To ring in the New Year, it’s rewarding to look back with gratitude on the positive influence of our publications and services, and the extended value provided to the research community in 2023.

Alongside 32 new Calls for Papers, circulated to more than 100K researchers, we are commemorating 75 years of Human Heredity, part of Karger’s acclaimed collection of medical journals. And not to forget, in 2023 we have launched Immune System, a new Open Access journal for basic and applied immunological research, led by editors-in-chief Desirée Larenas-Linnemann of Hospital Médica Sur, México City, and Florent Ginhoux of Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), A*STAR.

Fast Facts and Beyond

Fast Facts (FF), Karger’s vast collection of simplified healthcare information for professionals and patients, has reached new heights. The FF patient handbooks and information sheets were awarded with the PIF TICK, UK’s independently assessed quality mark for trusted health information. The FF e-learning platform gained the internationally recognized EACCME® accreditation – assessing our courses as of high scientific value, free of commercial bias and promoting active adult learning. Thanks to a partnership between Karger Publishers, NHS England and Kortext, the entire FF e-book collection, containing over 130 resources, is now freely accessible to 1.2 million full-time equivalent NHS staff and learners in England.

We have expanded  educational resources for HCPs and patients, to include a variety of formats for enhanced accessibility: compact eBooks, infographic summary sheets, scientific animations, educational videos, podcast series, interactive e-learning modules, virtual reality environments, blog posts on The Waiting Room, and several knowledge hubs such as the Plain Language Expert Hub.

Looking at the numbers, online visits to our educational resources across channels and formats have reached more than 10 million impressions among HCPs, patients, caregivers, researchers, and the general public, clearly demonstrating the interest diverse communities have in Karger healthcare resources.

Strengthening Research Communities

This year, we were able to launch three new community-oriented programs and initiatives. Karger’s industry-first transitional agreement with UK-based Jisc fulfils and expands Open Access mandates with ‘Read, Publish, and Outreach’. A newly offered science communications and outreach service assists researchers in their career paths and enhances public understanding of science. The 2023 launched Karger in Conversation series showcases online panels with speakers representing diverse backgrounds across the academic and scholarly publishing realms. And the Karger Ambassadors Program helps researchers collaborate in health sciences globally.

Not to mention, a partnership with ChronosHub provides librarians with a comprehensive solution for managing Transformative Agreements and other Open Access publishing models easily and efficiently.

Research ethics has always been at the forefront of our support for research communities, documented by a joint workshop with NHSEducation Scotland in 2023 and a joint workshop with the UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO), featuring Karger’s Grainne McNamara.

The 2023 Vesalius Innovation Award and More

Since 2020, Karger has awarded emerging start-up companies and entrepreneurs in health sciences and publishing with the Vesalius Innovation Award, named after Andreas Vesalius, a medieval pioneer of anatomy and author of the 1543 classic ‘De humanis corporis fabrica.’ Winner of the 4^th Annual Vesalius Innovation Award was PIPRA AG, a start-up providing an AI-based platform for the prevention and diagnosis of delirium, with Ludenso, a pioneer in AR technology, and teraquiz, a medical education app, runner-up’s. Other notable 2023 developments to mention are the award of 21^st Steven Karger prize to Christiane Büttner, a University of Basel researcher, for her work on social exclusion in cyberspace, and Karger’s support of the 2023 Global Science Film Festival as co-sponsor and co-host.

These are just a few highlights from this year that show our ongoing commitment to connecting people and science. Want to learn more or get involved?

Listen to speakers from the broader Karger community, such as Emily Lewis, Karger Ambassador, in our first Linkedin Live stream, Prof Dr. Dan Atar in our Meet the Editor-in-Chief series, or Jonathan Gifford and Catherine Richards Golini in the Odelle podcast.

By the way, one other thing we did in 2023 is launch Beyond Science, a LinkedIn newsletter on healthcare and publishing.

Not on Linkedin? Subscribe to the general Karger newsletter for more updates instead.

Happy New Year and a Successful 2024!