Relation between randomized controlled trials published in leading general medical journals and the global burden of disease

Rochon et al¹ call for better balance between global burden of disease and published clinical trials in leading general medical journals. In extending their coverage to global health issues, large western medical journals may have difficulties in finding reviewers from small research communities. We surveyed 236 (63.8%) tenure faculty members from four medical schools in Croatia, a small country with specific burden of disease,² about their willingness to review and criteria they would use in reviewing manuscripts for a large journal, such as TheLancet, and the small Croatian Medical Journal (CMJ).³ Half of the respondents had not published in either journal and only 4.2% in both journals. A few respondents (9.8%) were not interested in reviewing for either journal, and only a single one expressed the wish to review for TheLancet but not for the CMJ (Table). A surprising 71.6% of respondents would review only for the CMJ and further 18.2% would review for both journals, stating that they would be either equally strict reviewers for both journals or stricter for TheLancet (Table). Respondents who wanted to review for The Lancet were less experienced reviewers who read TheLancet but thought that reviewer’s recommendations were not important for editorial decisions. Our survey results are valid only for Croatia, but may be indicative of beliefs of researchers in other less developed research communities. The bridging of the publishing gap between the global burden of disease and Western medical journals may not be so easy, and the journals should take an active role in building research and publishing capacity in the developing world. Understanding the behaviour, perceptions, and concerns of potential reviewers in small scientific communities may facilitate the identification of good reviewers and finally result in most relevant publications in the area of international health.

Ana Marusic, Darko Hren, Matko Marusic

Croatian Medical Journal,Zagreb University School of Medicine

Šalata 3, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

References

1.      Rochon PA, Mashari A, Cohen A, Misra A, Laxer D, Streiner DL, Dergal JM, Clark JP. Gold J, Binns MA. Relation between randomized controlled trials published in leading general medical journals and the global burden of disease. CMAJ 2004;170(11):1673-7.

2.      Katic M, Juresa V, Oreskovic S. Family medicine in Croatia: past, present, and forthcoming challenges. Croat Med J 2004;45(5):543-9.

1.      Marusic A, Lukic IK, Marusic M, McNamee D, Sharp D, Horton R. Peer review in a small and a big medical journal: case study of the Croatian Medical Journal and The Lancet. Croat Med J 2002;43(3):286–9.

Table.Willingness of Croatian medical faculty (n=236) to review for TheLancet and Croatian Medical Journal (CMJ) and their review criteria

*Scores (mean ± standard deviation) are based on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree or greatly dissatisfied and 5 = strongly agree or greatly satisfied).