Mayo Clinic Proceedings 2007: Enriching Our Service to Authors and Readers
2007; Elsevier BV; Volume: 82; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/s0025-6196(11)60962-2
ISSN1942-5546
Autores Tópico(s)Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
ResumoWe choose to…[do these] things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills.John F. Kennedy1Kennedy JF Address at Rice University on the nation's space effort. September 12, 1962.Available at: www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/Speeches/JFK/003POF03SpaceEffort09121962.htmGoogle Scholar In recent years, Mayo Clinic Proceedings has undergone considerable changes and improvements, many a result of calculated adjustments suggested by our editorial board, staff, and supporters, and many others dictated by the evolving world of medical publications. Perhaps no force has been as influential in altering our daily activities as the onward migration from print to electronic communications. As is true of any progressive organization, once the organization determines that it will embrace change and make the best of the challenges and opportunities, that determination results in collateral improvements elsewhere and helps distinguish the organization from its peers. We believe that this exact form of evolution is occurring currently at Mayo Clinic Proceedings. In the following paragraphs, I will share with you several changes the editorial board, staff, and publisher have recently made or will make in the upcoming year in an effort to enrich our service to authors and readers. In January 2005, we introduced ScholarOne's Manuscript Central, a manuscript submission and processing system (http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/mayoclinproc), and in the fall of 2006, our 2 staff editorial processing assistants responsible for managing the system, Kimberly Sankey and Margaret Wentz, completed the Manuscript Central Certification Program. As such, the Proceedings now has experts in its offices each day to provide any assistance users of the system may require, whether to submit manuscripts or perform reviews. The results of our transition to electronic manuscript processing and review have been impressive. The number, diversity, and quality of submissions, from both intramural and extramural sources, have increased considerably, and in 2006, 65% to 70% of those submissions came from authors not affiliated with Mayo Clinic. The increasing number of submitted manuscripts has forced us to decrease the journal's acceptance rate by one half. Such a shift—in the presence of a constant journal size of slightly more than 100 pages of “editorial” content each issue—has clearly allowed us to improve the relevance and quality of the material we publish. Our switch to electronic review has also allowed us to further improve the speed and quality of our review process, in some measure by making the solicitation of extramural, and particularly international, reviewers much easier. For example, in 2006, the 500 to 600 reviewers who contributed reviews to the Proceedings hailed from 36 states and 20 countries. Clearly this breadth of contributions—from both authors and reviewers—is needed if Mayo Clinic Proceedings, which began in 1926 as an in-house publication, is to further build on its reputation as one of the world's most respected and influential medical journals. In 2006, the Proceedings' Web site was expanded to allow readers to access more material and interact with the journal more effectively. Our archive of past issues was expanded from January 1995 to the present. All journal content is now available to nonsubscribers of the journal after 6 months; however, subscribers are given immediate access to journal content on the day of publication, ie, the first day of each month. Unrestricted journal access (ie, similar to that of other subscribers) was also provided free of charge to inhabitants of developing countries in 2006.2Lanier WL Mayo Clinic Proceedings 2006: enhancing journal quality and access [editorial].Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 10-11Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar We have made numerous other improvements to our Web site in 2006, including improving the quality of our search tools; making it easier to purchase subscriptions, articles, and books; and in general making the Web site more user-friendly. These trends will continue in 2007, when changes will make it easier for readers to add Proceedings' articles to their personal archives and electronic reference managers. Additionally, readers will see more supplemental reading material (eg, appendices to articles) on our Web site. When the subject matter demands it, time-sensitive manuscripts will be electronically released to the Web site before print publication but after copyediting is completed. Furthermore, mid-2007 should usher in continuing medical education credit opportunities for our subscribers. Mayo Clinic Proceedings has long been venerated for publishing articles that could be used immediately by practicing clinicians. In past years, this type of material was often published in preference to more controversial, time-sensitive information. The payoff was that readers could count on Proceedings' articles to be thoughtful, useful, and relatively immune to sensationalism. This culture was well captured by a former publisher of the Proceedings, Pam Poppalardo, who once remarked that, “The Proceedings may not be the first word in medical publishing; instead, it is the final word.” While the current journal leadership desires to retain the trustworthiness and authoritativeness that have long been a part of our culture, we also recognize that a journal of our resources and sphere of influence has an obligation to better educate readers on cutting edge—and sometimes controversial—issues. Hence, in 2005 and 2006, readers witnessed Mayo Clinic Proceedings publish a 13-part series on neoplastic hematology,3Tefferi A Rajkumar SV Adjei AA Introduction to a cancer symposium for the practitioner.Mayo Clin Proc. 2005; 80: 1085-1086Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (5) Google Scholar, 4Ansell SM Armitage J Non-Hodgkin lymphoma: diagnosis and treatment.Mayo Clin Proc. 2005; 80: 1087-1097Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (125) Google Scholar, 5Tefferi A Barbui T bcr/abl-negative, classic myeloproliferative disorders: diagnosis and treatment.Mayo Clin Proc. 2005; 80: 1220-1232Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (37) Google Scholar, 6Rajkumar SV Kyle RA Multiple myeloma: diagnosis and treatment.Mayo Clin Proc. 2005; 80: 1371-1382Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (209) Google Scholar, 7Jabbour EJ Faderl S Kantarjian HM Adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia.Mayo Clin Proc. 2005; 80: 1517-1527Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (103) Google Scholar, 8Ravandi F O'Brien S Chronic lymphoid leukemias other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia: diagnosis and treatment.Mayo Clin Proc. 2005; 80: 1660-1674Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (29) Google Scholar, 9Steensma DP Bennett JM The myelodysplastic syndromes: diagnosis and treatment.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 104-130Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (160) Google Scholar, 10Jabbour EJ Estey E Kantarjian HM Adult acute myeloid leukemia.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 247-260Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (97) Google Scholar, 11Ansell SM Armitage JO Management of Hodgkin lymphoma.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 419-426Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (44) Google Scholar, 12Tefferi A Elliott MA Pardanani A Atypical myeloproliferative disorders: diagnosis and management.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 553-563Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (47) Google Scholar, 13Rajkumar SV Dispenzieri A Kyle RA Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, Waldenström macroglobulinemia, AL amyloidosis, and related plasma cell disorders: diagnosis and treatment.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 693-703Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (159) Google Scholar, 14Halfdanarson TR Hogan WJ Moynihan TJ Oncologic emergencies: diagnosis and treatment.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 835-848Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (72) Google Scholar, 15Quintas-Cardama A Cortes JE Chronic myeloid leukemia: diagnosis and treatment.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 973-988Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (161) Google Scholar, 16Yee KW O'Brien SM Chronic lymphocytic leukemia: diagnosis and treatment.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 1105-1129Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (56) Google Scholar later collated in book form and available from our Web site (www.mayoclinicproceedings.com). The book, Neoplastic Hematology, edited by Tefferi, Rajkumar, and Kantarjian and published in the fall of 2006, is intended to be the most authoritative reference source on this topic available anywhere. In the same genre, this January 2007 issue of the Proceedings will unveil the sequel to the neoplastic hematology series, a collection on malignant solid tumors.17Adjei AA Rajkumar SV Tefferi A Cancer symposium for the practitioner: introduction to solid tumors.Mayo Clin Proc. 2007; 82: 107-109PubMed Scopus (7) Google Scholar, 18Gill S Blackstock AW Goldberg RM Colorectal cancer.Mayo Clin Proc. 2007; 82: 114-129PubMed Scopus (57) Google Scholar We will aspire to the same high standards for this new series. Elsewhere, the Proceedings has increasingly published meta-analyses19Bliziotis IA Michalopoulos A Kasiakou SK et al.Ciprofloxacin vs an aminoglycoside in combination with a β-lactam for the treatment of febrile neutropenia: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Mayo Clin Proc. 2005; 80: 1146-1156Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (46) Google Scholar, 20Kahlenborn C Modugno F Potter DM Severs WB Oral contraceptive use as a risk factor for premenopausal breast cancer: a meta-analysis.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 1290-1302Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (167) Google Scholar, 21Mahid SS Minor KS Soto RE Hornung CA Galandiuk S Smoking and inflammatory bowel disease: a meta-analysis.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 1462-1471Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (516) Google Scholar, 22Falagas ME Matthaiou DK Vardakas KZ Fluoroquinolones vs β-lactams for empirical treatment of immunocompetent patients with skin and soft tissue infections: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 1553-1566Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (23) Google Scholar and consensus reports.23Cooper LT Virmani R Chapman NM et al.National Institutes of Health-sponsored workshop on inflammation and immunity in dilated cardiomyopathy.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 199-204Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (16) Google Scholar, 24Lacy MQ Dispenzieri A Gertz MA et al.Mayo Clinic consensus statement for the use of bisphosphonates in multiple myeloma.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 1047-1053Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (212) Google Scholar Commentaries, freestanding editorials, special articles, and reviews were used to address complex and controversial topics such as end-of-life issues,25Lanier WL Medical interventions at the end of life: what is appropriate and who is responsible? [editorial].Mayo Clin Proc. 2005; 80: 1411-1413Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (6) Google Scholar, 26Hook CC Mueller PS The Terri Schiavo saga: the making of a tragedy and lessons learned.Mayo Clin Proc. 2005; 80: 1449-1460Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (46) Google Scholar, 27McMahon MM Hurley DL Kamath PS Mueller PS Medical and ethical aspects of long-term enteral tube feeding.Mayo Clin Proc. 2005; 80: 1461-1476Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (36) Google Scholar, 28Berge KH Maiers DR Schreiner DP et al.Resource utilization and outcome in gravely ill intensive care unit patients with predicted in-hospital mortality rates of 95% or higher by APACHE III scores: the relationship with physician and family expectations.Mayo Clin Proc. 2005; 80: 166-173Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (28) Google Scholar the need to improve communication in the national health care environment,29Cortese DA Smoldt RK Healing America's ailing health care system.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 492-496Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (28) Google Scholar and physicians' deportment.30Bendapudi NM Berry LL Frey KA Parish JT Rayburn WL Patients' perspectives on ideal physician behaviors.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 338-344Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (169) Google Scholar Our editorial board has been guided by a desire to better educate the public on issues that are either hard to grasp or may have been unclearly presented or misrepresented in other medical journals or the media. In this regard, we have published articles on the distinction between persistent vegetative states and minimally conscious states,31Wijdicks EFM Minimally conscious state vs persistent vegetative state: the case of Terry (Wallis) vs the case of Terri (Schiavo) [editorial].Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 1155-1158Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (40) Google Scholar, 32Wijdicks EFM Cranford RE Clinical diagnosis of prolonged states of impaired consciousness in adults.Mayo Clin Proc. 2005; 80: 1037-1046Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (48) Google Scholar as well as media misrepresentation of neurologic conditions and diseases.33Caspermeyer JJ Sylvester EJ Drazkowski JF Watson GL Sirven JI Evaluation of stigmatizing language and medical errors in neurology coverage by US newspapers.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 300-306Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (32) Google Scholar, 34Wijdicks EFM Wijdicks MF Coverage of coma in headlines of US newspapers from 2001 through 2005.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 1332-1336Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (17) Google Scholar We published a supplement examining the state-of-the-art treatment of extreme obesity and faced head-on the associated controversies.35Hensrud DD McMahon MM Bariatric surgery in adults with extreme (not morbid) obesity.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: S3-S4PubMed Google Scholar, 36Hensrud DD Klein S Extreme obesity: a new medical crisis in the United States.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: S5-S10PubMed Google Scholar, 37Collazo-Clavell ML Clark MM McAlpine DE Jensen MD Assessment and preparation of patients for bariatric surgery.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: S11-S17Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (69) Google Scholar, 38Kendrick ML Dakin GF Surgical approaches to obesity.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: S18-S24Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (56) Google Scholar, 39McGlinch BP Que FG Nelson JL Wrobleski DM Grant JE Collazo-Clavell ML Perioperative care of patients undergoing bariatric surgery.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: S25-S33PubMed Scopus (43) Google Scholar, 40McMahon MM Sarr MG Clark MM et al.Clinical management after bariatric surgery: value of a multidisciplinary approach.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: S34-S45PubMed Scopus (99) Google Scholar, 41Kushner RF Noble CA Long-term outcome of bariatric surgery: an interim analysis.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: S46-S51PubMed Scopus (57) Google Scholar Even the case reports experienced a refocusing (as outlined in an earlier editorial),2Lanier WL Mayo Clinic Proceedings 2006: enhancing journal quality and access [editorial].Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 10-11Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar and in 2006 concentrated almost exclusively on original findings related to new disease processes and their treatments,42Kademani D Koka S Lacy MQ Rajkumar SV Primary surgical therapy for osteonecrosis of the jaw secondary to bisphosphonate therapy.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 1100-1103Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (73) Google Scholar new insights into disease pathomechanisms,43Khan BA Deel C Hellman RN Tumor lysis syndrome associated with reduced immunosuppression in a lung transplant recipient.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 1397-1399Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (5) Google Scholar and the positive and negative consequences of therapeutics (whether prescribed, purchased over-the-counter, or obtained by other means).44Rivera JM Locketz AJ Fritz KD et al.“Broken heart syndrome” after separation (from OxyContin).Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 825-828Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (36) Google Scholar, 45Arora S Alfayoumi F Srinivasan V Transient left ventricular apical ballooning after cocaine use: is catecholamine cardiotoxicity the pathologic link?.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 829-832Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (82) Google Scholar, 46Alatrash G Majhail NS Pile JC Rhabdomyolysis after ingestion of “foxy,” a hallucinogenic tryptamine derivative.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 550-551Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (33) Google Scholar, 47Gange CA Madias C Felix-Getzik EM Weintraub AR Estes III, NAM Variant angina associated with bitter orange in a dietary supplement.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 545-548Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (39) Google Scholar, 48Sanchez W Maple JT Burgart LJ Kamath PS Severe hepatotoxicity associated with use of a dietary supplement containing usnic acid.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 541-544Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (75) Google Scholar, 49Nguyen MH Ormiston T Kurani S Woo DK Amphetamine lacing of an Internet-marketed neutraceutical.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 1627-1629Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (18) Google Scholar, 50Sultan S Spector J Mitchell RM Ischemic colitis associated with use of a bitter orange-containing dietary weight-loss supplement.Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 1630-1631Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (31) Google Scholar In all these activities, we have exhaustively used the peer-review process to ensure that our publications are fair, and we have liberally published follow-up communications (eg, as letters to the editor) to clarify unclear points or express dissenting views. Throughout, we have had little desire to proselytize, but unreserved desire to encourage a mature airing of underdiscussed topics. In 2007 and beyond, more of this type of content will be published in the Proceedings. The new direction of our journal content has caused us to rethink the procedures by which we accept and reject individual submissions and collections of manuscripts. In an earlier era in which the Proceedings' acceptance standards were more lenient, it was possible simply to distinguish between those manuscripts that had a certain level of merit and those that did not and issue letters of acceptance accordingly. However, as the acceptance standards have tightened during the past 8 years (resulting in a 3-fold reduction in overall acceptance rates and a 9-fold reduction in acceptance rates for case reports), we have had to place more emphasis not only on the inherent quality of individual manuscripts but also on the relevance of the message for our audience and the assessed priority (compared to other manuscripts under review) for publishing the material. Such new considerations can—if not properly monitored—lead to capriciousness in the review process. To lessen such a risk, and to ensure that parties from diverse backgrounds with a variety of views can be published in the Proceedings, we have used, and will continue to use, any new decision-making experiences as an opportunity to explore and—when appropriate—codify our processes and procedures. In many instances, we will share our positions directly with you through our Web site (eg, in the guidelines for authors), through ScholarOne (in our instructions for authors and reviewers), and within our printed pages.2Lanier WL Mayo Clinic Proceedings 2006: enhancing journal quality and access [editorial].Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 10-11Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar, 51Lanier WL Editor's note: industry support of articles published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings [letter].Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 851-852Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (7) Google Scholar We welcome comments from those we serve as we engage in this ongoing process of quality improvement. Mayo Clinic Proceedings assesses its health and monitors its progress through some 2 dozen metrics. These metrics assess everything from review and production issues (eg, the numbers and categories of manuscript submissions, acceptance rates, and processing intervals) to the way our “product” is received (eg, readership data, impact factor, Web site traffic reports, and media coverage). The editorial board has been extremely careful to honor the core values and vision of our journal, using our metrics as tools to assess our well-being and avoiding any temptation to enslave ourselves to the metrics. The editorial board and staff are extremely ambitious in this regard, desiring to move most of the metrics simultaneously forward in the short term, and all the metrics forward in the long term. Our stubborn persistence has met with some interesting critiques. In conversations with representatives of PERQ/HCI (Princeton, NJ), the organization that performs readership surveys on our behalf, and ISI (Thompson ISI, Philadelphia, Pa), the organization that calculates impact factors, both have informed us that readership and impact factor often change as reciprocals of each other. Both groups were equally intrigued when we informed them that we intended to buck the anticipated trends and move both metrics forward at once, and we have already met with success. Specifically, our impact has increased 6 consecutive years, simultaneously with our generating impressive readership data. To borrow the aforementioned words of President Kennedy, we chose this path because it was hard, and (as he predicted 4 decades ago) such a goal has indeed served to “organize and measure the best of our energies and skills.” Our chosen path has forced us to increasingly discipline ourselves in our selection of manuscripts so that we can best address the needs of our readers. As we promised a year ago,2Lanier WL Mayo Clinic Proceedings 2006: enhancing journal quality and access [editorial].Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81: 10-11Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar we have focused on preserving the size of the journal each month, even as our submissions have increased, so that with each ensuing month, you can anticipate a ratcheting upward of content quality and relevance. Our core values demand that Mayo Clinic Proceedings navigates a course that indeed is not easily followed but instead is sometimes challenging. We still desire to deliver the “final word” in many of our materials, but elsewhere we are increasingly desirous of, and comfortable with, delivering more time-sensitive, cutting-edge information to our readers. In doing so, we are ever mindful that a mature, well-disciplined approach to manuscript review and acceptance—and one that avoids dabbling in the sensational—is demanded by the journal's core values. In the short term, such an approach may cost us in advancing individual metrics by which we assess ourselves, but in the final analysis we can take pride that the information we deliver is consistent with the quality standards one would expect from a Mayo Clinic-sponsored journal. Our approach does not mean that we should avoid controversy. In the world of clinical medicine, health care policy, medical ethics, and elsewhere, dissenting voices need to be heard. However, they need to be heard in a forum that encourages open debate. In the final analysis, our actions are dictated by a respect for scientific method and peer-review—both less-than-perfect processes—that demand an open mind, respect for the rules of engagement, and ongoing discussion.
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