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Authors are the souls of any journal, and deserve much respect. To publish a journal manuscripts are needed from authors. Authors have a great responsibility for producing facts of their work in terms of number and results truthfully and an individual honesty is expected from authors in this regards. Both ways its true "No authors-No manuscripts-No journals" and "No journals–No manuscripts–No authors". Reviewing a manuscript is also a very responsible and important task of any peer-reviewed journal and to be taken seriously. It needs knowledge on the subject, sincerity, honesty and determination. Although the process of reviewing a manuscript is a time consuming task butit is expected to give one's best remarks within the time frame of the journal.
Salient features of the JCDR: It is a biomedical, multidisciplinary (including all medical and dental specialities), e-journal, with wide scope and extensive author support. At the same time, a free text of manuscript is available in HTML and PDF format. There is fast growing authorship and readership with JCDR as this can be judged by the number of articles published in it i e; in Feb 2007 of its first issue, it contained 5 articles only, and now in its recent volume published in April 2011, it contained 67 manuscripts. This e-journal is fulfilling the commitments and objectives sincerely, (as stated by Editor-in-chief in his preface to first edition) i e; to encourage physicians through the internet, especially from the developing countries who witness a spectrum of disease and acquire a wealth of knowledge to publish their experiences to benefit the medical community in patients care. I also feel that many of us have work of substance, newer ideas, adequate clinical materials but poor in medical writing and hesitation to submit the work and need help. JCDR provides authors help in this regards.
Timely publication of journal: Publication of manuscripts and bringing out the issue in time is one of the positive aspects of JCDR and is possible with strong support team in terms of peer reviewers, proof reading, language check, computer operators, etc. This is one of the great reasons for authors to submit their work with JCDR. Another best part of JCDR is "Online first Publications" facilities available for the authors. This facility not only provides the prompt publications of the manuscripts but at the same time also early availability of the manuscripts for the readers.
Indexation and online availability: Indexation transforms the journal in some sense from its local ownership to the worldwide professional community and to the public.JCDR is indexed with Embase & EMbiology, Google Scholar, Index Copernicus, Chemical Abstracts Service, Journal seek Database, Indian Science Abstracts, to name few of them. Manuscriptspublished in JCDR are available on major search engines ie; google, yahoo, msn.
In the era of fast growing newer technologies, and in computer and internet friendly environment the manuscripts preparation, submission, review, revision, etc and all can be done and checked with a click from all corer of the world, at any time. Of course there is always a scope for improvement in every field and none is perfect. To progress, one needs to identify the areas of one's weakness and to strengthen them.
It is well said that "happy beginning is half done" and it fits perfectly with JCDR. It has grown considerably and I feel it has already grown up from its infancy to adolescence, achieving the status of standard online e-journal form Indian continent since its inception in Feb 2007. This had been made possible due to the efforts and the hard work put in it. The way the JCDR is improving with every new volume, with good quality original manuscripts, makes it a quality journal for readers. I must thank and congratulate Dr Hemant Jain, Editor-in-Chief JCDR and his team for their sincere efforts, dedication, and determination for making JCDR a fast growing journal.
Every one of us: authors, reviewers, editors, and publisher are responsible for enhancing the stature of the journal. I wish for a great success for JCDR."
Thanking you
With sincere regards
Dr. Rajendra Kumar Ghritlaharey, M.S., M. Ch., FAIS
Associate Professor,
Department of Paediatric Surgery, Gandhi Medical College & Associated
Kamla Nehru & Hamidia Hospitals Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462 001 (India)
E-mail: drrajendrak1@rediffmail.com
On May 11,2011
Dr. Shankar P.R.
"On looking back through my Gmail archives after being requested by the journal to write a short editorial about my experiences of publishing with the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research (JCDR), I came across an e-mail from Dr. Hemant Jain, Editor, in March 2007, which introduced the new electronic journal. The main features of the journal which were outlined in the e-mail were extensive author support, cash rewards, the peer review process, and other salient features of the journal.
Over a span of over four years, we (I and my colleagues) have published around 25 articles in the journal. In this editorial, I plan to briefly discuss my experiences of publishing with JCDR and the strengths of the journal and to finally address the areas for improvement.
My experiences of publishing with JCDR: Overall, my experiences of publishing withJCDR have been positive. The best point about the journal is that it responds to queries from the author. This may seem to be simple and not too much to ask for, but unfortunately, many journals in the subcontinent and from many developing countries do not respond or they respond with a long delay to the queries from the authors 1. The reasons could be many, including lack of optimal secretarial and other support. Another problem with many journals is the slowness of the review process. Editorial processing and peer review can take anywhere between a year to two years with some journals. Also, some journals do not keep the contributors informed about the progress of the review process. Due to the long review process, the articles can lose their relevance and topicality. A major benefit with JCDR is the timeliness and promptness of its response. In Dr Jain's e-mail which was sent to me in 2007, before the introduction of the Pre-publishing system, he had stated that he had received my submission and that he would get back to me within seven days and he did!
Most of the manuscripts are published within 3 to 4 months of their submission if they are found to be suitable after the review process. JCDR is published bimonthly and the accepted articles were usually published in the next issue. Recently, due to the increased volume of the submissions, the review process has become slower and it ?? Section can take from 4 to 6 months for the articles to be reviewed. The journal has an extensive author support system and it has recently introduced a paid expedited review process. The journal also mentions the average time for processing the manuscript under different submission systems - regular submission and expedited review.
Strengths of the journal: The journal has an online first facility in which the accepted manuscripts may be published on the website before being included in a regular issue of the journal. This cuts down the time between their acceptance and the publication. The journal is indexed in many databases, though not in PubMed. The editorial board should now take steps to index the journal in PubMed. The journal has a system of notifying readers through e-mail when a new issue is released. Also, the articles are available in both the HTML and the PDF formats. I especially like the new and colorful page format of the journal. Also, the access statistics of the articles are available. The prepublication and the manuscript tracking system are also helpful for the authors.
Areas for improvement: In certain cases, I felt that the peer review process of the manuscripts was not up to international standards and that it should be strengthened. Also, the number of manuscripts in an issue is high and it may be difficult for readers to go through all of them. The journal can consider tightening of the peer review process and increasing the quality standards for the acceptance of the manuscripts. I faced occasional problems with the online manuscript submission (Pre-publishing) system, which have to be addressed.
Overall, the publishing process with JCDR has been smooth, quick and relatively hassle free and I can recommend other authors to consider the journal as an outlet for their work."
Dr. P. Ravi Shankar
KIST Medical College, P.O. Box 14142, Kathmandu, Nepal.
E-mail: ravi.dr.shankar@gmail.com
On April 2011 Anuradha
Dear team JCDR, I would like to thank you for the very professional and polite service provided by everyone at JCDR. While i have been in the field of writing and editing for sometime, this has been my first attempt in publishing a scientific paper.Thank you for hand-holding me through the process.
Dr. Anuradha
E-mail: anuradha2nittur@gmail.com
On Jan 2020
Original article / research
Evaluation of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Regarding Stress Management among Undergraduate Medical Students at Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital
FC05-FC09
Correspondence
Dr. Pavan Panchal,
220-3, Maruti Apartment, Anand Vatika Society, Sector-22, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India.
E-mail: drpavanpanchal@gmail.com
Introduction: Medical schooling demands substantial level of dedication, patience, commitment and perverseness from undergraduate students. Hence, medical undergraduates face high level of stress and which has negative effects on their learning aptitudes and perceptive thinking.
Aim: This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding stress management among undergraduate medical students at GMERS Medical College and Hospital, Himmatnagar, Gujarat, India.
Materials and Methods: A total of 260 undergraduate students of first year, second year and third first year of MBBS were briefed on the aims and objectives of the study and written informed consents were obtained from those who were willing to participate in the study. The questionnaire of 12 questions was to be filled within 30 minutes. Out of 12 questions, 4 questions were of knowledge, 3 of attitude and 5 of practice regarding stress management among medical undergraduates. The questionnaire were collected and evaluated for their completeness. The data were recorded in Microsoft Excel Worksheet and analysed.
Results: Out of 260 total undergraduates, 26.9%, 46.1% and 26.9% of students were of first, second and third year MBBS, respectively. The college was new (recently open), hence, there was zero student batch in fourth year of MBBS, hence, there was not any student from fourth year to participate in this study. There were 49.2% male and 50.7% female students. 30.7% could give a relevant definition of stress. The most common condition related to stress is depression (57.6%), followed by anxiety (36.3%). Only 35.7% of students could answer the correct clinical features confronted by a person under stress. Most common stressors were vast syllabus and tough topics of MBBS curriculum (first-year), followed by procrastination (second-year) and less study time (third-year). 11.9% of students strongly agreed and 45.7% of students fairly agreed that they have faced difficulties in adapting to the new environment and away from home, these observations were particularly founded in first-year students. Socio-behavioural problem was the most common non-academic cause of stress faced by 41.1% of students. 64.6% students of all years (except fourth year) of MBBS had confronted stress because of study performance anxiety among colleagues. Most commonly used stress coping strategy by the students was listening to music especially in female students, followed by watching internet videos particularly in male students. Male students preferred to sleep for 6-8 hours for maintaining good mental health; however, meditation and prayer were commonly practiced method among female students. A total of 12.3% students thought that a balanced and healthy diet can make mind healthier, 68.1% of students indulged themselves in various hobbies when felt stressed out and listening to music and singing (32.7%) and playing outdoor games (23.1%) were the most common hobbies. Only 19.7% of students worked harder and faster when under stress, 13.8% of students behaved irritably and took out their stress on surrounding people and 24 (9.2%) third-year male students became addicted to smoking and alcohol.
Conclusion: Among MBBS students of GMERS medical college, Himmatnagar, there are different stressors for each year and which cause undue academic stress. Pressure of study among medical undergraduates leads to their negative physical and mental health. Effective stress coping system for medical students must be established and implemented by concerning authorities at local and central level. Medical course curriculum should include academic teaching and extracurricular activities to upsurge cognitive thinking and adaptive skills of students to deal with various stressors. This issue should be addressed by concerning authorities as to create conducive medical teaching atmosphere for undergraduates.
