The Final Scene

The American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS) has long been a leader in education and training for those whose work involves animal subjects. In this regard, AALAS periodicals have played a prominent role in communicating scientific and technical aspects related to the care and use of animals in research. As laboratory animal science has evolved, so, too, have the scientific publications of AALAS. Beginning in 1951, the Animal Care Panel, a precursor to AALAS, began publishing Proceedings of the Animal Care Panel. The name of the journal was later changed to Laboratory Animal Care and, in 1971, to Laboratory Animal Science. Changes continued and, in 1992, Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science (Contemporary Topics) was first published as a companion to Laboratory Animal Science. Eventually, it was decided Laboratory Animal Science should be recast as Comparative Medicine with a primary aim to “…increase the journal’s scope and influence as a medium for biomedical communication by attracting manuscripts and readers from a broader segment of the scientific community.”¹ Similarly, in 2006 the Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (JAALAS) began publication, replacing Contemporary Topics.

Over the past 24 y, over 1,600 articles have been published in Comparative Medicine. These have included editorials, letters to the editor, case reports, special topic overviews, and reports of original research. A wide breadth of topics having relevance to our professional community have been the subject of these articles and Comparative Medicine has served as a valuable platform for our community. The importance of the editorial contributions of Drs. Robert Jacoby, Linda Toth, Ravi Tolwani, and Susan Compton to Comparative Medicine cannot be overstated.

Sadly, submissions to the journal have declined, and it was decided earlier this year based on feedback from the Reader Survey along with the approval of the Board of Trustees to merge Comparative Medicine into JAALAS.² Consequently, the December 2024 issue of Comparative Medicine will be the last. Beginning with the January 2025 issue of JAALAS, a section of that journal will provide a forum for comparative medicine topics. The merged form of JAALAS is the next evolutive step for AALAS journals, and if history is informative, it is unlikely to be the last.