Guidelines for Journal reviewing

When the interim editorial team took over from the former Editors in September 2002, there were many aspects of the production and editing process for us to understand. This initial period also involved setting up a new system of administration that would clearly track all correspondence with authors and reviewers.     

Content knowledge and problem-solving skill in reviewing medical charts

Skills in reviewing medical charts have been demonstrated components of clinical competence related to knowledge base, level of clinical experience, and basic observational skills. A study of the generalizability of performance on chart review exercises, which controlled for knowledge in the content area, was undertaken to determine their potential in evaluating students' problem-solving ability. Results of the study indicate that the case specificity which has characterized simulated problem-solving tasks is largely case, rather than content, specificity: correlations between scores on single charts demonstrated no consistent relationships for measures of proficiency, efficiency, and diagnostic accuracy. However, averaging the scores on two charts and then computing correlations resulted in significant positive measures for both proficiency and efficiency. The effects of length and difficulty level on the generalizability of tests of problem-solving ability are areas suggested for future research.     

Statistical modeling of volume of alcohol exposure for epidemiological studies of population health: the US example

Background  

Alcohol consumption is a major risk factor in the global burden of disease, with overall volume of exposure as the principal underlying dimension. Two main sources of data on volume of alcohol exposure are available: surveys and per capita consumption derived from routine statistics such as taxation. As both sources have significant problems, this paper presents an approach that triangulates information from both sources into disaggregated estimates in line with the overall level of per capita consumption.     

基于审稿人视角的调查研究与科技期刊论文送审策略

【目的】 调研期刊同行评议现状,深入了解审稿人对审稿行为的认知和态度,以探讨提高审稿时效和质量的对策。【方法】 基于传统同行评议模式,以审稿人为研究对象,针对同行评议的重要性、审稿投入、接受或拒绝审稿原因、激励措施以及审稿专家遴选5个方面进行问卷调查,对获得的信息进行归纳与分析。【结果】 审稿人认为稿件的创新性和科学性最重要,且审稿意见能显著提升论文的结果和讨论部分的质量;审稿人的实际审稿时长通常在3天以内,审稿人认可14天的审稿时限,并认可具有高级职称或被编委推荐的学者成为审稿人。【结论】 期刊编辑部可以通过加强与审稿人的沟通来缩短审稿时间、提高审稿效率;通过适时遴选青年审稿人,补充、活跃审稿人队伍;通过积极建立多元化审稿工作回馈机制,建立稳定的高质高效的审稿人队伍。     

Statistical observations of the dose-response relationships of cadmium based on epidemiological studies in the Kakehashi River basin.

Statistical analysis was performed on the results of the epidemiological study for Itai-itai disease carried out in 1974 and 1975 by Ishikawa Prefecture Health Authorities in the cadmium-polluted Kakehashi River basin.As indices of the effects of cadmium on health, we used the urinary excretion of retinol binding protein, of suspected patients, and of tubular dysfunction. As indices of cadmium exposure, village average cadmium concentration in rice and urine were employed. Close dose-response relationships between cadmium exposure and health effects were found to exist and the curves obtained indicated sigmoid lines when the inhabitants were stratified according to their village average rice or urinary cadmium concentrations. When retinol binding protein was employed as the index of the effect on health, significant differences, compared with the control, in inhabitants ages 60 to 69 were observed at the levels of 0.50–0.59 μg/g in rice or 9.0–10.9 μg/liter in urine as village averages and 0.60–0.69 μg/g in rice eaten by inhabitants ages 50 to 59. However, in the inhabitants more than 70 yr of age significant differences in the prevalence of tubular proteinuria were observed between the lowest polluted village and the control ones. This fact indicated that the prevalence of tubular proteinuria in these inhabitants increased continuously from the nonpolluted levels of cadmium.Probit analysis of urinary cadmium concentration and renal effects was performed on 262 inhabitants selected for close examination. Probit linear regression lines were obtained when the inhabitants were arranged according to their urinary cadmium concentrations expressed as micrograms per gram creatinine.     

Appraising the evidence: reviewing disparate data systematically

The authors describe a method of systematically reviewing research from different paradigms. They draw on the methods adapted, developed, and designed during a study concerned with the delivery of care across professional boundaries. Informed by the established method of systematic review, the authors undertook the review in distinct stages. They describe the methods developed for each stage and outline the difficulties encountered, the solutions devised, and the appraisal tools developed. Although many of the problems encountered were related to the critical assessment of qualitative research, the authors argue that the method of systematic review can be adapted for use with different data andacross disciplines.     

Human genome epidemiology: reviewing the stakes.

Social science analysis of developments associated with the "new genetics," as the science moves from the laboratory into the policy arena, has focused primarily on the implications of numerous potential interventions and the introduction of data banks. The field continues to burgeon. This article interrogates the key assumptions of a newly emerging field, that of human genome epidemiology--a field that is yet to receive sustained attention from critical social theorists. Genome epidemiology, however, is the field of knowledge that is considered to be centrally important to mapping out the new directions for policy initiatives. The concern of this article is to "review the stakes." This involves pointing to and exploring the gap that has opened up between the advocates of an unproblematized rendition of a geneticized future and those critical of the basic problems accompanying its foundational concepts and dynamics. The work of Oyama is used to interrogate how this chasm is manifest when considering the domain of human genome epidemiology. The article explores the implications of such a critique at the level of the onto-epistemological assumptions of the accepted science of genetics, and the sociological concerns that emerge when these assumptions are extrapolated into the social research arena of epidemiology.