The New England Journal of Medicine

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The New England Journal of Medicine
DisciplineMedicine
LanguageEnglish
Edited byEric Rubin
Publication details
Former name(s)
  • The New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery
  • The New England Medical Review and Journal
  • The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal
History1812–present
OCLC no.
231027780
Links

The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It has been described as being among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals[1][2] as well as being the oldest continuously published one.[1]

History

In September 1811, John Collins Warren, a Boston physician,[3] along with James Jackson, submitted a formal prospectus to establish the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and Collateral Branches of Science as a medical and philosophical journal.[4] Subsequently, the first issue of the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and the Collateral Branches of Medical Science was published in January 1812.[5] The journal was published quarterly.[6]

In 1823, another publication, the Boston Medical Intelligencer, appeared under the editorship of Jerome V. C. Smith.[7]

The editors of the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and the Collateral Branches of Medical Science purchased the weekly Intelligencer for $600 in 1828,[8] merging the two publications to form the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, and shifting from quarterly to weekly publication.[9]

In 1921, the Massachusetts Medical Society purchased the Journal for US$1[10] (equivalent to $16 in 2022) and, in 1928, renamed it to The New England Journal of Medicine.[11]

The journal's logo depicts the snake-wrapped Rod of Asclepius crossed over a quill pen. The dates on the logo represent the founding of the components of The New England Journal of Medicine: 1812 for the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and Collateral Branches of Medical Science, 1823 for the Boston Medical Intelligencer, 1828 for the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, and 1928 for the New England Journal of Medicine.[12]

Notable articles

Notable articles from the course of The New England Journal of Medicine's history include:

Social media

On April 25, 1996, the NEJM announced a new web site, which published each week the abstracts for research articles and the full text of editorials, cases, and letters to the editor. After print publishing for 184 years this was the NEJM's first use of the Internet for electronic publication.[29]

The site was launched several months earlier in 1996, but the editors wanted proof that weekly electronic publication would work. Only then was an announcement approved for publication on the editorial page. In 1997, the website included prepublication releases of certain articles prior to their print publication.[30] In 1998, online publication extended to include the full text of all its articles from 1993 forward.[31]

Since its launch, NEJM has added to its site:[32]

  • Videos in Clinical Medicine, peer-reviewed educational videos to teach procedures requiring skilled techniques and specialized physical examination.[33]
  • Interactive Medical Cases, which mimic a clinical encounter by presenting the patient's history with results of the physical examination and laboratory and radiographic tests. Multiple-choice questions throughout test the taker's knowledge.[34]
  • NEJM Archive, the entire collection of the journal's published material.[32]

Influence

The George Polk Awards site noted that its 1977 award to The New England Journal of Medicine: "...provided the first significant mainstream visibility for a publication that would achieve enormous attention and prestige in the ensuing decades."[35]

The journal usually has the highest

JAMA) had impact factors of 53.254 and 47.661 respectively.[38]

Theodore Dalrymple feels that this influence is unwarranted. In False Positive: A Year of Error, Omission, and Political Correctness in the New England Journal of Medicine, he examines various articles on medical and social issues that the NEJM published over the course of a year. He found that many arrived at conclusions which were not supported by the evidence presented, or ignored easily available evidence that contradicted their conclusions.[39]

Specialty journals

In 2022, NEJM set up a new sub-journal, NEJM Evidence. NEJM Evidence is a monthly digital journal featuring original research. It focuses on clinical trials and decision making.

NEJM Evidence
DisciplineMedicine
LanguageEnglish
Edited byJeffrey M. Drazen
Publication details
History2022–present
Publisher
NEJM Group (United States)
Frequencymonthly
Standard abbreviations
ISO 4NEJM Evid.
Links

Ingelfinger rule

The New England Journal of Medicine requires that articles it publishes have not been published or released elsewhere. Referred to as the Ingelfinger rule, the policy is intended to protect newsworthiness, and to subject research to peer review "before it is touted to the public or the profession".[40] By 1991, four types of exceptions were recognized, including when "prepublication release of research conclusions is warranted because of immediate implications for the public health".[41]

The rule was first described in a 1969

medical journals have similar rules in place.[43][44]

Vioxx correction controversy

In the early 2000s, The New England Journal of Medicine was involved in a controversy around problems with research on the drug

British Medical Journal, concerns about the correctness of that study were raised with the journal's editor, Jeff Drazen, as early as August 2001. That year, both the US Food and Drug Administration and the Journal of the American Medical Association also cast doubt on the validity of the data interpretation that had been published in the NEJM.[46] Merck withdrew the drug from market in September 2004. In December 2005, NEJM published an expression of concern about the original study following discovery that the authors knew more about certain adverse events than they disclosed at the time of publication. From the Expression of Concern: "Until the end of November 2005, we believed that these were late events that were not known to the authors in time to be included in the article published in the Journal on November 23, 2000. It now appears, however, from a memorandum dated July 5, 2000, that was obtained by subpoena in the Vioxx litigation and made available to the Journal, that at least two of the authors knew about the three additional myocardial infarctions at least two weeks before the authors submitted the first of two revisions and 4 1/2 months before publication of the article."[47] During the five-year period between publication and Expression of Concern, it has been estimated that Merck paid NEJM as much as US$836,000 for article reprints that Merck used for promotional purposes.[48] The journal was publicly rebuked for its response to the research issues in editorials appearing in publications including the British Medical Journal[46] and the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.[49]

Open access policy

NEJM makes articles that meet the criteria for global and public health importance freely available to all readers upon publication at NEJM.org. NEJM also partners with Research4Life in their Access to Research in Health (Hinari) program to grant to low-income countries immediate free access to NEJM.org.

NEJM does not charge authors any submission or publication fees. NEJM also works with authors whose articles report research supported by funding bodies with open access mandates, including (but not limited to) Plan S funders and the U.S. government, including NIH, to ensure that authors are able to meet their funders’ requirements for public access to research results.

For research articles submitted before February 1, 2024, NEJM makes the full-text Version of Record available at NEJM.org six months after publication. For research articles submitted on or after February 1, 2024, NEJM will provide authors with a PDF file of the Author Accepted Manuscript that may be deposited in a noncommercial repository after publication.[50]

NEJM also has two podcast features, one with interviews of doctors and researchers that are publishing in the journal, and another summarizing the content of each issue. Other offerings include Continuing Medical Education, Videos in Clinical Medicine (showing videos of medical procedures), and the weekly Image Challenge.

Editors

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Zuger, Abigail (March 19, 2012). "A journal stands out in prestige and longevity". The New York Times. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
  2. ^ "Scholar Metrics: Top Publications". Google Scholar.
  3. OCLC 14595803
    .
  4. ^ Boston Patriot. September 28, 1811
  5. ^ "January 1, 1812, table of contents for the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and the Collateral Branches of Medical Science". Retrieved 2011-12-22.
  6. ^ "About NEJM: Past and Present". nejm.org. New England Journal of Medicine. Retrieved 2021-08-31. ...publishing the first quarterly edition of the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and the Collateral Branches of Medical Science (Boston) in January of 1812.
  7. ^ Fitz-Gilbert Waters, Henry (1894). The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Vol. 48. New England Historic Genealogical Society. pp. 148–149.
  8. PMID 14929322
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  9. .
  10. ^ "About NEJM: Past and Present". nejm.org. New England Journal of Medicine. Retrieved 2021-08-31. In 1921, the journal merged with the Boston Medical Intelligencer to become the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal; it also began weekly publication that year and was purchased by the Massachusetts Medical Society for $1.
  11. ^ "About NEJM: Past and Present". nejm.org. New England Journal of Medicine. Retrieved 2021-08-31. Renamed to the New England Journal of Medicine in 1928, the journal is known for many firsts in medicine, ....
  12. S2CID 75449829
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  20. ^ "Opioid crisis: The letter that started it all". BBC News. June 3, 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  21. PMID 6272109
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  24. ^ Kolata, Gina (7 October 2020). "In a First, New England Journal of Medicine Joins Never-Trumpers". The New York Times. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
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  26. ^ Sloat, Sarah. "Scientist compared psilocybin against antidepressants for the first time". Inverse. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  27. ^ "Psychedelic drug worked for depression as well as common antidepressant, small trial finds". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  28. ^ Siebert, Amanda. "Could Psilocybin Treat Depression? New Head-To-Head Trial Shows It's At Least As Effective As Leading SSRI". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
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  32. ^ a b "The New England Journal of Medicine Celebrates 200th Anniversary in 2012" (Press release). Business Wire. January 12, 2012. Archived from the original on 2021-09-28. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
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  35. ^ Hershey, Edward. "A history of journalistic integrity, superb reporting and protecting the public: The George Polk Awards in Journalism". LIU Brooklyn. Archived from the original on March 28, 2010.
  36. ^ "Media Center: Fact Sheet". nejm.org. Massachusetts Medical Society. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  37. ^ "Rank in Category: New England Journal of Medicine". 2017 Journal Citation Reports. Web of Science (Science ed.). Thomson Reuters. 2015.
  38. ^ "Journals Ranked by Impact: Medicine, General & Internal". 2014 Journal Citation Reports. Web of Science (Science ed.). Thomson Reuters. 2015.
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  49. . Retrieved May 22, 2010.
  50. ^ "Editorial Policies". nejm.org. Massachusetts Medical Society. Retrieved February 15, 2024.

Bibliography

External links