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BMJ No 7111 Volume 315 Soundings Saturday 27 September 1997
This month's new journalsWe are often told that 20,000 medical journals are published every year. Presumably we are expected to feel guilty for not having read them. Most doctors use their intelligence and ignore 19,998 of the titles, but publishers still find it profitable to keep starting up new ones. In case you were wondering what you are missing, here is my selection from those that have appeared since the summer holidays. Journal of the Blindingly Obvious: "We seek," say the editors, "to publish well designed trials, preferably those which have used large sums of public money, proving what everybody already knows." Competition for space is keen. A recent landmark paper ("An international study of doctors' attitudes") concluded that patient satisfaction scores are significantly higher if doctors smile at patients than if they throw books, instruments, or paperweights at them. Prepublication fast tracking of this paper to the NHS Executive has already led to an official guideline entitled: "Kneeing your patients in the groin: evidence from a large multicentre study." Journal of Scandinavian Salami: Research in Nordic countries is carried out during the summer months and researchers spend the long northern winter seeing how many separate papers they can produce from each project. According to the Guinness Book of Medical Records a questionnaire sent to 2,000 randomly selected names produced 43 papers and abstracts, including: "Smoking habits among Scandinavian women," "The prevalence of smoking among young Scandinavian manual workers," "Chronic cough and smoking in premenopausal women in Scandinavia," and "Urinary incontinence among elderly Scandinavian female smokers." Journal of the Latest Fad: Each of medicine's technical advances is marked by the formation of a society of enthusiasts. All office bearers write papers at frequent intervals, citing all the other office bearers' papers as references. These provoke heated correspondence from non-office bearers. Thus the JLF, which is well supported by advertisements for new equipment, has a staggeringly high impact factor and an ethos of vigorous, if incomprehensible, debate. British Journal of Thumb-Twiddling: In a ground breaking venture, the British Journal of Surgery will in future be published only from April to November, and subscribers will receive the BJTT for the rest of the year. Forthcoming papers include "Electromyographic studies on rotator pollicis" and "A comparison of the directionality of thumb-twiddling in Britain and Australia." Health and Efficiency: A new title replacing 11 other management journals, including Health in the Community and Efficiency in Hospital. The publishers have been surprised by its success, which they attribute to its radical stance on information technology. Evidence! This exciting journal is spearheading a campaign to reintroduce the exclamation mark into academic writing. Subscribers also receive an interactive CD, a bumper sticker ("Honk if you think I'm significant!"), and much glossy advertising. Journal of Clinical Information: Published electronically, this replaces the Journal of Clinical Knowledge, which, incidentally, took the place of the long defunct Journal of Clinical Wisdom. James Owen Drife Leeds
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