New Open-Access Journal Launches to Broaden the Global Conversation on Sepsis

A new scientific journal dedicated entirely to sepsis and severe infection has been launched, marking a deliberate expansion of the publishing landscape around one of the most critical challenges in modern medicine. The journal, called Critical Care: Sepsis and Severe Infection, is a companion title to the established journal Critical Care and is published by BMC, part of Springer Nature. Its first editorial, published on 11 March 2026 as Volume 1, article number 1, sets out the mission, editorial policies and community commitments that will guide the new venture. The inaugural editorial is written by Élie Azoulay, who takes on the role of Editor-in-Chief of the new journal.

In that opening editorial, Azoulay describes accepting the role with what he characterizes as deep gratitude and great enthusiasm, framing the launch as more than the addition of another publication to the literature. The new journal, he writes, represents a commitment to advancing science, sharing knowledge, and supporting the entire community engaged in the care of patients facing severe infection and sepsis. The editorial emphasizes that the journal intends to serve authors, readers, reviewers and the broader medical community, and that its leadership approach will emphasize rigor, attention to detail, openness to new ideas and curiosity.

The appointment brings significant prior editorial experience to the new title. Azoulay previously served as Editor-in-Chief of Intensive Care Medicine from 2012 to 2018 and has served as an associate editor of several peer-reviewed journals. Drawing on that background, the inaugural editorial argues that editorial leadership involves more than selecting and curating strong science. It also involves, in the editorial’s framing, building a trusted space for discourse, discovery, controversy and dissemination. That framing signals an intention to host debate and disagreement within the journal’s pages rather than presenting only consensus views, a posture that may shape the kinds of papers and commentaries the journal attracts in its early volumes.

A defining feature of the journal’s stated identity is its breadth. The editorial declares that sepsis does not respect boundaries, whether geographic, professional or disciplinary, and that the new journal is therefore not intended for a single specialty or a single region. Instead, it is positioned as a global, interdisciplinary platform. The editorial enumerates the professional groups it expects to contribute and read: intensivists, emergency medicine physicians, anesthesiologists, infectious diseases specialists, nurses, pharmacists, pediatricians, and clinicians involved in the care of immunocompromised and acutely ill patients. The editorial also states an explicit commitment to welcoming voices from all corners of the world, on the stated premise that high-quality research and impactful insights can come from any setting. That commitment to geographic inclusivity is reiterated later in the editorial, where the journal pledges support for colleagues from low and middle-income countries.

Alongside the scientific framing, the editorial advances a notably human-centered account of the field. Azoulay writes that sepsis remains one of the greatest unmet challenges in medicine: complex, heterogeneous, and still too often lethal. He argues that the syndrome requires precision, innovation and relentless collaboration across disciplines. But the editorial also insists that sepsis is not just a syndrome, describing it as a story of patients, families and healthcare teams facing uncertainty and urgency. Studying sepsis, the editorial argues, means giving a voice to the most vulnerable, bridging research and compassion, and never losing sight of the human being behind the numbers. The journal, in this framing, is intended to be a home for a dual mission of advancing science while keeping care at the heart.

The editorial situates the new journal within the current state of sepsis research. It acknowledges that the scientific community has made extraordinary progress in understanding the pathophysiology of sepsis and severe infections, while noting that many questions remain unresolved, that the burden on healthcare systems is enormous, and that variability in patient outcomes continues to challenge the field. The journal was created, according to the editorial, with the intention of becoming a central forum for advancing knowledge and translating science into practice. That translational ambition, connecting laboratory and epidemiological findings to bedside care, is presented as a core rationale for the launch rather than an incidental benefit.

The scope of submissions the journal will consider is unusually wide. The editorial states that the journal welcomes research across the entire spectrum, beginning with observational studies that uncover trends, risk factors or new clinical phenotypes. Clinical trials are explicitly welcomed, including trials of pharmacologic, procedural or organizational interventions. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses that synthesize evidence and illuminate gaps form another intended pillar of the journal’s content. The editorial also expresses interest in hypothesis-generating research that dares to ask bold questions, signaling openness to exploratory work that might not fit the confirmatory mold of traditional trial reporting. Finally, case series, methodological papers and qualitative research that expand understanding of care delivery in complex environments will be considered as full research articles rather than being relegated to lesser categories, a decision that could prove meaningful for investigators working in settings where large cohort studies or randomized trials are not feasible.

At the center of the journal’s editorial framework is what the Editor-in-Chief calls the Five R Policy, a set of five criteria that will guide manuscript selection. Under this policy, manuscripts will be selected for publication when they are relevant, meaning of interest to clinicians, researchers, pharmacists, microbiologists and decision-makers, with the potential to influence or improve practice. They must be realized using modern and appropriate methods, with careful attention to quality and design. They must be readable, with clear, structured and thoughtful presentation that reflects the effort of the authors. They must be rigorous in analysis, reporting and adherence to international standards, with the editorial specifically citing adherence to the EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines. And they must be reachable, a criterion the editorial defines as resonating across disciplines and attracting broad attention and impact. The policy is presented as a transparent editorial framework intended to give authors and reviewers a clear picture of what acceptance requires, though how consistently the five criteria will be applied in practice will only become visible as the journal accumulates published volumes.

Access and transparency are prominent themes. In partnership with BMC, which the editorial describes as a pioneer in open access publishing, the new journal will be fully open access. The stated goal is democratizing knowledge, with every published article freely available to any clinician, researcher or policymaker regardless of institution or geography. The editorial also encourages authors to embrace open science practices, specifically naming data sharing and transparency in methods, on the argument that science advances most effectively when it is shared. For researchers in resource-limited settings, the combination of open access and explicit outreach to low and middle-income countries is framed as removing barriers that have historically limited participation in high-profile critical care publishing.

The editorial closes with a series of commitments to the community the journal hopes to build. It describes an editorial board under construction, composed of associate editors, reviewers and other active members, characterized as diverse, experienced and dynamic professionals committed to science and mentorship. The peer-review process is promised to be fast, fair and constructive, with the editorial acknowledging the time and energy authors invest in their work and pledging timely, respectful and useful feedback in return. On research integrity, the Editor-in-Chief pledges to promote ethical conduct in publishing, naming integrity, transparency and authorship accountability as core values, and stating that misconduct, bias or the silencing of important voices will not be tolerated. Support for early-career researchers receives particular attention: the journal will offer concise formats such as Brief reports, provided the underlying research is substantial enough, a format the editorial describes as ideal for young investigators with important observations to share. The editorial asserts that clarity, originality and relevance matter more than length. In its closing invitation, the editorial addresses researchers conducting basic research, designing cohort studies or clinical trials, improving bedside care, or shaping policy, stating that the journal wants to read, evaluate and share their work, and that the journal’s success will depend on the engagement, trust and contributions of its community. The inaugural editorial ends, simply, with the call: let us build this together.

Subject of Research: Launch of the open-access journal Critical Care: Sepsis and Severe Infection and its editorial vision for sepsis research

Article Title: The new pulse of sepsis and severe infection

Article References: Azoulay, É. (2026). The new pulse of sepsis and severe infection. Critical Care: Sepsis and Severe Infection, 1(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s44541-026-00002-w

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s44541-026-00002-w

Keywords: sepsis, severe infection, Critical Care: Sepsis and Severe Infection, open access, journal launch, Élie Azoulay, Five R Policy, interdisciplinary research, BMC, Springer Nature, early-career researchers, low and middle-income countries