BioMed Central Blog

Reassessing clinical trial design in sepsis - a free commentary from Critical Care

In a recently published commentary the Editor-in-Chief of Critical Care, Professor Jean-Louis Vincent, notes the need to rethink the design of clinical trials relating to sepsis in the light of several disappointing studies, including the Corticus study.

In an age of evidence-based medicine, there is an urgent need for well-designed trials for sepsis interventions, as sound data forms the foundations upon which future guidelines and treatments can be built.

Commentary    
Steroids in sepsis: another swing of the pendulum in our clinical trials
Jean-Louis Vincent
Critical Care 2008, 12:141 (29 April 2008)

This commentary has been made free to access immediately on publication. Critical Care’s reviews and commentaries normally require a subscription for access. If you do not currently have a subscription to the journal you can register for a free 30-day trial.

All research articles published in Critical Care are open access.

Surayya Johar
In-house Editor, Critical Care

Posted by Iain Hrynaszkiewicz at 18:50    Comments (0)

 

Quality Enhancement Research Initiative series published by Implementation Science

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) is a series of articles currently being published in Implementation Science. The series is edited by the journal’s Editors-in-Chief Brian S Mittman and Martin P Eccles, along with Cheryl B Stetler, Joseph Francis and Ian Graham.

In 1998, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) was established to improve the quality of VA healthcare through the use of research-derived best practices. QUERI was created within the context of an internationally recognized transformation of the VA's healthcare delivery system. This transformation had at its core a "quality improvement lens" and involved a major redesign of organizational structures and policies, including implementation of innovative information technology and a new performance management/accountability program.

Key elements of the QUERI Program include a set of disease or problem-focused QUERI Centers, a core set of program-wide goals, and a complex 6-step framework, or "process" that guides each Center's activities. Overall, each QUERI Center aims to create a structured program of implementation research and new implementation research findings and insights.

The QUERI Series opens with an overview, describing the QUERI program, its operational QUERI Centers, and its key, overarching Frameworks. Articles that primarily represent QUERI Centers’ work then follow. These articles focus on a range of QUERI implementation research approaches, implementation study issues and needs, implementation barriers and enabling factors at both micro and macro levels, and illustrative cases demonstrating the use of various implementation tools including the core 6-step process. Cumulatively, the series describes a broad array of implementation research challenges, as well as potential approaches explored by QUERI researchers to meet those challenges. The commentaries at the end of the series provide reflections on the potential value of QUERI and its related approaches from the perspective of both VA (non-QUERI) leadership and non-VA stakeholders.

A number of articles in the series have already been published and can be browsed on the journal’s website. Further articles will be published in the coming months, so to keep up to date why not register to receive article alerts when new research is published?

Posted by Alison Cobb at 13:58    Comments (0)

 

Survey assesses CONSORT Statement enforcement by high impact factor medical journals

A survey of journal editors and journal ‘Instructions to Authors’ has identified that the quality of randomized controlled trial reporting could be improved by greater enforcement of the reporting recommendations identified in the CONSORT statement. The survey's results are published in Trials, a BioMed Central journal dedicated to all aspect of the design, performance, and findings of randomized controlled trials.

The use of reporting guidelines is important to ensure accuracy and transparency of publications. CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) is an internationally recognized set of guidelines for authors on how to prepare reports of trial findings, and has been endorsed by the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), the Council of Science Editors (CSE), and over 200 journals worldwide.

Hopewell et al., examined the online version of  ‘Instructions to Authors’ for 165 high impact factor medical journals and also surveyed the Editor-in-Chief or editorial office about their journal’s endorsement of CONSORT.

Thirty-eight percent (62/165) of journals mentioned the CONSORT Statement in their online ‘Instructions to Authors; of these 37% (23/62) stated this was a requirement, 63% (39/62) were less clear in their recommendations. Of the 39% of journals whose Editors responded to the online survey, 88% (50/57) of journals recommended authors comply with the CONSORT Statement with 62% (35/56) indicating that CONSORT compliance was a requirement.

The authors conclude that some journals could be more explicit in their recommendations and expectations of authors regarding the CONSORT Statement and its related extensions, if the CONSORT Statement is to fully yield the benefits for which it was intended.

Research
Endorsement of the CONSORT Statement by high impact factor medical journals: a survey of journal editors and journal 'Instructions to Authors'
Sally Hopewell, Douglas G Altman, David Moher, Kenneth F Schulz
Trials 2008, 9:20 (18 April 2008)
[Abstract] [Provisional PDF]

The CONSORT Statement and its extensions are part of the EQUATOR Network, an ‘umbrella’ organisation that brings together developers of reporting guidelines, medical journal editors and peer reviewers, research funding bodies and other collaborators with mutual interest in improving the quality of research publications and of research itself. EQUATOR is holding its launch meeting in London this June.

Trials is overseen by Doug Altman (United Kingdom), Curt Furberg (United States), Jeremy Grimshaw (Canada) and Peter Rothwell (United Kingdom), the Editors-in-Chief, and an expert editorial board. If you would like more information on the journal, please contact the editorial office.

Posted by Iain Hrynaszkiewicz at 15:11    Comments (0)

 

Paul Borm is appointed Editor-in-Chief of Particle & Fibre Toxicology

Paul Borm from Zuyd University in The Netherlands has recently been appointed Editor-in-Chief of Particle & Fibre Toxicology. Prof Borm has served as Deputy Editor since the journal’s launch in 2004 and has contributed to some of the most highly accessed articles published in the journal. Our sincere thanks go to Ken Donaldson who recently stepped down as Editor-in-Chief and whose contributions to the journal in its early years have helped the journal in building its reputation within its field.

In a recent Editorial, Prof Borm summarises some of the journal’s successes to date and looks towards future directions for Particle & Fibre Toxicology. Of note, Prof Borm comments on the journal’s high citation rate, with over 250 citations to the first 40 articles published in the journal. The journal is also expanding its scope to include articles on areas such as biomaterials, drug delivery and imaging in an effort to bridge the gap between classic particle toxicology and these areas.  Further details of the journal’s scope are available from the journal website.

Particle & Fibre Toxicology has published a number of important articles concerning the effects of nanomaterials and combustion nanoparticles. Most recently two articles concerning the effect on diesel exhaust particles on the brain and prenatal development gained widespread coverage in the media and both articles have been highly accessed.

Posted by Charlotte Hubbard at 10:50    Comments (0)

 

BMC Evolutionary Biology articles featured on SciVee and in Science magazine

The journal BMC Evolutionary Biology is rapidly establishing itself as one of the top journals in this highly dynamic field.

One recent article from the journal that has attracted wide attention is “Structural analysis of the evolution of steroid specificity in the mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid receptors”,   which has been presented as a PubCast on the SciVee website  by the paper’s lead author, Michael E Baker of the University of California at San Diego.
 
SciVee’s pubcasts offer a new way to present research findings in which an audio or video commentary on a paper is synchronized to the relevant sections of the text and figures of the published manuscript. The full text of the paper is also available as part of the pubcast, should the viewer wish to explore the research in more depth.
 
The pubcast format is a great way for authors to explain and draw attention to their research, bridging the gap between them and their readers. As all articles in the BMC-series are published under a Creative Commons licence, authors are free to redistribute their work in this way.

The findings of another recent paper in BMC Evolutionary Biology have been highlighted in the journal Science. In the paper, Vincent Corbel and his colleagues report the unexpected effects that multiple insecticide resistance mutations have on the survival of mosquitoes - with important implications for managing pesticide use and the control of mosquitoes.

Posted by Penny Webb at 17:18    Comments (0)

 

International Archives of Medicine – a new journal with a twist (and twin)

We are pleased to announce International Archives of Medicine, a new open access journal published by BioMed Central and encompassing all aspects of medical science and clinical practice.

International Archives of Medicine has a unique relationship with Archivos de Medicina, a Spanish-language open access journal. Both journals publish original articles, but authors of articles accepted by Archivos de Medicina have the option of publishing English translations of their articles in International Archives of Medicine without a new round of peer review (the translation’s quality will be checked), and vice versa.

Translated articles published in International Archives of Medicine will link to the original Spanish-language article via the latter’s Digital Object Identifier (DOI). BioMed Central’s Independent Journals team would be happy to discuss further ideas concerning bi-lingual journal twins.  

For further information about the journal please read the launch Editorial by Editor-in-Chief Manuel Menéndez González (Hospital Álvarez-Buylla, Mieres, Spain), who is supported by an international Editorial Board. Readers interested in keeping abreast with the latest developments of this exciting new journal can register to receive regular alerts.

Posted by Lisa Phelps at 14:22    Comments (1)

 

Five more journals indexed by Thomson Scientific

We are delighted to announce that Thomson Scientific recently accepted the following BioMed Central journals for indexing:

• BMC Veterinary Research
• Cardiovascular Ultrasound
• Frontiers in Zoology
• Neural Development
• Nutrition Journal

Having been accepted for tracking, all five journals are now on course to receive an Impact Factor. Inclusion of these titles in Thomson Scientific is indicative of their growing reputations in their respective fields and successful publication records to date. We would like to extend our congratulations to the Editors-in-Chief of all of these journals.

Over sixty BioMed Central titles are now indexed by Thomson Scientific, and either have an Impact Factor or are on course to receive one over the next few years. Nine of these journals will receive their first Impact Factors later this year.

Posted by Charlotte Hubbard at 15:26    Comments (0)

 

NIH Public Access Policy becomes mandatory from April 7th

With effect from April 7th 2008, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy requires all peer-reviewed articles resulting from research carried out with NIH funding to be deposited in the PubMed Central archive, and to be made freely available within at most 12 months of publication.

If you are an NIH grantee or employee, publishing in one of BioMed Central's 180+ open access journals is an easy and effective way to ensure automatic and optimal compliance with the NIH's policy.

Benefits for NIH-funded researchers of publishing in one of BioMed Central's open access journals

• All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are automatically deposited in PubMed Central
• The official final version of the article is made freely available with no delay or embargo period
• Articles published in BioMed Central journals provide true open access thanks to an open access license agreement which allows (and encourages) re-distribution and re-use.

Inconveniences for NIH-funded authors when publishing in a subscription-only journal

• The author will generally be required to manually deposit a pre-publication manuscript version of their article in PubMed Central.
• The article must then go through a separate markup, layout and checking process, resulting in two versions of the article, an "official" Publisher version and an "unofficial" PubMed Central version
• The article will not be freely available during the embargo period following publication (typically 12 months), yet this is the very time when the article is of most interest to other researchers
• Exclusive rights to article generally remain with the publisher and so, even when the embargo is lifted, re-distribution and re-use remain prohibited.

Given these advantages, publishing in one of BioMed Central's open access journal's is a natural choice for NIH-funded researchers. Automatic deposit means you can spend less time depositing your article, and more time on carrying out your research, and immediate open access to the official published version ensures maximum visibility for your research.

Submitting your research to one of BioMed Central's peer reviewed open access journals is easy – find out more by following the link below:

How can I submit a manuscript to a BioMed Central journal?

Posted by Matthew Cockerill at 17:25    Comments (4)

 

Issues in Science and Technology special issue focuses on the developing world

The Winter 2008 issue of the US National Academy of Science's publication Issues in Science and Technology focuses on the developing world, and includes the following article outlining the potential benefits of open access to the scientific and medical literature for researchers (and others) in developing countries.

Matthew J. Cockerill and Bart G.J. Knols, Open Access to Research for the Developing World

The forum section includes further commentary on the benefits of open access from Mark Grabowsky, Malaria Coordinator for the The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and from Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust.

Posted by Matthew Cockerill at 21:09    Comments (0)