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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
Letter to Editor
Full Version
Knowledge of Selected Medicine Related Issues among Inpatients in a Nepalese Teaching Hospital: A Preliminary Study
Correspondence Address :
Dr. P. Ravi Shankar
P.O. Box 14142
Kathmandu, Nepal.
E-mail: ravi.dr.shankar@gmail.com
Introduction
Knowledge of issues related to medicines among consumers can influence their rational use. These issues have not been studied in Nepal, a developing country in South Asia. KIST Medical College (KISTMC) is a new medical school with a 300 bedded teaching hospital in Nepal.
Studies on important issues related to the use of medicines among the general public are lacking in Nepal. Hence, the present study was carried out among inpatients in KISTMC hospital.
Research on certain issues related to medicines has been conducted in developed nations. A review of literature showed that consumers were positively inclined towards generic medicines, but their views differed according to personal and demographic characteristics and previous experience (1). Cost plays an important role in treatment decisions, with a number of strategies used by consumers to reduce cost, like not buying certain medicines, buying lesser quantity or buying cheaper medicines (2).
Methods
Participant opinion was collected by the first author who interviewed respondents in Nepali using a semi-structured questionnaire.
The issues covered were brand name and the generic name of drugs, adverse effects of drugs, variation in medicine prices among different brands, the national drug policy, essential medicines and pharmaceutical promotion. These issues, while not having a direct personal impact on consumer medicine use, are expected to indirectly influence the rational use of medicines. Verbal consent was obtained from all participants. The study was approved by the Institutional Research Committee. Basic demographic information was collected and analyzed descriptively. The participants were first asked if they knew about the various topics and if they said ‘yes’, then more detailed information was collected.
Results and Discussion
Forty respondents were interviewed. Twenty-seven (67.5%) were male. Twenty-one respondents (52.5%) were below the age of 40. Nine respondents (22.5%) were farmers, 7 (17.5%) were in service jobs, 6 (15%) were housewives and 5 (12.5%) were students. (Table/Fig 1) shows the percentage of respondents who said that they knew about the different topics on medicine use covered in the study. More respondents knew about adverse drug reactions (ADRs), essential medicines and the cost variation of medicines compared to other topics.
Only two respondents could correctly state that generic name is the common scientific name of a drug while brand name is the name given by a particular company, with examples. In Melbourne, Australia, consumers generally had positive attitudes towards the use of generic medicines, with cost being a major favourable factor (3). Regarding ADRs, ten respondents could name a few reactions which can be caused by medicines. They were not aware of how ADRs can be minimized. Only four respondents were able to speculate about the possible reasons for the substantial price variation among different brands. Two said that older companies with a good reputation charged more for their products. One said that the cost of gifts given to doctors and of bonuses/incentives given to pharmacists were included in the consumer price. An Australian study had shown that prescription medicine samples influenced the quality use of medicines and played a role in the marketing of medicines (4). An alternative distribution system for samples can be considered. In developing nations like Nepal, in the absence of health insurance schemes, consumers pay for medicines out of their pocket. In developed nations like the United States also, consumers are taking increased financial responsibility for their medicines. They need more accurate, balanced and reliable information on which to make purchasing decisions (5).
No respondent was able to explain the national drug or pharmaceutical policy properly. Fourteen respondents were able to explain essential medicines satisfactorily. They were able to mention examples of these medicines and stated that these should always be available in primary health facilities and hospitals. Pharmaceutical promotion was confused with public education about medicines. In Nepal, medicines like ORS and zinc tablets in diarrhoea are widely promoted in the mass media. Eight respondents stated that companies promote their medicines through medical representatives and give pens and umbrellas to doctors with the name of their company and the medicine highlighted. The respondents were of the opinion that the cost of promotion should not be recovered from the patient.
Summary and Conclusions
The study had limitations. It was a convenience sample of inpatients admitted in the hospital and may differ from the general population in many respects. The number of respondents was low and the study was carried out in only one teaching hospital in the Kathmandu valley. This preliminary study shows lack of awareness of many important medicine related issues among consumers. More detailed studies are needed.
The authors acknowledge the help of Ms. Nisha Jha, Ms. Omi Bajracharya and Mr. Harish Thapa with the study.
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