A good reason to arrive early in Atlanta is to attend one of the four short courses that precede the annual meeting. These courses will be held at the meeting hotel, the Hyatt Regency. Experienced faculty will facilitate series of lectures, breakout sessions, and question-and-answer sessions. Each course will provide ample opportunities for attendees to present questions and problems for discussion by the faculty and other participants. Practical exercises and take-home materials will help participants continue to benefit from the courses long after the meeting ends. The courses include roundtable luncheons for casual conversation with faculty and other course participants.

Short Course for Journal Editors

The 2-day Short Course for Journal Editors, which will take place on Friday and Saturday, 14 and 15 May, will provide a comprehensive survey of the roles and responsibilities of editors, authors, peer reviewers, and consultants for scientific journals. Faculty lectures will highlight case studies, and class discussion topics will include publishing ethics, business decisions, manuscript throughput and office logistics, and use of journal metrics. The course coordinator is William Lanier, editor-in-chief of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Short Course on Publication Management

The Short Course on Publication Management will be presented on Saturday, 15 May. The course will address management challenges faced by managing editors and publication managers. Topics include leadership in the workplace, effective communication techniques for publication managers, managing workflow and staff in the editorial office, vendor relationships, current controversies in ethics, conflicts of interest, open access, and expectations of editors, authors, and reviewers. Patty Baskin, executive editor of Neurology, is the organizer of this course.

Short Course for Manuscript Editors

Led by Stacy Christiansen, director of manuscript editing for the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the Short Course for Manuscript Editors will be held on Saturday, 15 May. Group sessions will address such topics as levels of editing, ethical and legal issues in biomedical publication, and usage issues. There will be a special presentation on editing of statistics in manuscripts.

Short Course on Journal Metrics

The Short Course on Journal Metrics, scheduled for Saturday, 15 May, will focus on collection, analysis, and presentation of journal data for editorial boards using online usage data for marketing a journal using readership and competition surveys and creating high-impact reports with Excel and similar programs. Angela Cochran, of the American Society of Civil Engineers, is coordinating this course.