ATS Website

Welcome and thank you for visiting the American Thoracic Society (ATS) Website.

Purpose

The purpose of the ATS website is to promote the ATS mission through communication and education. The ATS website integrates most of the ATS activity and governance. It links our members to allow them to carry out their professional activities better and keep them abreast of scientific, clinical, and practice advances. It serves to recruit individuals into our Society and into our fields that include Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep, and Environmental and Occupational medicine and science.

The website's goal is also to inform the medical and lay communities and guide them in the best practice of respiratory and critical care medicine and research. The website is a source of information and advocacy for relevant political and health care policy. It gives instruction and guidance to medically underserved parts of the world. Finally, it is a source of revenue for the ATS to carry out its mission.

Governance

The ATS website is under the direction of the Website Editor, Associate Editor for Patient Education, Web Directors, Editorial Board, staff, and ATS staff. The Editor reports to the ATS Communications Committee, which in turn reports to the ATS Board of Directors. The ATS Website Editor is selected the by ATS Board of Directors and serves a 5-year term, as do the Editors of the paper journals. Members of the Editorial Board are chosen by the Assembly Chairs, ATS President, or ATS Website Editor. Web Directors are responsible for different parts of the Website and serve on the Website Editorial Board. The ATS Associate Director of Online Services is responsible for implementing Website activities. The ATS Managing Editor is the official staff contact for operational activities and works closely with the Website Editor.

Submitting Material and Review

Material published on the ATS Website must be appropriate to the mission and goals of the ATS. The Editor is responsible for determining the appropriateness of the individual entries according to guidelines developed by the ATS Board of Directors through the Communications Committee.

Anyone may submit material for publication on the ATS website. The published work may arise from ATS assemblies or committees, individual members, or outside sources, such as nonmembers or government agencies. The Editor may invite submissions and coordinate items suggested by the Editorial Board, ATS leadership, or an ATS unit.

Material submitted electronically to the Editor tstibolt@thoracic.org goes through a review process that usually includes "user" as well as expert reviewers. Official ATS statements have a separate ATS statement review process and are posted after this review. Assembly page material generally goes through the Assembly Web Director. This material is overseen by the Assembly Web Director's Review Committee. Material for the columns is submitted to the Column Editors and reviewed by their review committees.

Starting in 2004, all contributors must state any potential for conflict of interest with any commercial interest or products that might affect the information being posted on the ATS website.

Contributors assign copyright to the ATS link assignment of copyright, although this at times may be wavered link: Grant of license.

Updating, Archiving and Removal

Starting in 2004, all new material will contain a month/year date for when it was posted, when it was last reviewed and when additional review is desirable to determine if the material is still valid. This will be in the form of (mm/yy, mm/yy, mm/yy) and will appear at the end of the work. Material that is out of date may be removed or relabeled "Archive" if is has archival value but may not longer be current.

If readers find material that is no longer current, please inform us at dmoy@thoracic.org.

Members-Only

The Members-Only section contains material of interest to members such as the roster of ATS members and staff with associated contact information. It contains business information, minutes and proceedings, and may contain special offers or opportunities for members. The complete text of the print journals is available to members.

The ATS Roster is soley to enhance communication among ATS members and not for commercial purposes.

Commerce and Support

The ATS offers many Educational Products. Many of which are free. The ATS is a nonprofit organization. Donations, which can be given online, help support its work and causes.

Advertising for commercial products is limited to the acknowledgment of unrestricted grants. The ATS has a uniform acknowledgment of sponsorship for all its publications, both electronic and paper.

The Virtual Exhibit Hall is part of each ATS international Conference. It contains the names of all exhibitors. The Virtual Exhibit Hall also contains paid advertising that may contain logos and links to the sponsor's site.

Disclaimer

The ATS Website is provided by the ATS for educational and scientific purposes in furtherance of its non profit and tax exempt status. The ATS makes no representations or warranties about the accuracy or suitability of this information for any purpose.

Thomas B. Stibolt, Jr., M.D.
ATS Website Editor
tstibolt@throacic.org

(08/04, 08/04, 01/09)