The Trouble with Medical Journals
The Distress with Medical Journals Books
Product Description
It is a turbulent time for STM publishing. With moves towards open access to scientific literature, the future of medical journals is uncertain and unpredictable. It is the only book of its kind to address this problematic come forth. Richard Smith, a previous editor of the British Medical Journal for twenty five years and one of the most influential people within medical journals and medicine depicts a compelling picture of medical publishing. Drawn from the author’s own extensive and unrivalled experience in medical publishing, Smith provides a refreshingly honest analysis of current and future trends in journal publishing including peer review, ethics in medical publishing, the influence of the pharmaceutical industry as well as that of the mass media, and the risk that money can cloud detachment in publishing. Full of private anecdotes and amusing tales, this is a book for everyone, from researcher to patient, author to publisher and editor to reader. The controversial and highly topical nature of this book, will make uncomfortable reading for publishers, researchers, funding bodies and pharmaceutical companies alike making this helpful resource for anyone with an interest in medicine or medical journals.
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This is well written, engaging, and thoughtful book about the role of biomedical journals. The author was for many years the editor of the widely read British Medical Journal (BMJ) and head of the publishing group that puts out the BMJ and a number other journals. Smith presents a thorough discussion of major issues facing biomedical journals. This book has a private flavor because Smith draws on his extensive private experience as an editor and because he was personally caught up a number of controversies correlated to biomedical journals. Smith’s experience, but, is a bit atypical in 2 ways. As a general journal, the BMJ is to some extent different and more journalistically oriented than the majority of biomedical journals. The BMJ, unlike the fantastic majority of journals, has full time professional editors where most journals are essentially run by volunteer academics.
Smith has a thoughtful discussions of a broad range of vital topics such as the need to balance the demands of broadcast interest with scientific issues defined narrowly, the variety of ethical problems facing journals, the tangled relationships between editors and publishers, and between industry and journals, and the changing nature of biomedical publishing.
I found the section on the economics of biomedical publishing to be the most fascinating. Smith cites some remarkable data. The dominant biomedical publisher, Reed Elsevier, had profits of approximately 2 billion dollars with an impressively high margin. The largest fraction of these profits come from biomedical publishing. Smith points out the really stunningly evident reasons for these remarkable figures. The raw material of journals is submitted manuscripts for which journals have to pay nothing. Most journals are run by volunteer editors and editorial boards. From a publisher’s top of view, this is a remarkably low over head business develop. Smith points also to an nearly complete lack of comptetion, a really impressive example of market failure. Smith has a thoughtful discussion of alternatives, which may come to fruition with some of the ongoing open publishing initiatives.
Rating: 4 / 5
This book is a must read for anyone who practices medicine or conducts, peer reviews or publishes research. Even as the theme matter is extremely serious, with profound and unavoidable lessons for doctors, researchers, editors, reviewers and publishers, it is also highly entertaining thanks to Smith’s wry tale telling which makes each chapter a joy to read. The book has a broader remit than its title would suggest. It is as much about the state of medical research as it is about publishing. I predict it will become a classic in medicine. Highly not compulsory.
Rating: 5 / 5