JournaloftheAmericanMedicalInformaticsAssociation

CallforPapersforSpecialFocusIssueonBiomedicalDataStandards
GuestEditors
RachelL.Richesson(DukeUniversity,Durham,NC,USA)
ChristopherG.Chute(MayoClinic,Rochester,MN,USA)
DescriptionofSpecialFocusIssue
Theincreasingadoptionofelectronichealthrecordsystemshasenabledthecollectionand
storageofdetailedpatientspecificclinicalandgeneticdata.Inadditiontosupporting
personalizedmedicine,clinicaldecisionsupport,andbettermanagementofpopulationswith
chronicorcomplexconditions,thisinformationhasthepotentialtosupportanarrayof
biomedicalresearchuses,includinghypothesisgeneration,multicenterpragmatictrialsand
comparativeeffectivenessstudies,andadverseeventsurveillance.However,therearemany
obstaclesrelatedtotheexchangeandanalysisofdatawithinandacrossclinicalcommunities
thatarerequiredtosupportthesesecondaryusesofbiomedicaldata.
Whilemanyclinicalinvestigatorsandhealthprovidinginstitutionsrecognizethatstandardsare
important,thelandscapeofstandardsisvariedandincomplete.Therearemanytypesofcoding
systems(e.g.,classifications,terminologies,andontologies)thatareoftenlarge,complexto
implementanddifficulttocompare.Withinorganizations,thereremainsapersistenceof
proprietaryoridiosyncraticrepresentationschemas.Thereisoverlapincontentacrossmany
standardsandoftenmultiplepossiblelinkagesamongstandards.Thereisnoshared
understandingforhowmultipledomainstandardsshouldbeusedtosupportthespectrumof
activitiesacrossbiomedicalresearch.Further,manyincompatiblespecificationsaredesignated
asstandardsbydifferentregulatoryauthorities,payers,orsponsorsfordifferentpurposes.
However,theemergenceofincreasingmodalitiesofsecondaryuseinanalytics,outcomes
research,qualityimprovement,andAccountableCareOrganizations(ACO)operationsmake
thecoherenceandconsistencyofhealthinformationtechnologystandardsafirstrankchallenge.
ThegoalofthisspecialfocusissueoftheJournaloftheAmericanMedicalInformatics
Associationistoprovideaforumforthelatestevaluationofstandardsinthecontextsof
meaningfuluse,biomedicalresearch,clinicalanalytics,andbigdata.Contributionsfocusingon
thestateoftheartforspecificdomainstandards,togetherwithoverviewsoutliningthepresent
contextandintegrationofbiomedicaldatacomparabilityandintegrationarewelcome.
GeneralInformationaboutthejournalcanbefoundathttp://jamia.bmj.com.
TopicsofInterest
Thespecialissueisinterestedinawiderangeofspecifictopicsassociatedwith
biomedicaldatarepresentationandstandards,includingthoseforomics,clinicaldata,andnew
datamodalities.Theserepresentationformalismsorstandardsincludedifferentstructures
includingclassification,taxonomies,vocabularies,terminologies,orontologies.Topicsofinterest
forthisspecialissueinclude,butarenotlimitedto,thefollowingareas:
Empiricalorcomparativeevaluationofcodingsystemsandterminologies

Currentorpotentialgovernance,policy,andlegalframeworksforthenamingof
standardsordefiningcodingorreportingrequirementsforsecondaryuseofbiomedical
data
Methodsformaintainingstandards,includingversioning,qualityassurance,distribution,
implementationsupport,andgovernance
Modelsforimplementingstandardsinthebiomedicaldomainandtheirimplications
Methodsfordevelopingandapplyingstandardizedvaluesets,includingterminology
bindingtoinformationmodels
Methodsforquantifyingcompliancewithstandardsspecifications,ortheintegrity,
reliability,orvalidityofcoding
Demonstrationsofinteroperabilityacrosssettings,organizations,regions,ornations
Demonstrationsorevaluationofstandardizedcodingsystemstosupportanalysisand
miningofEHRdataforclinicaldiscovery
Approachestodistributedresearchanddiseaseoradverseeventsurveillancethatutilize
multiplestandardizedcodingsystems

Purposes
Weareinterestedinstandardsthatcoverabroadspectrumofbiomedicaldata:frommolecular
determinantstopopulationhealth.Authorsshouldmakesuretoplacetheirworkinthecontextof
biomedicalresearch,healthcare,orpopulationhealth,andtocarefullyreviewtherelevant
literature.Codeanddatashouldbesubmittedasappropriate.
Submissionsthatadvocatespecificstandardsorsolutionswithoutsupportingevidenceor
rationalewillnotbeaccepted.Authorsareexpectedtoprovideclearguidanceonhowparticular
standardscaneffectivelysupportbiomedicalandpopulationhealthapplications.
ImportantDates
July1,2014
August15,2014(expected)
September10,2014(expected)
October1,2014(expected)
November1,2014

Manuscriptsubmissiondeadline
Initialdecisionssenttoauthors
Revisedmanuscriptsubmissiondeadline
Finaldecisionssenttoauthors
Publication

SubmissionandPeerReviewProcess
Toensureconsiderationinthespecialissue,authorsshouldprovideacoverletterthatclearly
statesthatthesubmissionisfortheSpecialFocusIssueonBiomedicalDataStandards.
AllmanuscriptswillbesubjecttotherigorousJAMIApeerreviewprocess.Manuscripts
thatareconsideredwithinscopeandmeetqualityexpectationswillbereviewedbyinformatics
expertsforscientificmerit.Authorswhoarenotcomfortableorexperiencedwithjournalstyle
scientificwritingshouldseektheassistanceofatechnicaleditortoensurethatthesubmission
meetsqualityexpectationsofthejournal.
QuestionsRegardingtheIssue
Pleasedirectanyquestionsregardingthespecialissueorsubmissionsto

rachel.richesson@dm.duke.edu.