scholarly journals Open access policies of leading medical journals: a cross-sectional study

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim S Ellison ◽  
Tim Koder ◽  
Laura Schmidt ◽  
Amy Williams ◽  
Christopher Winchester
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Medical Journals ◽  
Funded Research ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Creative Commons ◽  
Commercial Organizations ◽  
Access Policies

Objectives: Academic and not-for-profit research funders are increasingly requiring that the research they fund must be published open access, with some insisting on publishing with a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to allow the broadest possible use. We set out to clarify the open access variants provided by leading medical journals for research in general and industry-funded research in particular, and record the availability of the CC BY licence for commercially funded research. Methods: We identified medical journals with a 2015 impact factor of at least 15.0 on 24 May 2017, then excluded from the analysis journals that only publish review articles. Between 29 June 2017 and 26 July 2017, we collected information about each journal's open access policies from their websites and/or by email contact. We contacted the journals by email again between 6 December 2017 and 2 January 2018 to confirm our findings. Results: Thirty-five medical journals publishing original research from 13 publishers were included in the analysis. All 35 journals offered some form of open access with varying embargo periods of up to 12 months. Of these journals, 21 (60%) provided immediate open access with a CC BY licence under certain circumstances (e.g. to specific research funders). Of these 21, 20 only offered a CC BY licence to authors funded by non-commercial organizations and one offered this option to funders who required it. Conclusions: Most leading medical journals do not offer to authors reporting commercially funded research an open access licence that allows unrestricted sharing and adaptation of the published material. The journals' policies are therefore not aligned with open access declarations and guidelines. Commercial research funders lag behind academic funders in the development of mandatory open access policies, and it is time for them to work with publishers to advance the dissemination of the research they fund.

scholarly journals Open access policies of leading medical journals: a cross-sectional study

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. e028655
Author(s):  
Tim S Ellison ◽  
Tim Koder ◽  
Laura Schmidt ◽  
Amy Williams ◽  
Christopher C Winchester
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Medical Journals ◽  
Funded Research ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Creative Commons ◽  
Commercial Research ◽  
Access Policies

ObjectivesAcademical and not-for-profit research funders are increasingly requiring that the research they fund must be published open access, with some insisting on publishing with a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to allow the broadest possible use. We aimed to clarify the open access variants provided by leading medical journals and record the availability of the CC BY licence for commercially funded research.MethodsWe identified medical journals with a 2015 impact factor of ≥15.0 on 24 May 2017, then excluded from the analysis journals that only publish review articles. Between 29 June 2017 and 26 July 2017, we collected information about each journal’s open access policies from their websites and/or by email contact. We contacted the journals by email again between 6 December 2017 and 2 January 2018 to confirm our findings.ResultsThirty-five medical journals publishing original research from 13 publishers were included in the analysis. All 35 journals offered some form of open access allowing articles to be free-to-read, either immediately on publication or after a delay of up to 12 months. Of these journals, 21 (60%) provided immediate open access with a CC BY licence under certain circumstances (eg, to specific research funders). Of these 21, 20 only offered a CC BY licence to authors funded by non-commercial organisations and one offered this option to any funder who required it.ConclusionsMost leading medical journals do not offer to authors reporting commercially funded research an open access licence that allows unrestricted sharing and adaptation of the published material. The journals’ policies are therefore not aligned with open access declarations and guidelines. Commercial research funders lag behind academical funders in the development of mandatory open access policies, and it is time for them to work with publishers to advance the dissemination of the research they fund.

Applied Status and Quality of Graphs in Five Academic Medical Journals in Shanghai (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zisheng Ai ◽  
Yuhong Tang ◽  
Jiaqi Zheng ◽  
Sanyou Wu ◽  
Ying Wu
Keyword(s):  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Medical Journals ◽  
Graph Type ◽  
Academic Medical ◽  
Substantial Problem ◽  
Error Bias ◽  
Important Form

BACKGROUND Figures are an important form of expressing results commonly found in medical papers and make data easy to read and compare. The quality of graphs in original papers has improved in western medical journals. However, some figures fail to correctly express the results of a paper. Additionally, graph quality and application has not been assessed in medical journals outside western countries. OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency and types of data graphs used in Chinese academic medical journals and evaluate the quality of graphs used in original medical papers. METHODS A total of 783 papers were surveyed from the medical journals of five colleges and universities in Shanghai from 2011 to 2015. A cross-sectional study was used to analyse the applied status and graph quality. The evaluation criteria of graphs mainly included graph type, visual clarity, completeness, and special standards. RESULTS Most authors prefer to use simple charts, and bar charts with 95% CI were the most widely used. More than 60% of charts have problems with visual clarity, completeness, and special standards. Of 841 incorrect graphs, 10 (0.58%) graphs had three combined problems of graph characteristics, and 292 (34.72%) graphs had any two combined problems of graph characteristics. For detailed errors, the absence of variance description was the most substantial problem, especially in 2014 and in some academic medical journals. CONCLUSIONS Graphs are less commonly applied in the five university journals. However, the quality of papers using graphs was not properly controlled. Editors and journal quality management should strengthen the quality control of charts in papers. Authors should also avoid error bias and distorting their conclusions.

scholarly journals Publishing at any cost: a cross-sectional study of the amount that medical researchers spend on open access publishing each year

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. e047107
Author(s):  
Mallory K. Ellingson ◽  
Xiaoting Shi ◽  
Joshua J. Skydel ◽  
Kate Nyhan ◽  
Richard Lehman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Senior Author ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Open Access Publishing ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Potential Cost ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Review Articles ◽  
Open Access Journals ◽  
Medical Researchers

ObjectiveTo estimate the financial costs paid by individual medical researchers from meeting the article processing charges (APCs) levied by open access journals in 2019.DesignCross-sectional analysis.Data sourcesScopus was used to generate two random samples of researchers, the first with a senior author article indexed in the ‘Medicine’ subject area (general researchers) and the second with an article published in the ten highest-impact factor general clinical medicine journals (high-impact researchers) in 2019. For each researcher, Scopus was used to identify all first and senior author original research or review articles published in 2019. Data were obtained from Scopus, institutional profiles, Journal Citation Reports, publisher databases, the Directory of Open Access Journals, and individual journal websites.Main outcome measuresMedian APCs paid by general and high-impact researchers for all first and senior author research and review articles published in 2019.ResultsThere were 241 general and 246 high-impact researchers identified as eligible for our study. In 2019, the general and high-impact researchers published a total of 914 (median 2, IQR 1–5) and 1471 (4, 2–8) first or senior author research or review articles, respectively. 42% (384/914) of the articles from the general researchers and 29% (428/1471) of the articles from the high-impact medical researchers were published in fully open access journals. The median total APCs paid by general researchers in 2019 was US$191 (US$0–US$2500) and the median total paid by high-impact researchers was US$2900 (US$0–US$5465); the maximum paid by a single researcher in total APCs was US$30115 and US$34676, respectively.ConclusionsMedical researchers in 2019 were found to have paid between US$0 and US$34676 in total APCs. As journals with APCs become more common, it is important to continue to evaluate the potential cost to researchers, especially on individuals who may not have the funding or institutional resources to cover these costs.

scholarly journals Gender disparity between authors in leading medical journals during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional review

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. e051224
Author(s):  
Vaidehi Misra ◽  
Frozan Safi ◽  
Kathryn A Brewerton ◽  
Wei Wu ◽  
Robin Mason ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Extraction ◽  
Gender Disparity ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Medical Journals ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Study Characteristics ◽  
Data Elements

ObjectivesEvaluate gender differences in authorship of COVID-19 articles in high-impact medical journals compared with other topics.DesignCross-sectional review.Data sourcesMedline database.Eligibility criteriaArticles published from 1 January to 31 December 2020 in the seven leading general medical journals by impact factor. Article types included primary research, reviews, editorials and commentaries.Data extractionKey data elements were whether the study topic was related to COVID-19 and names of the principal and the senior authors. A hierarchical approach was used to determine the likely gender of authors. Logistic regression assessed the association of study characteristics, including COVID-19 status, with authors’ likely gender; this was quantified using adjusted ORs (aORs).ResultsWe included 2252 articles, of which 748 (33.2%) were COVID-19-related and 1504 (66.8%) covered other topics. A likely gender was determined for 2138 (94.9%) principal authors and 1890 (83.9%) senior authors. Men were significantly more likely to be both principal (1364 men; 63.8%) and senior (1332 men; 70.5%) authors. COVID-19-related articles were not associated with the odds of men being principal (aOR 0.99; 95% CI 0.81 to 1.21; p=0.89) or senior authors (aOR 0.96; 95% CI 0.78 to 1.19; p=0.71) relative to other topics. Articles with men as senior authors were more likely to have men as principal authors (aOR 1.49; 95% CI 1.21 to 1.83; p<0.001). Men were more likely to author articles reporting original research and those with corresponding authors based outside the USA and Europe.ConclusionsWomen were substantially under-represented as authors among articles in leading medical journals; this was not significantly different for COVID-19-related articles. Study limitations include potential for misclassification bias due to the name-based analysis. Results suggest that barriers to women’s authorship in high-impact journals during COVID-19 are not significantly larger than barriers that preceded the pandemic and that are likely to continue beyond it.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42020186702.

scholarly journals Increased ischemia-modified albumin levels in children with steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gokhan Cakirca ◽  
Ahmet Guzelcicek ◽  
Kenan Yilmaz ◽  
Cemal Nas
Keyword(s):  
Oxidative Stress ◽  
Nephrotic Syndrome ◽  
Pediatric Nephrology ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Ischemia Modified Albumin ◽  
Creative Commons ◽  
Steroid Sensitive Nephrotic Syndrome ◽  
Steroid Sensitive

Objective: Growing evidence shows that oxidative stress plays an important role in the development and progression of nephrotic syndrome (NS). In this study, we aimed to examine serum IMA levels as an indicator of oxidative stress in children with steroid-sensitive NS (SSNS) in remission and relapse. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out at the Pediatric Nephrology Unit of Sanliurfa Training and Research Hospital, Sanliurfa, Turkey, from April 2019 to December 2019. In this study Serum IMA and albumin levels were determined in 70 children with SSNS and 45 healthy controls. Among the children with SSNS, 50 were in remission and 20 were in relapse. Then, adjusted IMA levels were calculated from the IMA/albumin ratio. Results: IMA and adjusted IMA levels significantly increased and albumin significantly decreased in children with SSNS in relapse and remission compared with those of the healthy controls. Moreover, these alterations were more prominent in the relapse group than in the remission group. IMA was inversely correlated with albumin in children with SSNS (r= −0.881, p= <0.001). Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated that elevated IMA and adjusted IMA levels observed in patients with SSNS were associated with increased oxidative stress and could indirectly reflect the degree of oxidative damage in glomerular structures. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.7.2924 How to cite this:Cakirca G, Guzelcicek A, Yilmaz K, Nas C. Increased ischemia-modified albumin levels in children with steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome. Pak J Med Sci. 2020;36(7):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.7.2924 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

scholarly journals Risk factors for mortality among inpatients with smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidra Hameed ◽  
Faisal Faiyaz Zuberi ◽  
Sagheer Hussain ◽  
Syed Khalid Ali
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Pulmonary Tuberculosis ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Smoking History ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Creative Commons ◽  
Smear Positive Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Objective: To evaluate risk factors having significant effect on mortality of smear positive Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB) inpatients. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases, Dow University Hospital Ojha Campus, Karachi. One hundred and seventy (170) inpatients of smear positive PTB confirmed by Acid Fast Bacilli (AFB) smear, aged between 13-80 years were enrolled by using consecutive sampling technique while patients with drug resistant Tuberculosis (TB) and extra pulmonary TB were excluded from the study. Selected patients were interviewed for collecting demographic data and risk factor data by using a standard questionnaire. Results: Out of 170 PTB inpatients, mortality was observed in 23 (13.5%) patients among which male patients were 12 (52.2%), and female were 11 (47.8%). Mortality was significantly associated with increasing age (p=0.003), socioeconomic status (p=0.019), anemia (p=0.03), Chronic Liver Disease (CLD) (p=0.005), Diabetes Mellitus (DM) (p=0.001), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) (p=0.007), Hypertension (HTN) (p=0.006), recurrent TB (p=0.001), and smoking (p=0.001). Conclusion: Increasing age, poverty, smoking history, and presence of comorbidities like DM, CLD, HIV, hypertension, and anemia are associated with higher mortality in smear positive PTB cases. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.5.919 How to cite this:Hameed S, Zuberi FF, Hussain S, Ali SK. Risk factors for mortality among inpatients with smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis. Pak J Med Sci. 2019;35(5):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.5.919 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

scholarly journals Barriers to the early initiation of Insulin therapy among diabetic patients coming to diabetic clinics of tertiary care hospitals

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iqra Arshad ◽  
Sara Mohsin ◽  
Sana Iftikhar ◽  
Tahseen Kazmi ◽  
Luqman F. Nagi
Keyword(s):  
Insulin Therapy ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Early Initiation ◽  
P Value ◽  
Diabetic Patients ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Creative Commons ◽  
Oral Medications ◽  
Tertiary Care Hospitals

Background and Objective: Initiation of Insulin therapy during earlier stages has proved to significantly improve health outcomes among diabetics in comparison to oral medications. Not only patients but physicians are also often resistant to early initiation of insulin therapy. The objective was to assess misconceptions and barriers to early initiation of insulin therapy among diabetic patients coming to a diabetic clinic. Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted on 300 patients selected by convenience sampling arriving in Diabetes Outdoor Clinics of Mayo and Services Hospitals, Lahore during August 2017 to May 2018. The data was entered and analyzed by using SPSS version 17. Results: Out of 300 patients included in study, 39% (n= 117) were males and 61% (n=183) were females. The mean age of the participants at presentation was 48.46±13.15 years with a range of 13 to 80 years. Study participants considered it embarrassing to inject insulin in public place (p-value 0.01). The fear associated with lifelong commitment to insulin therapy once it is started, was also found statistically significant (p-value 0.001)particularly in subjects who have long duration of DM (>5 years). Conclusion: Perceptions of diabetic patients about insulin therapy are still barriers to early initiation of therapy and tend to prevail in Pakistan and around the globe. How to cite this:Arshad I, Mohsin S, Iftikhar S, Kazmi T, Nagi LF. Barriers to the early initiation of Insulin therapy among diabetic patients coming to diabetic clinics of tertiary care hospitals. Pak J Med Sci. 2019;35(1):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.1.237 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

scholarly journals Mutational Frequencies in Mycobacterial rpoB gene using GeneXpert/MTB Rif Assay in Rifampicin Resistant patients at a tertiary care setting in Urban Sindh, Pakistan: Analysis from a Five-Year Period

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Alamgir ◽  
Mehwish Sajjad ◽  
Mirza Saifullah Baig ◽  
Muhammad Yahya Noori
Keyword(s):  
Care Setting ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Rpob Gene ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Molecular Probes ◽  
Gene Probe ◽  
Single Mutation ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Creative Commons ◽  
Tertiary Care Setting

Objectives: To assess the mutational frequencies in Mycobacterial rpoB gene using GeneXpert/MTB Rif Assay in rifampicin resistant patients during 2013-2017 at a tertiary care setting in Urban Sindh, Pakistan. Methods: This Retrospective Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study was conducted at the TB laboratories, Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases, Dow University of Health Sciences. The record of 713 positive cases of Rifampicin Resistant Tuberculosis from January 2013 to December 2017 were analysed. These were diagnosed using GeneXpert® that detects mutations in the 81 base pair region of rpoB gene with the help of five molecular probes A, B, C, D and E. All invalid and extra pulmonary samples were excluded. Results: In total, 713 cases were found to be rifampicin resistant during the five-year period, among which 374 (52.45%) were males while 339 (47.55%) were females. Among the five standard probes A, B, C, D and E, 97.48% of the cases had a single mutation. Among these, mutations in Probe E (66.48%) were the most common, followed by Probe B (14.3%) and Probe D (11.08%). Only 13 cases (1.82%) of double mutations and five cases (0.7%) of triple mutations were detected. Conclusion: The rpoB gene Probe E region 529-533 appears the most potent site for a mutation and development of rifampicin resistance in the rpoB gene in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, that encodes the β-subunit of RNA polymerase. The most affected age-group in both males and females is 19-45 Years. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.4.3875 How to cite this:Alamgir M, Sajjad M, Baig MS, Noori MY. Mutational Frequencies in Mycobacterial rpoB gene using GeneXpert/MTB Rif Assay in Rifampicin Resistant patients at a tertiary care setting in Urban Sindh, Pakistan: Analysis from a Five-Year Period. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(4):1151-1154. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.4.3875 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

scholarly journals Conflict of interest policies and disclosure requirements in neurosurgical journals

2019 ◽  
Vol 131 (1) ◽  
pp. 264-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madeleine P. de Lotbiniere-Bassett ◽  
Jay Riva-Cambrin ◽  
Patrick J. McDonald
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Of Interest ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Impact Factors ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Medical Journals ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Biomedical Journals ◽  
Policy Statements ◽  
Journal Policies

OBJECTIVEAn increasing amount of funding in neurosurgery research comes from industry, which may create a conflict of interest (COI) and the potential to bias results. The reporting and handling of COIs have become difficult, particularly as explicit policies themselves and definitions thereof continue to vary between medical journals. In this study, the authors sought to evaluate the prevalence and comprehensiveness of COI policies among leading neurosurgical journals.METHODSThe authors conducted a cross-sectional study of publicly available online disclosure policies in the 20 highest-ranking neurosurgical journals, as determined by Google Scholar Metrics, in July 2016.RESULTSOverall, 89.5% of the highest-impact neurosurgical journals included COI policy statements. Ten (53%) journals requested declaration of nonfinancial conflicts, while 2 journals specifically set a time period for COIs. Sixteen journals required declaration from the corresponding author, 13 from all authors, 6 from reviewers, and 5 from editors. Four journals were included in the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) list of publications that follow the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (currently known as Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals). Five journal policies included COI declaration verification, management, or enforcement. The neurosurgery journals with more comprehensive COI policies were significantly more likely to have higher h5-indices (p = 0.003) and higher impact factors (p = 0.01).CONCLUSIONSIn 2016, the majority of, but not all, high-impact neurosurgical journals had publically available COI disclosure policies. Policy inclusiveness and comprehensiveness varied substantially across neurosurgical journals, but COI comprehensiveness was associated with other established markers of individual journals’ favorability and influence, such as impact factor and h5-index.

Knowledge and perception of Sepsis among Doctors in Karachi Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (ICON-2022) ◽  
Author(s):  
Faiza Ahmed ◽  
Lubna Abbasi ◽  
Fivzia Herekar ◽  
Ahsun Jiwani ◽  
Muhammad Junaid Patel
Keyword(s):  
Critical Care ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
P Value ◽  
Common Belief ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Health Networks ◽  
Creative Commons ◽  
Adequate Knowledge ◽  
Open Access Article

Objectives: To assess knowledge and perception among Pakistani physicians towards sepsis. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Indus Hospital and Health Networks from September 2020 to March 2021. The International Sepsis Survey questionnaire was adapted, and its link was sent to trainee physicians as well as specialists, and consultants practicing in various hospitals via social media. Knowledge and perception were scored and 50% was considered the cut-off score for adequacy. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 26. Results: Analysis was done on 222 respondents who completed the survey. 37.9% of the participants had adequate knowledge. Knowledge regarding sepsis was significantly associated with specialty, ICU/CCU/HDU, and work experience (P-value <0.0001). More recent trainee physicians and those with more experience in critical care areas demonstrated better knowledge. Over 2/3rd of the respondents strongly agreed that sepsis remains one of the unmet needs in critical care today. Conclusion: A common belief exists that sepsis remains a challenge to treat among doctors. Moreover, there is consensus that it is the most frequently miss diagnosed condition in critical care and a dire need exists for its early diagnosis. Additionally, prompt management of presumed sepsis is imperative to improve outcomes. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.ICON-2022.5775 How to cite this:Ahmed F, Abbasi L, Herekar F, Jiwani A, Patel MJ. Knowledge and perception of Sepsis among Doctors in Karachi Pakistan. Pak J Med Sci. 2022;38(2):380-386. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.ICON-2022.5775 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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