A hunt is on for new publishers for the 135-year-old New Zealand Medical Journal, with warnings it would be a big loss if it folded.
The organisation that runs the journal, the New Zealand Medical Association, is set to go into liquidation, putting the publication's survival under threat.
It publishes scientific studies and articles from across the country's medical professions.
Otago University epidemiologist Nick Wilson, who was a regular in its, now digital, pages said it would be a great pity if it folded.
It published content about New Zealand specific issues like high rates of rheumatic fever for a wealthy country, and how Māori and Pacific communities responded during the Covid-19 pandemic.
There were other medical journals here, but many of them covered certain specialities, like paediatrics, and shared content with Australia.
Even though it was prestigious to be published in an international journal, like the British Medical Journal, health workers and scientists often preferred the New Zealand publication, Wilson said.
"They really do want to do get coverage in a local audience, to be able to discuss things that are uniquely relevant to the country," he said.
Articles were often picked up by the news media, leading to even wider coverage or debate, he said.
GP and Otago University professor Sue Crengle said in recent years the journal had published a lot about health inequities, for Māori and other groups, and now had a Māori editor.
Māori issues would likely not get the same level of coverage in a journal shared with Australia, she said.
The New Zealand Medical Association said it was looking for a group "willing and financially able" to take over the journal, and wanted it to remain editorially independent.
A spokesperson said there had already been some interest and it was optimistic it would find a group to keep it running.
RNZ
