establishing a partnership with the Journal of Comorbidity, NAPCRG acknowledges the importance of research on comorbidity/multimorbidity for primary healthcare professionals, as demonstrated by the growing number of publications in this field [2].

The journal’s Co-Editors-in-Chief are regular participants of the NAPCRG Annual Meeting. Moreover, several of the research projects presented at the NAPCRG Annual Meeting have been published in the Journal of Comorbidity [3-5]. The new partnership between the Journal of Comorbidity and NAPCRG is a logical and natural fit, bringing benefit to both parties. The partnership is likely to attract further leading researchers in the field of comorbidity/multimorbidity, as well as engaging more junior scholars who constitute the future of comorbidity/multimorbidity research.

The Journal of Comorbidity has already formed partnerships with two major primary care organizations, the Society for Academic Primary Care (SAPC) [6] and the Scottish School of Primary Care (SSPC) [7]. NAPCRG is the third major primary healthcare research organization to partner with the Journal of Comorbidity, which will continue to seek collaboration with other high-quality primary care research organizations where comorbidity/multimorbidity is a growing focus of research and discussion.

North American Primary Care Research Group

NAPCRG is the world’s largest organization devoted to research in family medicine, primary care, and related fields, including epidemiology, behavioural sciences, and health services [8]. Founded in 1972 by Dr Maurice Wood and 50 researchers from the USA and Canada, NAPCRG was organized as a bi-national, interdisciplinary, generalist organization. Incorporated in 1975 in Virginia as a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, executive services were provided by the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, and since 1995 by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine in Leawood, Kansas, USA. The governance structure reflects NAPCRG’s commitment to inclusion, with representatives from the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CPFC) Section of Researchers, American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM), Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM), community-based clinicians, students, residents, research fellows, and international members. Indeed, NAPCRG now attracts over 1,200 members from around 30 countries.

As part of its continued commitment to nurturing primary care researchers, NAPCRG organizes various activities and programmes, including an annual meeting that attracts delegates from North America and abroad. NAPCRG also advocates for primary care research, funding and training, and is keen to collaborate with key partners to advance primary care practice and research. NAPCRG is pleased to be partnering with the Journal of Comorbidity to expand its publishing network, increase the profile of the research group, and provide its members with a new platform for publishing their research and engaging with other researchers who share an interest in comorbidity/multimorbidity.

Journal of Comorbidity

This internationally recognized journal publishes peer-reviewed content for healthcare professionals and researchers with an interest in comorbidity and multimorbidity. The journal is fully open access and features original clinical and experimental research articles, guidelines, policies, editorials, commentaries, protocols, and critical review articles, as well as proceedings of congresses. The Editorial Board also welcomes ideas and suggestions for special issues dedicated to unique themes.

The partnership with NAPCRG is an important step to help promote new research, critical findings, and news related to comorbidity/multimorbidity. Key highlights of the partnership include:

Journal of Comorbidity is now an endorsed publication of NAPCRG

Discounted article publication fee for NAPCRG members – the journal encourages members to consider publishing their relevant work in the journal

Opportunities for NAPCRG members to be involved with the journal

Journal of Comorbidity to have a presence at the annual NAPCRG conferences.

The Editorial Board are very excited to partner with NAPCRG, and encourage other societies to partner with the Journal of Comorbidity as it continues its journey to becoming the leading journal dedicated entirely to the topic of comorbidity/multimorbidity.