Medical journal

History

The first medical journals were general medical journals. The first English-language general medical journal was Medicina Curiosa, established in 1684, but it ceased publication after only two issues. The first medical journal to be published in the United Kingdom was * Medical Essays and Observations*, established in 1731 and published in Edinburgh; the first to be published in the United States was The Medical Repository, established in 1797.

Among the oldest general medical journals that are still in publication today are The Lancet, established in 1823, and the New England Journal of Medicine, established in 1812.

In 1999, Medscape launched Medscape General Medicine, which became the world's first online-only general medical journal.

General medical journals

Journals that are recognized as general medical journals include The Lancet, the New England Journal of Medicine, In 2009, the three highest-ranked general medical journals by impact factor were JAMA, The Lancet, and the New England Journal of Medicine. The BMJs web editor, Tony Delamothe, has described the BMJ as a general medical journal. The Medical Journal of Australia is the only general medical journal in Australia, and the Canadian Medical Association Journal has been called the leading general medical journal in Canada.

Criticisms

Richard Smith, the former editor of the medical journal the BMJ, has been critical of many of the aspects of modern-day medical journal publishing. Critics of medical publishing have argued that problems related to gaming of citation and authorship are prevalent in the field, as many authors did not actually contribute to the articles that their names are on, many contributors to the articles are excluded from authorship, and strategic and unnecessary citations are prevalent to boost scores.

Physicians John Abramson and Richard Smith have argued that because a significant share of medical journals' revenue comes from selling reprints of pharmaceutical drug studies as marketing materials, the journals face a conflict of interest to accept submissions that exaggerate or misstate the efficacy of new medications. For example, in 2005, 41% of The Lancet's income came from reprint sales.

References

References

1. (2006-04-19). "Medical Journals". JAMA.
2. (1 September 2010). "Fifty-Year Fate and Impact of General Medical Journals". PLOS ONE.
3. Booth, C C. (1982-07-10). "Medical communication: the old and new. The development of medical journals in Britain.". British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.).
4. (2009-08-20). "The Medical Repository — The First U.S. Medical Journal (1797–1824)". New England Journal of Medicine.
5. Smith, R.. (2006). "The trouble with medical journals". [[Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine]].
6. Woody, Todd. (7 May 1999). "Online journal could shake up medical breakthrough news". CNN.
7. (9 September 2009). "Comparisons of Citations in Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar for Articles Published in General Medical Journals". JAMA.
8. (21 December 2002). "How political should a general medical journal be?". BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.).
9. Davey, Melissa. (7 May 2015). "Backlash over Stephen Leeder sacking puts Medical Journal of Australia in peril". The Guardian.
10. Mehta, Diana. (4 April 2012). "65 going on 16: Medical journal proposes new rules for elderly drivers". The Globe and Mail.
11. Smith, Richard. (2005-05-17). "Medical Journals Are an Extension of the Marketing Arm of Pharmaceutical Companies". PLOS Medicine.
12. MacDonald, Stuart. (2023). "The gaming of citation and authorship in academic journals: a warning from medicine". Social Science Information.
13. Abramson, John. (2022). "Sickening: How Big Pharma Broke American Health Care and How We Can Repair It". [[HarperCollins]].