Mission & Goals

IFA RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION COMMITTEE: Mission & Goals

Our mission is to improve understanding and treatment of fluency disorders by promoting research, supporting researchers and connecting them with all stakeholders.

The actionable goals have been compiled through feedback from different stakeholders and will be periodically reviewed. The committee’s role is to achieve the goals specifically related to IFA activities, and to decide on which other goals that they wish to work towards.

 

Research focus:

1. Help to ensure a high quality research presence at IFA congresses
   1. Liaise with organizers, program committee, and IFA conference committee.
   2. Organize events and discussion rounds (especially on our own activity).
2. initiate and support activities to promote research
   1. investigate ways to increase funding for research and researchers
   2. encourage and help outside researchers to study stuttering with their special expertise
   3. incentivize other journals to publish on fluency disorders
   4. initiate and support networks of young researchers (PhD students and postdocs)
   5. include young researchers in the committee
   6. reviewing surveys being conducted by others who seek access to the IFA mailing list
3. initiate and support exchange of opinions and reviews
   1. Organize an online discussion on a specific topic twice a year.
   2. Provide a place to discuss the latest published research articles.
   3. Interact informally and through surveys to identify and address needs.
   4. Collect opinions from researchers on last year’s most interesting research.
   5. Translate reviews in other languages.
4. Provide information to researchers
   1. Provide online information about job openings and grants.
   2. Maintain a list of all research-related contact persons at relevant associations.
   3. Maintain a list of all research teams and published researchers.
   4. Maintain a list of journals that publish on fluency disorders

 Publication focus

1. Collaborate with JFD to ensure quality and global reach
   1. Interact with the Editor-in-Chief of JFD at the beginning and end of the academic year.
   2. Collaborate with JFD on recruiting and training a new generation of reviewers.
   3. Initiate and maintain a mentorship program where senior researchers advise researchers from underrepresented or non-English speaking countries on aspects of the research and publication process.
   4. Encourage researchers from underrepresented countries to publish in JFD.
2. Edit and support publication of the proceedings of the IFA congresses
3. Support IFA committees to inform its members about activities worldwide
   1. Help towards the production of a newsletter