404 Bulletin of the World Health Organization | June 2005, 83 (6)
Editorials
Regional associations of medical journal editors: moving from rhetoric to reality Farrokh Habibzadeh1
In the era of evidence-based policy and practice, the importance of using research for decision-making in health systems has been increasingly recognized (W1). Numerous strategies to take re- search knowledge into action and policy (i.e. “knowledge translation”) are sought (W2). These strategies are of particular importance for developing countries, where health research can bring tan- gible benefits to the health status of their people.
Researchers, practitioners and policy-makers in developing countries are faced with situations very different from those encountered by practitioners in industrialized countries. The so-called 10/90 gap includes lack of access to information and lack of investment in research. The concept of evidence-based decision-making has contributed to gains, but it has also decontextualized knowledge: often we need answers to our local problems, and the existing evi- dence established at the global level may not be exactly what is needed to solve them. It is essential, therefore, for de- veloping countries to conduct research on their own problems and to be able to make use of the global knowledge in the local context. This in turn necessitates the publication of their own biomedical journals.
Journals — either traditional paper ones or in electronic form — are one of the major media for dissemination of information. Editors need specific skills to acknowledge their readers’ needs, be familiar with publication practices, and exercise editorship. Many editors of bio- medical journals published in develop- ing countries, however, do not have any formal training for their craft and may do their job out of interest or simply because they have been assigned to the position. Almost all of them find their way through trial and error among the various pushes and pulls to which their information products are subjected.
To help editors in need of a forum or network for exchange of ideas, several
1 Director at large, World Association of Medical Editors (WAME). Deputy Editor, Iranian Journal of Medical Sciences, PO Box 71955-575, Shiraz 71955, Islamic Republic of Iran (email: habibzaf@sums.ac.ir). Ref. No. 04-020644
associations have been established. They have all provided valuable services in educating medical journal editors, but none was solely directed to the problems facing editors of small journals, which are completely different from those dealt with by editors of mainstream journals (3). While the mainstream journals pri- marily have problems with authorship vs contributorship, conflict of interests, or ethical issues in conducting research and publication, editors of small medical journals have more fundamental prob- lems including lack of an infrastructure for running a journal, insufficient fund- ing, lack of expertise in desktop publish- ing, low visibility, and problems with absorbing high-quality research articles. Editors in developing countries reason- ably require their own specific training courses and associations responsible for catering to their different needs.
In 2003, a group of editors of bio- medical journals published in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region met at a conference held in Cairo, Egypt, to assess the status of medical research and journals in the region (3). One outcome was the recognition that editors working in other countries in the region, regard- less of the social, cultural, political and economic status of their countries, face similar problems — to which they once had to find solutions through trial and error. Inspired by the Forum of African Medical Editors (FAME) that was estab- lished in 2002 in response to the very similar needs of African medical journal editors (4), editors at the Cairo confer- ence decided to establish the Eastern Mediterranean Association of Medical Editors (EMAME) (5), in order to cre- ate a forum that allows for exchanging ideas, sharing experiences and learning from one another.
The official birth of EMAME was announced in the second conference held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in Octo- ber 2004 (6). According to its constitu- tion, EMAME is a nongovernmental,
non-partisan and non-profit organiza- tion whose mission is to support and promote medical journalism in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region by fostering networking, education, discussion, and exchange and to be an authoritative resource on current and emerging issues in the communication of scientific information. Adherence to the Association would allow the editors to consider the latest editorial stan- dards set by these associations, and to learn more about their craft, hence, to become better editors. “Better” editors mean better journals and a better flow of information that undoubtedly pro- motes more effective knowledge trans- lation and better settlement of evidence- based policy and practice. Empowering of biomedical journalism in the region, where for its different climates, religious beliefs, cultural habits and level of health standards has a somewhat different dis- ease epidemiology, can be beneficial to the promotion of health in the region and in the world at large. O
References (References prefixed “W” appear in the web version only, available from www.who. int/bulletin)
3. Habibzadeh F. The first regional conference on medical journalism in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. Chicago (IL): World Association of Medical Editors; 2003 (available from: http://www.wame.org/journalism.htm). 4. Certain E. FAME: an initiative to promote local medical research publishing in Africa. Saudi Medical Journal 2004;25(Suppl 1):S34 (available from: http://www.smj.org.sa/PDFFiles/ Jan04/promotinginfo.pdf). 5. First association of medical editors for Eastern Mediterranean Region. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2003;81:922 (available from: http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script= sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862003001200023). 6. Habibzadeh F. The second regional conference on medical journalism in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. Chicago (IL): World Association of Medical Editors; 2005 (available from: http://www.wame.org/secondjournalism. htm).
ABulletin of the World Health Organization | June 2005, 83 (6)
Editorials
1. World report on knowledge for better health. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2004 (available from: http:www.who.int/rpc/wr2004). 2. Coalition for Global Health Research. Knowledge translation in health and development: research to policy strategies. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre and Canada Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa; 2003 (available from: http://web.idrc. ca/uploads/user-S/10963022581KT_in_ Health_and_Development.pdf). 3. Habibzadeh F. The first regional conference on medical journalism in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. Chicago (IL): World Association of Medical Editors; 2003 (available from: http://www.wame.org/journalism.htm). 4. Certain E. FAME: an initiative to promote local medical research publishing in Africa. Saudi Medical Journal 2004;25(Suppl 1):S34 (available from: http://www.smj.org.sa/PDFFiles/ Jan04/promotinginfo.pdf). 5. First association of medical editors for Eastern Mediterranean Region. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2003;81:922 (available from: http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script= sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862003001200023). 6. Habibzadeh F. The second regional conference on medical journalism in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. Chicago (IL): World Association of Medical Editors; 2005 (available from: http://www.wame.org/secondjournalism. htm).