Dear OARSI members,
I hope that you are all doing well, and everything is fine with you.
The first news that I want to share with you is that we are in the process of negotiating renewal contracts with our current publisher, Elsevier for both of our journals. Recent changes in the global publishing environment, notably the preference for open access papers, have made it more challenging for a society who owns a subscription-based journal to earn revenue from their journals. There are societies that have agreed to contracts that offer reduced revenues than in previous years. Fortunately, our renewal contracts with Elsevier are anticipated to provide the society with comparable or increased annual income from OAC and OACO as received in the past. As you may know well, there are two main sources of revenue that are needed to maintain our society: our journals and annual congress. Hence, the renewal contracts with Elsevier will help OARSI to sustain basic financial stability. Thanks to Frank Beier and other members of OARSI Journal Task Force who dedicated their enormous time and energy for this work.
In the last 3 years, when we were not able to hold in person annual congress, there were several discussions in the Board about holding regional meetings organized by local members. These meetings will bear the brand of OARSI and be promoted by OARSI while local organizers are in charge of program and finance. The 1st Asian Conference of Cartilage and Osteoarthritis that will take place in Sejong University in Seoul, South Korea, October 27-28, 2022 is the first one of these regional conferences. Also, our Spanish colleagues have expressed interest in hosting a regional meeting next year. All OARSI members are encouraged to host their regional meetings if interested. Considering that we have only one congress annually, these regional meetings will surely help to foster friendship and enhance the bonds among our members as well as promoting science.
Lastly, I would urge you to join the virtual Town Hall meeting scheduled on November 16 at 8:00 am EST. It will be a good chance for you to ask questions and to get answers from OARSI leaders and Board members about the current status and future direction of our society.
In closing, I wish you and your family full happiness in these nice autumn days.
Gun-il Im, President of OARSI
October 12, 2022