The American Heart Association’s publications are now fully mobile. The latest launch, of the online-only Journal of the American Heart Association, was in February.
The iPad app went live June 20, making it the organization’s twelfth publication with text that can be “pinched” and magnified. The free app gives users access to peer-reviewed articles without a subscription, and lets readers download entire issues. The company wouldn’t say how many users it expected, but provided the following data for reference: the journal Circulation was its first title to go app, in 2011. It has since been followed by 11 other titles, including JAHA. Total number of downloads —not including the new JAHA app—hover around 60,000 to date. A spokesperson noted in an email that “there is no overlap among the apps at this juncture.”
The spokesperson also said that unlike Circulation, which now has a free app but paid access, JAHA will remain free because it is an open-access publication. Despite the mobile version’s youthful phase, iTunes had one effusive JAHA reviewer at press time who bestowed the following assessment along with a five-star review “I particularly like the navigation structure with a simple ‘jump to’ set of buttons on the right. A particularly strong feature is that enlarging figures or navigating to full text of one of the references does not take you away from the main site. Very well constructed app!”
From the August 01, 2012 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media
