BMJ  2005;330 (4 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7503.0-g

Editor's choice

Making sense of things

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Journals demand a lot of their readers. Each week we present a bundle of disparate articles with the tacit challenge to "make sense of that." It's no wonder that journal articles don't play much part in helping doctors to change their practices—but they can, at their best, help create a climate for change, increase understanding, prompt thought, and provoke debate.

Research studies in particular are submitted and published in no particular order, and something we publish this week might contradict something we published two months ago—or, probably even worse—might be on the same subject but pursue a completely different line of inquiry.

Sometimes journals can be more helpful. When we have more than one paper in our pipeline on the same subject we can publish them together and help make sense of them by commissioning an editorial to tell the story so far and say where these latest studies fit . . . [Full text of this article]

Jane Smith, deputy editor

(jsmith@bmj.com)


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