“Call for papers”
BMJ 2006; 333 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.333.7560.207 (Published 20 July 2006) Cite this as: BMJ 2006;333:207
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As feeble as it may sound, it is common practice amongst many
candidates to add these to the CV. Furthermore, in some tragic
cases,presentations given in Medical School (as part of the course) are
also frequently reported on the CV to add bulk. Shambles.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Absolutely. This culture of publishing material for the sake of CV
is beyond controllable. Soon, it will be indistinguishable between
students who claim to have publications of immense value and those who
have publications, quite frankly for the sake of publications. The
medical school emphasis on publications for the CV is not fair. Having
personally experienced meaningful research as a result of intercalation
and knowing the hard work and perseverance needed to achieve just one
meaningful publication, I am envious of those who have publications
through meaningless “novel” studies.
The problem lies in the emphasis of “quantity” rather than quality.
I have come across people who claim that 20-odd publications are required
for entry into Specialist Registrar posts in the most competitive of
specialities such as Cardiology, Neurosurgery etc. The publications can
be editorials, reviews or even letters, all of which are not on the same
scale of achievement compared to a research paper. Furthermore, people
undertaking PhD or MD degrees may only come out with a couple of
publications in-spite of their hard work whereas others may have numerous
publications, depending upon numerous factors such as timing of their
degree and to large extent luck.
The application criteria for jobs seems to be revolve around the need
for “creative” doctors and a large portion of this stems from the number
of publications a candidate has acquired. The problems that this could
cause are two-fold. Firstly the standard of research may decline with
significant problems especially in a medical profession enveloped around
“Evidence Based Medicine”. Secondly, students will concentrate on
achieving publications rather than focussing more on actually learning
medicine and hence compromising their knowledge, which in the long-term
may be detrimental to their patients.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
I read Dr Williams' comments with sympathy. Many SHO's in competitive
specialties such as mine are driven to produce publications. I had the
advantage of having spent several years in full-time research before
applying for an SpR post, so I had a couple of publications.
Some studying for an MD or PhD NEVER get any publications however, so
attempting to get a thesis "just to get on" can backfire as an approach. I
think it is better to get into your specialty before taking out the time
to do research for this reason.
So what do you do? Audit is compulsory for all doctors, but it is
hard to get an audit published, unless it is very large and will lead to a
change in national guidelines or similar effect. There are journals
devoted to clinical governance and audit, so you never know.
Case reports should really be about exceedingly rare phenomena to
guarantee getting published, otherwise "why aren't you writing up a case
series"? I recently sent one to four relatively modestly ranked journals
(all immediate rejections), only for it to be accepted immediately by the
fifth with a much higher citation rating!! So keep at it.
Another thing to try is to work in teams. You will need to have an
agreement who is first (and last) author, but you can have joint
authorship remember? It helps keep the motivation going doing an activity
which will , realistically, be performed as an extra activity away from
work.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
The importance of getting a publication has been emphasised to us
medical students also. A major selling point of undertaking an
intercalated degree is the possibility of getting work published, putting
you in a higher stead when applying for jobs.
In this culture of ticking off boxes - getting something published
'no matter how trivial' so long as your name is in print - I wonder...
could I add this rapid response to my CV? :)
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Editor-,
I noticed that many people submitted their rapid responses
congratulating Dr Williams for publishing his first article ever in the
BMJ [1]. However, I believe it takes great courage to admit in public
one's inability to publish a paper despite continuous efforts, possibly
leading to an obsession.
So next time someone greets Dr Williams with the question "So have
you got anything published yet?" he will have to present his official
declaration published in the BMJ, which, though deeply honest and sincere,
I do not find so flattering.
References:
1. Williams GS. Call for papers. BMJ 2006;333: 207.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Dear Sir,
The number of responses to Dr Williams' article reflects the nationwide
problem faced by trainees.
I would like to mention that the one thing different I have seen is
that at my recent review, I produced the papers that I had sent for
publication, but were not accepted, and this was acknowledged! The panel
thought it was ok as long as I had tried. Although I share the
frustrations of no major publications after hours of hard work, I felt
somewhat relieved. So, it might be an idea for all trainees to present at
their reviews any efforts put in by them.
Couple of pointers for successful publications: always submit an
audit with a complete cycle; submitting letters, opinions in response to
an original article often helps too, rather than try something new.
Publication bias persists where well known researchers publish more than
the less known trainees, so good luck to all who work hard enough.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
The article was very interesting. Congratulations to Dr Williams for
his first publication, that too in the BMJ. I agree with the fact of
changing the outlook of publication because of the new MMC regulation. It
may not be 'publish or perish' any more. But still it could well be
'publish and progress'. The most important thing about publication is
geting on the track of it . You may have to wait for months or even years
to get your first publication. Once you get the hang of it, it is only a
matter of persistant effort. My suggestions include
1) Do an extensive literature search before start.
2)Make sure you are doing a relevant study.
3)It is handy to know basic medical statistics. I recommend attending a
course.
4)SPSS is the prefered statistics. Better not to use Excel because most of
the standard journals will not accept statistics done on Excel nowadays.
5)Use plain language.
6)Courses may help.
After you complete a study, it is always better to present it at a
conference before publishing. Once it is published somewhere, you cannot
present it anywhere. So plan things ahead and look for appropriate
conferences. Keep an abstract ready for sending it to a conference. You
may have to change or modify the abstracts based on the main interest of
the conference. Once the study is presented at a conference, it is time
for publication. Writing up is probably the most important thing. I would
recommend to get help at least for the first couple of times. Once you get
your first publication accepted, intelligent hard work will do the
rest. Best of luck to all.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Apart from this enjoyable article by Williams[1], I wish someone
would publish on the subject of citation errors in neurology journals, an
area that has somehow avoided the self-scrutiny characteristic of other
disciplines – if I’m not wrong.
You don’t need permission, you don’t need human subjects, and you’ll
be the first. Is it needed? Of course it is.
[1]Williams GS . "Call for papers". BMJ 2006; 333: 207
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Dear Editor
My hearty congratulations to Dr. Williams for getting his first well
deserved publication in a reputed journal. I do not agree with author that
one needs to be extremely lucky in getting there audits published. Most
doctors do audits for the sake of doing it without any pre-objective. I
have done three audits in one year, one already accepted for publication,
other two will be submitted in near future. Two of these audits presented
as posters and for the other, abstract submitted which is likely to be
accepted for oral/poster presentation. My sole objective of doing an audit
is not to get poster/publication but to begin with I choose an
interesting and challenging audits that would help the department/ will
result in change of practice/ will show exciting findings, which all of my
audits did.
I also do not agree with the author that all case reports are gems of
medical wisdom. Before a junior doctor or for that matter any one who
intends to write a case report, there are many pre-requisites that need to
be fulfilled. Most important of all is extensive literature search. How
many of us are utilising the library facilities to its fullest potential?.
I too came across several interesting cases, my first four cases that
choose to write up, two have been accepted, one re-revised submitted,
other will be accepted without any doubt. Here too my objective to begin
with is not publication but what did I learn from it?, and on its way I
came across more interesting facts one after the other by in-depth study
of the case and by literature search, I felt it’s worth publishing. One
needs to be at the right time, for the right journal with the right
information. I have few more to the list of my publications. All this in
one year, for an overseas doctor who never knew what audit is!
Another false impression among many of us is that publications come
easily only when you participate in research. This is not true for several
reasons. As a junior doctor how many of us understand the principles of
research and its design and methodology, forget the rest. So, here too our
objective should be to understand them rather than to participate in
research. Do wait for my humble tips on how to succeed in getting
publications in the near future especially for the junior doctors.
Dr Hari Muppala
drmuppala@dochdoc.com
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Publication requires background reading, timing and luck.
It has been interesting reading the responses above and some have
made some good points about how to start publishing work. Understandably
getting published can be a very difficult task to do especially for
trainee doctors but with the new MMC regulation I am sure that this will
bring a good change.
The main point in publishing work is that one should not give up or
get disappointed but keep trying. Getting involved in many projects as
possible and being there at the right time/ right place is also important.
Therefore, the first step that is very important in publication is
that one should have done enough background reading on their particular
topic. New ideas should be summarised clearly as well as concisely. Also
the form of writing is important but this can be adapted by looking at
major journals to get the flavour of style and organisation.
Contact with appropriate professionals in your field who have more
experience is important as they can help to start you, so timing is
crucial and off course as in everything in life luck will also be needed.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests