Q J Med 2002; 95: 1-2
© 2002 Association of Physicians
Editorial |
Punctuated equilibrium
The minutes of the early meetings of the founding editors of the Quarterly Journal of Medicine, recorded by Dr A.G. Gibson in a spidery hand, are something of a struggle to read. But it's possible to decipher what these luminaries, who included William Osler, had in mind. They were trying to create a journal that published both high-quality clinical research and what they referred to as critical reviews—authoritative accounts of subjects of general concern to physicians. Their discussions are strikingly similar to those of the current editorial board: how to get authors to stick to deadlines; whether they should accept advertising from pharmaceutical companies; what topics would be of most interest to subscribers.
Since the first issue in 1907, the format and layout of the QJM have altered on several occasions. The development of the journal resembles Eldredge and Gould's idea of evolution by punctuated equilibrium: long periods of stability interrupted by brief spells of rapid change. Since 1985, the Quarterly Journal of Medicine has appeared monthly—an adaptation that was successful in decreasing the time from the acceptance of a paper to its appearance in print, but one that caused an embarrassing contradiction in the title. Calling the journal by its initials obscured the problem but failed to resolve it. More radical changes in name are proposed from time to time, but always rejected. The consensus of the editorial board has always been that it is better to live with titular paradox than lose touch with the journal's history. Over the past nine years, the development of the QJM has been guided by Professor Julian Hopkin. As Executive Editor, he introduced the current larger format of the journal and created the electronic version at http://qjmed.oupjournals.org where there is a searchable archive dating back to 1994. Abstracts can be accessed free of charge, and the full text of articles is available to subscribers and members of the Association of Physicians.
Over past year, we have been building on Professor Hopkin's innovations with a re-design of the journal. The most immediately obvious change is to the cover, but there have been changes internally too. Although we shall continue to publish editorials, commentaries, and reviews in the existing style, we have decided to follow the trend of most medical journals and adopt a structured format for the abstracts of original papers. Many readers, we know, find their formulaic character repetitive and unattractive, but the evidence that structured abstracts summarize the content of papers better than the traditional free-form abstract is now overwhelming. They also help increase the accuracy and relevance of information retrieved by electronic literature searches.
Thomas Beecham famously included ‘lollipops’ in the concerts that he conducted. They were short lively pieces that could be effortlessly enjoyed after the more serious parts of the programme. We thought that readers of the QJM deserved a similar reward. Dr John Launer, a psychiatrist at the Tavistock Clinic, and Professor Sir Colin Berry, a pathologist at the Royal London hospital, will write regular columns on matters more or less relevant to physicians. We hope that you will enjoy their medical lollipops.
The QJM already requires papers to be sent in electronic format and prefers to receive them by email than through the post. Later this year we shall be moving to online submission of manuscripts through the Oxford University Press' website at http://qjmed.oupjournals.org. This will allow the editorial office to deal with papers and track their progress with greater speed and efficiency. Authors will have limited access to the system so that they too can check the progress of their manuscript through the selection procedure. Another policy change concerns external peer review. All unsolicited submissions will, as at present, be sent to at least one external reviewer who will advise the editor on the originality and quality of the work. In addition, we shall be routinely sending papers to a statistician.
Everyone seems to agree that the internet is sparking a revolution in biomedical publishing. The death of the paper journal has been widely predicted. Enthusiasts for electronic journals and e-print servers draw attention to deficiencies in the service that paper journals provide both to readers and authors, and suggest that these journals will soon become extinct. We disagree. The environment has certainly changed but we are confident that, while we shall have to adapt to remain useful to our readers, the QJM has a worthwhile future. But we shall be able to do better if you give us feedback. Tell us what you like and what you don't. Please send us your best papers and most provocative commentaries. We don't promise to publish them all, but we do guarantee to read them sympathetically and to give you a rapid decision.
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