The Pregnancy Journal

We are thrilled to announce that in early 2025, SMFM will launch The Pregnancy Journal, a new open-access journal and the first official journal for the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and its members! To support increased accessibility and transparency of original research in obstetrics, The Pregnancy Journal will be an open-access journal in partnership with the publishing company Wiley.  This new partnership is the result of a long and careful process of strategic exploration, including an open call to publishers for applications.

The Pregnancy Journal aims to engage our members, clinicians, and researchers in all regions of the world, with diverse representation on the editorial board and in the publication of manuscripts from authors globally. Currently, the top OB-GYN journals, many of which are linked to organizations such as ours, have extremely competitive acceptance rates.  Combined with high research productivity, it leaves our community with a large body of obstetric-specific research content and few options for high-impact publication. In addition, public funding entities are requiring researchers to publish their work in open-access journals. Considering these challenges and opportunities, the SMFM Board of Directors is eager to support a new platform for members and the obstetrics community to disseminate their work. In addition, with the power of SMFM behind The Pregnancy Journal, members and readers will have access to a full suite of scientific information, clinical guidance, and educational content to elevate the delivery of care to patients globally.


Frequently Asked Questions
The Pregnancy Journal, SMFM's new official journal, will launch with a new website in Q4 2024. The journal will then start accepting submissions, with the goal of publishing the first manuscripts in Q1 2025.
The Pregnancy Journal will be digital and available online. Accepted manuscripts will be published immediately following the peer review process. Manuscripts will ultimately be assigned an issue for the purpose of indexing.

The journal will be submitted for indexing (e.g., PubMed) as soon as possible. The average timeframe for application and acceptance for new journals is 12 – 18 months. All accepted manuscripts will be indexed retroactively.

There are multiple publishing models. In the traditional subscription-based model, a journal solicits paid subscriptions from readers. The open-access model does not have subscribers and is open to anyone to read. Instead of generating revenue from subscriptions, open-access models have an author publication cost (APC), which charges the author for publication.

  1. High visibility – all articles are immediately and freely available online.
  2. Easy compliance with open access mandates with Creative Common Licenses 
  3. Reuse and immediately deposit the final article in any website or repository.
  4. Copyright retention – you (the author) retain the copyright for your article at all times. 
  5. Automatic export to PubMed Central/Europe PubMed Central (PMC) when appropriate. 
  6. High-quality and authoritative publishing standards with rigorous peer review. 
  7. View Wiley’s Author Resources Site for more information. 
SMFM has negotiated a discounted subscription for members. Additional discounts or waivers will be available to authors based on hardship or those from low-resource areas. Your institution or funder may be able to help with open access Article Publication Charges (APCs) through a Wiley Open Access Account. With Wiley Open Access Accounts, APCs may be covered in full or part for affiliated authors publishing in Wiley fully open access journals or hybrid journals (subscription journal that offers open access).
Public funding organizations that support research are increasingly requiring publication in open-access journals to promote transparency and access to data and information. Therefore, almost all new journals and many established journals are moving to open-access or hybrid models that include open-access. 
SMFM has notified AJOG’s publisher (Elsevier) that it will not renew its affiliation agreement. SMFM is grateful to have been affiliated with AJOG for nearly 10 years, and SMFM is grateful to the Editorial leadership, especially Dr. Roberto Romero, for their continued support of SMFM.
While it is not guaranteed, most members will still have access to AJOG via other mechanisms. AJOG utilizes a circulation strategy that actively sends the journal to medical doctors credentialed in OB-GYN; however, updated lists to Elsevier can cause inaccuracies and delays. In addition, Elsevier has agreements with most hospitals/institutions, so many members may continue to access the journal digitally through their institution. 
Accepted abstracts will be published in this new journal in digital and print versions. Attendees can request a print copy when registering for the meeting, which will be included for a nominal fee.
Once an Editor-in-Chief has been identified, SMFM will conduct a call for members of the Editorial Board and reviewers. We anticipate a call for volunteers later this year.
Many medical societies have either an affiliation agreement or co-ownership agreement with publishers for their official journals. SMFM has chosen to move from an affiliation agreement to an ownership agreement. The benefits include:
  • The ownership agreement aligns with the SMFM strategic plan to further enhance member value and member engagement globally.
  • SMFM will oversee the journal’s governance structure, including selecting the Editor-in-Chief. The editors will report to the SMFM Board of Directors.
  • The new journal provides new opportunities for SMFM members to engage and get involved with the Society.
  • The Pregnancy Journal will create a new platform for publishing high-impact research and support the trend toward open-access requirements for published research.
  • The journal will allow for further dissemination and expansion of SMFM clinical guidance and educational offerings.
  • SMFM will derive a financial royalty that will support internal resources to increase clinical guidance, along with educational derivatives.

Arriving in 2025