Supplementary Data are available at NAR Online. Journals, Academics, and Pandemics In the wake of the SARS epidemic and the H1N1 pandemic, the PLoS Medicine editors ask whether journal publishing is an efficient enough mechanism for information sharing. The PLoS Medicine Editors* Two articles published recently in PLoS Medicine highlight the problem of how to effectively share information in the wake of a rapidly spreading disease, and prompted us to ask the question ''How well are journals doing?'' with regard to this important goal. The answer, sadly, seems to be ''not well enough.'' Although the potential of the Internet for improving the dissemination of information is now taken for granted, it would seem that the attitudes of those involved in sharing this information have not kept pace with the technology. Accordingly, it is fair to ask whether the flow of information in the face of a crisis is truly enabled by publication in medical journals (even online journals) or whether we need new avenues for rapid data sharing.