ABSTRACT
This paper summarizes the main features of review articles in medical topics. Articles can be classified as narrative reviews, systematic reviews or meta-analysis. Narrative reviews are appropriate to update etiology, pathophysiology or clinical aspects of diseases, and advances in basic and preclinical sciences. In systematic reviews the authors define its purpose, limit its scope, describe the literature search, define the inclusion and exclusion criteria adopted to select primary studies, and the criteria applied to assess the quality of their results and conclusions. Meta-analysis are quantitative, statistically analysed systematic reviews that consider mainly primary studies conducted prospectively with simultaneous randomized controls, pooling the data obtained from each of these primary studies in order to get a single estimate of effect. Systematic analysis and meta-analysis are important to evaluate new diagnostic and therapeutic tools, and they are most relevant to evidence-based medicine, mainly for the design of clinical guidelines and the adoption of new health care policies. Review articles published in Revista Médica de Chile were compared in one or two-year periods separated by ten years in between: in the "2001 period" 26 reviews were all narrative; in the "2010 period" 30 reviews were narrative and another 4 were systematic reviews; in the "2019 period" 14 reviews were narrative and another 7 were systematic reviews. No meta-analysis had been published in these periods, in this journal. Meta-analysis including primary studies performed in Chile by Chilean investigators have been published in English language in other medical journals. The educational and professional role of review articles is recognised, with a word of caution on a strict adherence to ethical rules adopted by scientific and clinical publications, mainly with respect to authorship and potential conflicts of interest.
Subject(s)
Authorship , Evidence-Based Medicine , Chile , Health Policy , LanguageABSTRACT
Young authors may benefit by some advices on how to proceed when they decide to write a manuscript and submit it to a medical journal. They should start by selecting the journal considering the topic and nature of their study, how relevant the results seem and the interest it may have in editors and readers. A reasonable choice should consider new journals that publish good papers selected after external peer review. Then they should study and follow the Instructions to Authors of the chosen journal. A strong call is given to recognize and avoid "predatory journals". Specific statements refer to Instructions to Authors and language requirements by the journal, the need to follow "ICMJE Recommendations", the correct assignment of authorship, and a strict observance of ethical regulations in biomedical and clinical research. Special mention is given to provide a good abstract, in English, either descriptive or structured depending on the nature of their study. These advices may be useful as well as a reminder to older authors on how to improve their manuscripts before submitting them to a mainstream medical journal.
Subject(s)
Publishing/standards , Authorship/standards , Journalism, Medical/standards , Publishing/ethics , Writing/standards , Manuscripts, Medical as TopicABSTRACT
Medical journals are fundamental elements in medical education, in professional life, in research and in academic careers. They communicate new scientific and clinical findings, legitimate and give credibility to biomedical and clinical investigation, are guarantors of the authors' intellectual property, are a useful forum for the discussion of relevant topics, distribute selected information to readers and are archives of their publications. Out of the numerous medical journals appeared before and during the XIXth Century, only 24 of them remain active until today and Revista Médica de Chile appears as number 20 in the list. Nowadays thousands of medical journals are published worldwide but only a small fraction are qualified as "mainstream journals", because they strictly apply an independent editorial process with clear criteria in manuscript selection based in external peer review, format requisites according to ICMJE Recommendations, are included in major databases, publish a high proportion of research articles, and other reasons. English language predominates in mainstream journals and abstracts in English become available in some databases. Electronic publications and open access are important tools to disseminate new information but the appearance of "predatory journals" is a threatening menace to the integrity of medical publications. Authors should identify and reject them. Some reflections may help those who intend to create new medical journals.
Subject(s)
Humans , History, 16th Century , History, 17th Century , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Periodicals as Topic/history , Editorial Policies , Periodicals as Topic/standards , Bibliometrics , ChileABSTRACT
Ethical problems have always been present in scientific publications. Since the founding of medical journals, in the XIX Century, until today they are a source of concern because one main purpose of medical scientific publications is to add new, reliable information that could guide or modify medical decisions and public health policies. Since 1997, Revista Médica de Chile has published several articles clarifying this situation and emphasizing the need to avoid ethical misbehavior. The present review reminds that the main sources of information dealing with publication ethics appear in the web sites of ICMJE, COPE and WAME. Misconduct have been detected in Revista Médica de Chile in a few cases of redundant publications, plagiarism, lack of recognition of conflicts of interest mainly with pharmaceutical companies, and one attempt of forging the publication of an article that had been previously rejected. In handling situations identified as ethical misbehavior, the editors of this journal have successfully followed rules established by COPE. This article reviews and reinforces recommendations to avoid ethical misbehavior in biomedical research and in manuscripts submitted for publication.
Subject(s)
Humans , Periodicals as Topic/ethics , Publishing/ethics , Biomedical Research/ethics , Plagiarism , Scientific Misconduct , Chile , Conflict of Interest , Editorial PoliciesABSTRACT
As of March 2016, Humberto Reyes, MD, FACP, steps down as Editor-in-Chief of Revista Médica de Chile. He joined its editorial team in 1971, as a part-time Assistant Editor. A few years later he became Associate Editor and since 1996, Editor-in-Chief. During his tenure the journal improved the peer review system and implemented a web platform to handle the editorial process, while following the recommendations established by acknowledged organizations such as the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), the World Association of Medical Journal Editors (WAME) and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Since 2010 he represented Revista Médica de Chile as an ICMJE Member. After an open contest, the Sociedad Médica de Santiago, founder and owner of Revista Médica de Chile since 1872, elected Fernando Florenzano MD as the new Editor-in-Chief. Dr. Reyes leaves this long lasting job with the satisfaction of having conducted an institution considered among mainstream medical journals in spite of being mostly published in Spanish. Revista Médica de Chile receives a high proportion of the research articles that have been generated in the country, subsequently handled by an enthusiastic and solid editorial team whose responsibilities go far beyond selecting the material to be published since they are medical educators striving to help authors to improve their papers before having them published. Conducting this journal has been a fascinating task for this Editor as well as an unforgettable experience.
Subject(s)
History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Periodicals as Topic/history , Publishing/history , Medicine , Chile , Editorial PoliciesABSTRACT
In Chile, undergraduate medical education starts after High School, it lasts seven years, with the final two dedicated to a rotary internship, taking to an M.D. degree that allows the graduate to enter working activities. The country needs more M.D.s in primary care, but there is also a shortage of specialists, mainly out of the main cities. In recent decades, post graduate programs leading to specialty titles have become competitively adopted by a large proportion of medical graduates. This is the case at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, stimulating its faculties and medical students to develop a collaborative review of their teaching programs, leading to a curricular reform with a new graduate profile and a new curriculum oriented to learning objectives, that will allow to obtain the M.D. degree in six instead of seven years of undergraduate education. This new program awakened expectations in other universities in Chile, that will have to face the attraction of this shortened program for future candidates to enter medical schools. However, any shortening of medical school careers should first consider the local conditions in quality of applicants, number of accepted students, the training of teachers in integrated teaching programs, the availability of adequate campuses. Furthermore, for students with different academic backgrounds and diverse personal and familial interests, the seven years programs may still be necessary to gain the expertise required to become medical doctors.
Subject(s)
Humans , Curriculum , Education, Medical, Undergraduate/standards , Schools, Medical , Students, Medical , Time Factors , ChileABSTRACT
Background: During the years 2008 and 2009, 1,191 biomedical articles authored by Chilean investigators working in Chile were indexed in PubMed. Aims: To evaluate the potential visibility of those articles, according to scientometric indexes of the journals where they were published. Methods: Those journals where the articles had been published were identified and each journals Impact Factor (JIF), 5-year JIF, SCImago Journal Rank (SJR), SCImago Quartiles (Q) for 2010 and the Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) for 2008-2009 were identified. Results: Three hundred and twelve articles (26,2%) were dedicated to experimental studies in animals, tissues or cells and they were classified as Biomedicine, while 879 (73,8%) were classified as Clinical Medicine; in both areas the main type of articles were original reports (90% and 73.6%, respectively). Revista Médica de Chile and Revista Chilena de Infectología concentrated the greater number of publications. Articles classified in Biomedicine were published more frequently in English and in journals with higher scientometric indexes than those classified in Clinical Medicine. Conclusions: Biomedical articles dealing with clinical topics, particularly case reports, were published mostly in national journals or in foreign journals with low scientometric indexes. It can be partly attributable to the authors interest in reaching local readers. The evaluation of research productivity should combine several scientometric indexes, selected according to the field of research, the institution's and investigators interests, with a qualitative and multifactorial assessment.
Subject(s)
Animals , Humans , Bibliometrics , Biomedical Research/statistics & numerical data , Clinical Medicine/statistics & numerical data , Periodicals as Topic/statistics & numerical data , PubMed/statistics & numerical data , Chile , Internationality , Journal Impact Factor , Periodicals as Topic/standardsABSTRACT
Hernán Alessandri M.D. was an astounding clinician and a leading medical educator, born in Santiago in 1900 where he died in 1980. He received his medical degree at the University of Chile in 1923, became Professor of Clinical Medicine in 1932, Full Professor and Chair of Internal Medicine in 1944. At the Hospital del Salvador, in Santiago, he chaired a teaching Department and a Clinical Service that was an example for its academic environment and dedication to patients and students. From 1958 to 1962 he was Dean of the University of Chile Faculty of Medicine, conducting a reform of teaching curricula and organizing medical residency programs for the training of specialists, originally started in his own Service in 1952. The American College of Physicians awarded him the first foreign Honorary Membership. He was a founding Member of the Chilean Academy of Medicine (1964). In 1973 the University of Chile awarded him the Emeritus Professor status. He was considered by his peers, alumni and patients a brilliant clinician and an exceptional medical educator. Since 1980 a Social and Teaching Foundation bears his name and in 2014, with the occasion of the XXXV Chilean Congress of Internal Medicine, the Sociedad Médica de Santiago-Chilean Society of Internal Medicine created an annual lecture to render tribute to distinguished physicians and his name was one of the two selected to inaugurate them.
Subject(s)
Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Osteoarthritis, Knee/genetics , TRPV Cation Channels/genetics , Cartilage, Articular/metabolism , Case-Control Studies , Gene Frequency , Genetic Predisposition to Disease , Genetic Variation , Genotype , Osteoarthritis, Knee/complications , Osteoarthritis, Knee/metabolism , Pain/etiology , Pain/genetics , Pain/metabolism , TRPV Cation Channels/metabolism , Tissue Culture TechniquesABSTRACT
The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors is a leading independent institution providing guidance for the report of biomedical research and health related topics in medical journals. Established in 1978, it is currently constituted by editors of fourteen general medical journals from different countries, plus one representative for the US National Library of Medicine and one representative for the World Association of Biomedical Journal Editors. Since 1978 the Committee provides a document, originally named "Uniform Requirements…", "to help authors, editors, and others involved in peer review and biomedical publishing create and distribute accurate, clear, unbiased medical journal articles". This document has been updated several times and the last version was released in August 2013, now renamed "Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals", available in www.icmje.org and citable as "ICMJE Recommendations". A vast proportion of medical journals, worldwide, have adopted these recommendations as rules. The ICMJE discusses and provides guidance on several relevant aspects including criteria on authorship, peer review, scientific misconduct, conflicts of interest, clinical trials registration, good editorial practices, the relations between editors and journal owners, the protection of individuals subject to medical research, the solvency of electronic publications, among others. The 2013 ICMJE Annual Meeting took place in Santiago, Chile, in November 4 and 5. The photograph shows attendants to the final session.
Subject(s)
Humans , Advisory Committees , Biomedical Research/standards , Editorial Policies , Periodicals as Topic/standards , Publishing/standards , ChileABSTRACT
Richard V Lee, MD, MACP, FRGS, Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics and Obstetrics, Adjunct Professor of Anthropology and Social and Preventive Medicine. Director, Division of Maternal & Adolescent Medicine, and Director, Division of Geographic Medicine, Department of Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo, USA, passed away on May 7,2013. His academic degrees and university positions are a vivid testimony of his wide professional interests and capabilities. As a humanist and ecologist, he became involved in a broad range of medical and research activities in the Brazilian Amazon, the Chilean Southern Andes, the African deserts and highlands, India, the Himalayas, and China. His extensive bibliography on ecology, the health status of geographically isolated populations and the role of physicians on cultural and macro environmental factors, has been summarized in his posthumous book "Out of Bounds. Medicine and The Hundred Acre Wood", recently published by the Royal Society of Medicine, London. The Sociedad Médica de Santiago-Chilean Society of Internal Medicine and its journal Revista Médica de Chile are indebted to his enthusiastic contributions and advice.
Subject(s)
History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Obstetrics/history , Pediatrics/history , ChileABSTRACT
During the year 2012, 539 manuscripts were submitted to this journal, following an increasing trend in the recent decade. Rejection rate was 33%. This higher number of submissions demanded a larger number and wider scope of external reviews, retarding the editorial process. The mean time lapse from reception to acceptance (or rejection) was 6.3 months (range 2-14) and from acceptance to publication 5.3 months (range 3-7). Research articles were 43.9% of published manuscripts and the remaining articles were Reviews, Special Articles, Case Reports, articles on Medical Ethics, Medical Education, Evidence Based Medicine, Public Health, History of Medicine, Letters to the Editor and others. Thirty seven published manuscripts (14.6%) came from foreign countries and 9 of them were published with full text in English. The 2012 Impact Factor was 0.360, showing little variation from previous years, locating the journal in the upper part of quartil 4 in the ISI-JCR category "Medicine, General and Internal", while the SCImago Journal & Country Rank locates the Revista in quartil 2 of its category "Medicine (miscellaneous)". In contrast with the low citation rate, the number of visits to the open access electronic version in www.scielo.cl averages over 3 million visits per year, illustrating that the interest among readers outnumbers the country’s expectable readership. Only 22% of articles declared to have received financial help from entities external to the institution where the work was performed, coming mainly from Chilean Governmental competitive funds. The aim of Revista Médica de Chile is to provide readers and authors a valuable source of information about current relevant topics in general and internal medicine, progress in related specialties and updates in basic sciences, rendering them available to Health professionals in Chile and worldwide, following international standards of ethical and scientific quality in medical publications.
Subject(s)
Humans , Editorial Policies , Periodicals as Topic/standards , Bibliometrics , Biomedical Research/standards , Chile , Internet/standards , Journal Impact Factor , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Background:The first issue of Revista Médica de Chile appeared in July, 1872. Since then it has been published monthly and thus it became one of the oldest medical journals being printed since the 19th Century. The opening Editorial in the first issue, labeled as "Prospecto"and written by the first editor, Germán Schneider, M.D., is reproduced. The current Editors comment the main statements found in that document establishing the purpose and scope of this journal. There are good reasons to sustain that through its 140 years of life, Revista Médica de Chile has fully accomplished the expectations of its founders and the owning institution: Sociedad Médica de Santiago-Chilean Society of Internal Medicine. The journal is serving well the medical community as a forum to present and discuss clinical experience, topics in scientific and technological advances related to medicine, medical education, medical ethics, and public health.
Subject(s)
History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Education, Medical/history , Periodicals as Topic/history , ChileABSTRACT
Background: Biomedical research is a fundamental tool for the development of a country, requiring human and financial resources. Aim: To define some current characteristics of biomedical research, in Chile. Methods: Data on entities funding bio-medical research, participant institutions, and the number of active investigators for the period 2007-2009 were obtained from institutional sources; publications indexed in PubMedfor2008-2009 were analysed. Results: Mostfinancial resources invested in biomedical research projects (approximately US$ 19 million per year) came from the "Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica" (CONICYT), a state institution with 3 independent Funds administering competitive grant applications open annually to institutional or independent investigators in Chile. Other sources and universities raised the total amount to US$ 26 million. Since 2007 to 2009, 408 investigators participated in projects funded by CONICYT. The main participant institutions were Universidad de Chile and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, both adding up to 84% of all funded projects. Independently, in 2009,160 research projects -mainly multi centric clinical trials- received approximately US$ 24 million from foreign pharmaceutical companies. Publications listed in PubMed were classified as "clinical research" (n = 879, including public health) or "basic biomedical research" (n = 312). Conclusions: Biomedical research in Chile is mainly supported by state funds and university resources, but clinical trials also obtained an almost equivalent amount from foreign resources. Investigators are predominantly located in two universities. A small number of MD-PhD programs are aimed to train and incorporate new scientists. Only a few new Medical Schools participate in biomedical research. A National Registry of biomedical research projects, including the clinical trials, is required among other initiatives to stimulate research in biomedical sciences in Chile.