From CE News Draft to Peer-Reviewed Paper: How to Engage with SACME’s Supportive Scholarly Community

Vjekoslav Hlede, DVM, PhD

We know that research and scholarly work do not emerge in isolation. After a lengthy peer review process, a former CE News draft article has evolved into a published paper in JMIR Medical Education: https://doi.org/10.2196/69156

Are you curious to hear how the article happened? Read the following story to find out.

A few years ago, while serving as Editor of the E-Learning & Technology column, I submitted a draft to CE News discussing how artificial intelligence might intersect with learning theories in CPD. At the time, AI felt promising but was still early in its development. In the draft, I tried to look beyond tools and features and to answer more fundamental questions: How does AI (re) shape the way we understand learning itself?

Robert D’Antuono, CE News Editor at that time, gave the piece thoughtful consideration. Ultimately, the draft did not fit the CE News format, which focuses on concise and timely updates for the CPD community. The manuscript was primarily conceptual and exploratory rather than practical and immediate.

But the idea did not disappear.

Over the next two years, the SACME Technology-Enhanced CPD (TECPD) Committee continued developing those early questions. We presented preliminary ideas at meetings, invited critique, tested assumptions, and revised repeatedly. The work benefited from open discussion within the SACME community. We shared it as a JMIR preprint (http://doi.org/10.2196/preprints.69156), and parts of the thinking continued to evolve through CE News conversations.

After a lengthy peer review process, that early draft has now evolved into a published paper in JMIR Medical Education. The article is entitled, AI-Enhanced Continuing Professional Development as an Evolving Sociotechnical System: Multimethod Theoretical Framework Development Study. https://doi.org/10.2196/69156

The paper frames AI-enhanced CPD as a complex, evolving sociotechnical system. Rather than treating AI as a feature layered onto existing practice, it examines how AI, digital platforms, organizational structures, and professional cultures interact. We introduce a theory-driven framework intended to help CPD leaders think more clearly about these interactions and how to guide them responsibly.

This project reflects something important about SACME. Research does not emerge in isolation. It grows through dialogue, critique, and shared reflection. It truly took a community to move this work from an exploratory draft to a peer-reviewed publication.

I am grateful to my co-authors (Sofia Valanci, G. Robert D’Antuono, Heather Dow, Ronan O’Beirne, and Richard Wiggins) and to SACME leaders who offered guidance and encouragement along the way, especially Todd Dorman, Heather MacNeill, David Wiljer, Simon Kitto, Olivier Petinaux, and Marianna Shershneva. Their feedback strengthened the work at every stage.
I welcome your thoughts and critiques. And, if you are interested in thinking more deeply about technology, AI, and the future of CPD, the SACME TECPD Committee remains an open and welcoming space. To join, please reach out to info@SACME.org.

We invite you to join the conversation at SACME 2026. The list of TECPD-related sessions to be held at the upcoming annual SACME meeting is listed in the E-Learning & Technology section of this issue of CE News and can also be found on the 2026 SACME Program Agenda.