Saumyasingh: Shared an engaging guide.

2022-01-03T06:56:55Z

Shared an engaging guide.

New page

{{redirect|BMJ}}
{{short description|Peer-reviewed medical journal published by British Medical Association}}
{{Use British English}}
{{Use dmy dates}}
{{Infobox journal
| title = The BMJ
| image = Recent front cover of The BMJ.jpg
| editor = [[Kamran Abbasi]]
| discipline = Medicine
| formername = Provincial Medical and Surgical Journal, British Medical Journal, BMJ
| abbreviation = BMJ
| publisher = BMA
| country = United Kingdom
| frequency = Weekly
| history = 1840–present
| openaccess = Immediate, research articles only
| license = [[Creative Commons licenses|Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License]]
| impact = 96.216
| impact-year = 2021
| website = http://bmj.com
| link1 = http://www.bmj.com/archive
| link1-name = Online archive
| JSTOR = 09598138
| OCLC = 32595642
| LCCN = 97640199
| CODEN = DXRA5
| ISSN = 0959-8138
| eISSN = 1756-1833
}}

'''''The BMJ''''' is a weekly [[Peer review|peer-reviewed]] [[Trade magazine|medical trade journal]], published by the [[trade union]] the [[British Medical Association]] (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA.<ref name="Publishing model">{{cite web |title=Publishing model |url=https://www.bmj.com/about-bmj/publishing-model |website=bmj.com|publisher=BMJ |access-date=14 October 2020}}</ref> It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Originally called the '''''British Medical Journal''''', the title was officially shortened to ''BMJ'' in 1988, and then changed to ''The BMJ'' in 2014.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Payne|first1=David|last2=Abbasi|first2=Kamran|last3=Godlee|first3=Fiona|last4=Delamothe|first4=Tony|title=The BMJ, the definite article|url=https://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g4168|journal=BMJ|language=en|volume=348|pages=g4168|doi=10.1136/bmj.g4168|issn=1756-1833|pmid=24982510|doi-access=free}}</ref> The journal is published by [[BMJ (company)|BMJ Publishing Group Ltd]], a [[subsidiary]] of the [[British Medical Association]] (BMA). The [[editor-in-chief]] of ''The BMJ'' is [[Kamran Abbasi]], who was appointed in January 2022.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj.n3084 |title=Kamran Abbasi appointed as editor in chief of The BMJ |doi=10.1136/bmj.n3084 |last1=Kmietowicz |first1=Zosia |journal=BMJ |pages=n3084 }}</ref>

== History ==
The journal began publishing on 3 October 1840 as the ''Provincial Medical and Surgical Journal'' and quickly attracted the attention of physicians around the world through its publication of high-impact original research articles and unique case reports.<ref name="MoM">{{cite book |title= Mirror of Medicine: A History of the British Medical Journal | first = P.W.J. | last = Batrip | name-list-style = vanc |year= 1990 |publisher= Oxford University Press |location= Oxford |isbn= 0-19-261844-X }}</ref> The ''BMJ''{{'}}s first editors were [[P. Hennis Green]], lecturer on the diseases of children at the [[Hunterian School of Medicine]], who also was its founder and [[Robert James Nicholl Streeten|Robert Streeten]] of [[Worcester, England|Worcester]], a member of the [[Provincial Medical and Surgical Association]] council.{{citation needed}}

[[File:Bmjfirstcovershop.GIF|thumb|left|alt=Image of the cover of 1st issue of the ''Provincial Medical and Surgical Journal''|Cover of the 1st issue of the ''Provincial Medical and Surgical Journal'']]
The first issue of the ''Provincial Medical and Surgical Journal'' (''PMSJ'') was 16 pages long and contained three simple woodcut illustrations. The longest items were the editors' introductory editorial and a report of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association's Eastern Branch. Other pages included a condensed version of [[Henry Warburton]]'s medical reform bill, book reviews, clinical papers, and case notes. There were {{frac|2|1|2}} columns of advertisements. Inclusive of stamp duty it cost 7d, a price which remained until 1844. In their main article, Green and Streeten noted that they had "received as many advertisements (in proportion to the quantity of letter press) for our first number, as the most popular Medical Journal, (''[[The Lancet]]'') after seventeen years of existence."<ref name="MoM" />

In their introductory editorial and later statements, Green and Streeten defined "the main objects of promotion of which the ''Provincial Medical and Surgical Journal'' is established". Summarised, there were two clear main objectives: the advancement of the profession, especially in the provinces and the dissemination of medical knowledge. Green and Streeten also expressed interest in promoting public well-being as well as maintaining 'medical practitioners, as a class in that rank of society which, by their intellectual acquirements, by their general moral character, and by the importance of the duties entrusted to them, they are justly entitled to hold'.<ref name="MoM" />

In April 1842 the journal was retitled the ''Provincial Medical Journal and Retrospect of the Medical Sciences'', but two years later reverted to the ''PMSJ'' under the sole editorship of Streeten. It was then in 1857 that the ''BMJ'' first appeared when the ''PMSJ'' was merged with the ''Associated Medical Journal'' (Vols. 1 to 4; 1853 to 1856), which had itself evolved from the ''London Medical Journal'' (Vols. 1 to 4; 1849 to 1852) under the editorship of [[John Rose Cormack]].<ref name="US National Library of Medicine">{{cite web |title=Archive of "Provincial Medical and Surgical Journal". |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/journals/535/#brmedj |website=www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |publisher=US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health |access-date=16 March 2020}}</ref>

''The BMJ'' published the first centrally randomised controlled trial.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = ((Medical Research Council)) | title = STREPTOMYCIN treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis | journal = British Medical Journal | volume = 2 | issue = 4582 | pages = 769–82 | date = October 1948 | pmid = 18890300 | pmc = 2091872 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.2.4582.769 }}</ref> The journal also carried the seminal papers on the causal effects of smoking on health<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Doll R, Hill AB | title = Smoking and carcinoma of the lung; preliminary report | journal = British Medical Journal | volume = 2 | issue = 4682 | pages = 739–48 | date = September 1950 | pmid = 14772469 | pmc = 2038856 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.2.4682.739 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Doll R, Hill AB | title = The mortality of doctors in relation to their smoking habits; a preliminary report | journal = British Medical Journal | volume = 1 | issue = 4877 | pages = 1451–5 | date = June 1954 | pmid = 13160495 | pmc = 2085438 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.1.4877.1451 }}</ref> and lung cancer and other causes of death in relation to smoking.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Doll R, Hill AB | title = Lung cancer and other causes of death in relation to smoking; a second report on the mortality of British doctors | journal = British Medical Journal | volume = 2 | issue = 5001 | pages = 1071–81 | date = November 1956 | pmid = 13364389 | pmc = 2035864 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.2.5001.1071 }}</ref>

For a long time, the journal's sole competitor was ''The Lancet'', also based in the UK, but with increasing globalisation, ''The BMJ'' has faced tough competition from other medical journals, particularly ''[[The New England Journal of Medicine]]'' and the ''[[Journal of the American Medical Association]]''.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Mayor | first1 = S. | name-list-style = vanc | doi = 10.1136/bmj.329.7466.592-e | title = BMJ and Lancet rank among the most clinically relevant medical journals | journal = BMJ | volume = 329 | issue = 7466 | pages = 592 | year = 2004 | pmc =516693 }}</ref>

== Journal content ==
''The BMJ'' is an advocate of [[evidence-based medicine]]. It publishes research as well as clinical reviews, recent medical advances, editorial perspectives, among others.

A special "Christmas Edition" is published annually on the Friday before Christmas. This edition is known for research articles which apply a serious academic approach to investigating less serious medical questions.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-best-of-the-british-medical-journals-goofy-christmas-papers-180948177/ |title=The Best of the British Medical Journal's Goofy Christmas Papers |first=Rose |last=Eveleth | name-list-style = vanc |work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|The Smithsonian]] |access-date=14 January 2016}}</ref><ref name=Tis>{{cite web | url = http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005246.html | title = Language Log: 'Tis the season | work = Language Log | date = 21 December 2007 | last = Liberman | first = Mark | name-list-style = vanc }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Bracco P, Debernardi C, Delmastro PF, Moiraghi A | title = [AIDS and pedodontics: the real risk and its prevention] | journal = Minerva Stomatologica | volume = 39 | issue = 12 | pages = 1027–32 | date = December 1990 | pmid = 2151146| pmc = 2151146 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.39430.559375.47 }}</ref> The results are often humorous and widely reported by the mainstream media.<ref name=Tis /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/nurtureshock/archive/2009/12/18/santa-s-a-health-menace-media-everywhere-are-falling-for-it-but-the-entire-study-is-a-fake.aspx |title=Santa's a Health Menace? Media Everywhere Are Falling for It—But the Study Was Meant as a Joke |work=Newsweek blog |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106204949/http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/nurtureshock/archive/2009/12/18/santa-s-a-health-menace-media-everywhere-are-falling-for-it-but-the-entire-study-is-a-fake.aspx |archive-date=6 January 2010 }}</ref>

''The BMJ'' has an [[open peer review]] system, wherein authors are told who reviewed their manuscript. About half the original articles are rejected after review in-house.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://resources.bmj.com/bmj/reviewers |title=BMJ peer reviewers: resources — BMJ resources |publisher=bmj.com |access-date=7 January 2011}}</ref> Manuscripts chosen for peer review are first reviewed by external experts, who comment on the importance and suitability for publication, before the final decision on a manuscript is made by the editorial ("hanging") committee. The acceptance rate is less than 7% for original research articles.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bmj.com/about-bmj/resources-authors/forms-policies-and-checklists/bmj-right-journal-my-research-article | title=Is The BMJ the right journal for my research article? | publisher=BMJ | access-date=7 September 2015 | quote=Our rejection rate for research is currently around 93%. | archive-date=31 August 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150831110905/http://www.bmj.com/about-bmj/resources-authors/forms-policies-and-checklists/bmj-right-journal-my-research-article | url-status=dead }}</ref>

At the beginning of February 2021 ''The BMJ'' introduced a charge of £299 for publishing obituaries. This was widely criticised on social media, including by the British Medical Association, due to the large number of medical staff being killed by COVID-19.<ref>{{Cite web|title=British Medical Journal slated over 'disgraceful' obituary charge|url=http://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/22/british-medical-journal-slated-over-disgraceful-obituary-charge|access-date=2021-02-22|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref> The decision was explained, but reversed, by the end of the month.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Reversing our decision to charge for placing a BMJ obituary|last=Godlee |first=Fiona |journal=The BMJ |url= https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2021/02/23/reversing-our-decision-to-charge-for-placing-a-bmj-obituary/}}</ref>

===Rapid Recommendations===
In response to the many problems with traditional [[medical guideline]]s, the journal introduced ''BMJ Rapid Recommendations'', a series of trustworthy guidelines focused on the most pressing medical issues.<ref name="siemieniuk1">{{cite journal |vauthors=Siemieniuk RA, Agoritsas T, Macdonald H, Guyatt GH, Brandt L, Vandvik PO | year = 2016 | title = Introduction to BMJ Rapid Recommendations | url = http://www.bmj.com/content/354/bmj.i5191.long | journal = BMJ | volume = 354 | pages = i5191 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.i5191 | pmid = 27680768 | s2cid = 32498374 }}</ref>

===Rapid Responses===
''The BMJ'' publishes most e-letters to the journal on its Web site under the heading Rapid Responses,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bmj.com/rapid-responses |title=All Rapid Responses |publisher=The BMJ}} Constantly updated list.</ref> organised as a fully moderated Internet forum. Comments are screened for unacceptable content such as libel or obscenity, and contributors may not remove or edit contributions once published.<ref name="BMJ RR Jan2013"/> As of January 2013, 88,500 rapid responses had been posted on the BMJ website.<ref name="BMJ RR Jan2013">{{cite web |url=http://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2013/01/31/sharon-davies-why-were-reluctant-to-remove-rapid-responses-from-bmj-com/#more-24165 |title=Sharon Davies: Why we're reluctant to remove rapid responses from bmj.com |publisher=The BMJ |website=blogs.bmj.com |access-date=14 January 2016}}</ref>

== Indexing and citations ==
''The BMJ'' is included in the major indexes [[PubMed]], [[MEDLINE]], [[EBSCO Industries|EBSCO]], and the [[Science Citation Index]]. The journal has long criticised the misuse of the impact factor to award grants and recruit researchers by academic institutions.<ref name="pmid9056804">{{cite journal | vauthors = Seglen PO | title = Why the impact factor of journals should not be used for evaluating research | journal = BMJ | volume = 314 | issue = 7079 | pages = 498–502 | date = February 1997 | pmid = 9056804 | pmc = 2126010 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.314.7079.497 }}</ref>

The five journals that cited ''The BMJ'' most often in 2008 were (in order of descending citation frequency) ''The BMJ'', ''[[Cochrane Collaboration|Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews]]'', ''[[The Lancet]]'', ''[[BMC journals|BMC Public Health]]'', and ''[[BMC Health Services Research]]''.<ref name=WoS>{{Cite web | title = Web of Science | url = http://isiwebofknowledge.com/ | access-date = 23 February 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100214003244/http://isiwebofknowledge.com/| archive-date= 14 February 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref> In the same year the five journals most frequently cited by articles published in ''The BMJ'' were ''The BMJ'', ''[[The Lancet]]'', ''[[The New England Journal of Medicine]]'', ''[[Journal of the American Medical Association]]'' and ''[[Cochrane Collaboration|Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews]]''.<ref name=WoS/>

== Impact ==
In the 2021 ''[[Journal Citation Reports]]'', published in 2022, ''The BMJ's'' [[impact factor]] was 96.216.<ref>{{cite web | title=About BMJ |publisher=bmj.com |url=http://resources.bmj.com/bmj/about-bmj |access-date=22 June 2015 }}</ref> ranking it fourth among general medical journals.<ref name=2012-journal>2015 Journal Citation Report Science Edition, Thompson Reuters, 2016.</ref> However, ''The BMJ'' in 2013 reported that it had become a signatory to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (commonly known as the [[San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment|Dora Agreement]]), which deprecates the inappropriate use of journal impact factors and urges journal publishers to "greatly reduce the emphasis on the journal impact factor as a promotional tool, ideally by ceasing to promote the impact factor or by presenting it in the context of a variety of journal-based metrics."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mayor|first=Susan|title=BMJ joins campaign to put "science into assessment of research," as its impact factor rises|url=https://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f4327|journal=BMJ|language=en|volume=347|pages=f4327|doi=10.1136/bmj.f4327|issn=1756-1833|pmid=23824094|doi-access=free}}</ref>

== Cello scrotum hoax article ==
In 1974, [[Elaine Murphy, Baroness Murphy|Elaine Murphy]] submitted a brief case report under her husband's name [[John Murphy (branding consultant)|John]] which suggested a condition known as "[[cello scrotum]]," a fictional condition which supposedly affected male cellists. It was originally submitted as a joke in response to 'guitar nipple',<ref>{{cite journal |last=Curtis | first=P. |title=Letter: Guitar nipple |journal=The BMJ|volume=2 |issue=5912 |pages=226 |pmid=4857619 |pmc=1610876 |doi= 10.1136/bmj.2.5912.226-a}}</ref> a condition similar to [[jogger's nipple]] in which some forms of guitar playing causes irritation to the nipple, which Murphy and her husband believed was also a joke. The case report was published in ''The BMJ''<ref name="BMJ, Murphy, 1974" >{{cite journal|journal=The BMJ|last=Murphy |first=John M. |author-link=John Murphy (branding consultant)|title=Letter: Cello scrotum|volume=2|issue=5914|page=335|pmid=4827125|pmc=1610985|doi=10.1136/bmj.2.5914.335-a}}</ref> and although not widely cited, it was cited on some occasions with those doing so expressing scepticism.<ref name="BMC Dermatology, Gambichler, 2004" >{{cite journal|journal=BMC Dermatology |last1=Gambichler |first1=Thilo | last2= Boms| first2=Stefanie |last3= Freitag| first3=Marcus| title=Contact dermatitis and other skin conditions in instrumental musicians |year=2004 |issue=4 |page=3 |doi=10.1186/1471-5945-4-3 |volume=4|pmid=15090069|pmc=416484}}</ref><ref name="J Am Acad Derm, Rimmer, 1990" >{{cite journal |journal=[[Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology|J. Amer. Acad. Dermatology]] |volume=22 |issue=4 |last1=Rimmer |first1=Steve |last2=Spielvogel |first2=Richard L. |title=Dermatologic problems of musicians |pages=657–663 |doi=10.1016/0190-9622(90)70093-W |pmid=2138638}}</ref> The truth of the case was reported on back in 1991.<ref name="J Am Acad Derm, Shapiro, 1991" >{{cite journal|journal=[[Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology|J. Amer. Acad. Dermatology]]|last=Shapiro |first=Philip E.|title='Cello scrotum' questioned|year=1991|volume=24|issue=4|page=665|pmid=1827803|doi=10.1016/s0190-9622(08)80178-8|doi-access=free}} (in reference to {{harvnb|Rimmer|Spielvogel|1990}})</ref>

In 2009, 35 years after the original case report was published, Murphy wrote a letter to ''The BMJ'' revealing that the condition was a hoax.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Murphy |first1= Elaine |last2= Murphy |first2= John |s2cid= 34252130 |title= Murphy's lore |journal=The BMJ |volume= 338 |pages= b288 |pmid= 19174435 |doi= 10.1136/bmj.b288 |url= http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/338/jan27_4/b288?ijkey=d66a81e8bf7a5b950326396c2bf897e38c8b6424&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha }}</ref>

== Website and access policies ==
''The BMJ'' went fully online in 1995 and archived all its issues on the [[World Wide Web]]. In addition to the print content, the site contains supporting material for original research articles, additional news stories, and electronic letters to the editors.

From 1999, all content of ''The BMJ'' was freely available online; however, in 2006 this changed to a subscription model. Original research articles continue to be available freely, but from January 2006 all other 'added value' contents, including clinical reviews and editorials, require a subscription. ''The BMJ'' allows complete free access for visitors from economically disadvantaged countries as part of the [[HINARI]] initiative.{{citation needed}}

In October 2008 ''The BMJ'' announced that it would become an [[Open access (publishing)|open access]] journal for research articles. A subscription continued to be required for access to other articles.<ref name="Suber-OA">{{cite web | url = http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/2008/10/bmj-converts-to-gratis-oa.html | title = BMJ converts to OA | first = Peter | last = Suber | name-list-style = vanc | work = Open Access News | date = 20 October 2008 | access-date = 20 October 2008 | archive-date = 10 November 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121110201218/http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/2008/10/bmj-converts-to-gratis-oa.html | url-status = dead }}</ref>

== Editions ==
''The BMJ'' is principally an online journal, and only the website carries the full text content of every article. However, a number of print editions are produced targeting different groups of readers with selections of content, some of it abridged, and different advertising.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bmj.com/about-bmj/resources-subscribers/bmj-and-student-bmj-issns |title=The BMJ and Student BMJ ISSNs |publisher=The BMJ |access-date=14 January 2016 |archive-date=17 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417053139/http://www.bmj.com/about-bmj/resources-subscribers/bmj-and-student-bmj-issns |url-status=dead }}</ref> The print editions are:
* ''General Practice'' (weekly) for [[general practitioner]]s
* ''Clinical Research'' (weekly) for hospital doctors
* ''Academic'' (monthly) for institutions, researchers and medical academics

In addition, ''The BMJ'' also publishes a number of overseas/ foreign language editions: Argentine (in Spanish), Greek, Romanian, Chinese, and Middle Eastern (in English). There is also ''[[Student BMJ]]'', an online resource for medical students and junior doctors which publishes an annual print edition each September.

=== Other services and information ===
''The BMJ'' offers several alerting services, free on request:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bmj.com/about-bmj/resources-readers/receiving-email-alerts |title=Receiving email alerts |publisher=The BMJ |access-date=14 January 2016}}</ref>
* ''This Week In The BMJ'': Weekly table of contents email, latest research, video, blogs and editorial comment.
* ''Editor's choice'': Kamran Abbasi introduces a selection of the latest research, medical news, comment and education each week.
* ''Today on bmj.com'' Daily alert with links to a short selection of articles published in ''The BMJ'' in the previous 24 hours.

== Editors ==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[P. Hennis Green]] and Robert Streeten (1840–1844)
* Robert Streeten (1844–1849)
* [[William Harcourt Ranking|W.H. Ranking]] and J.H. Walsh (1849–1853)
* [[John Rose Cormack]] (1853–1855)
* [[Andrew Wynter]] (1855–1861)
* [[William Orlando Markham]] (1861–1866)
* [[Ernest Abraham Hart|Ernest Hart]] (1866–1869)
* [[Jonathan Hutchinson]] (1869–1871)
* [[Ernest Abraham Hart|Ernest Hart]] (1871–1898)
* Sir [[Dawson Williams]] (1898–1928)
* [[Norman Gerald Horner]] (1928–1946)
* [[Hugh Clegg (doctor)|Hugh Clegg]] (1947–1965)
* [[Martin Ware]] (1966–1975)
* [[Stephen Lock]] (1975–1991)
* [[Richard Smith (editor)|Richard Smith]] (1991–2004)
* [[Kamran Abbasi]] (Acting E-i-C) (2004– 2005 )
* [[Fiona Godlee]] (2005–2021)
* [[Kamran Abbasi]] (2022– )
{{div end}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website}}
* [https://www.jstor.org/journal/bmjbritmedj ''BMJ''] at [[JSTOR]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bmj}}
[[Category:1840 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:BMJ Group academic journals]]
[[Category:Creative Commons Attribution-licensed journals]]
[[Category:English-language journals]]
[[Category:General medical journals]]
[[Category:British medical websites]]
[[Category:Open access journals]]
[[Category:Publications established in 1840]]
[[Category:Weekly journals]]

The BMJ - Revision history

Saumyasingh: Shared an engaging guide.