The New England Journal of Medicine

The New England Journal of Medicine  
Former names
The New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery, The New England Medical Review and Journal, The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal
Abbreviated title (ISO 4)
N. Engl. J. Med.
Discipline Medicine
Language English
Edited by Jeffrey M. Drazen
Publication details
Publisher
Publication history
1812–present
Frequency weekly
55.873
Indexing
ISSN 0028-4793 (print)
1533-4406 (web)
LCCN 20020456
CODEN NEJMAG
OCLC no. 231027780
Links

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

History

January 1814 edition of the Journal.

In September 1811, John Collins Warren, a Boston physician,[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] The journal was published quarterly.

1823 Boston Medical Intelligencer

On April 29, 1823, another publication, the Boston Medical Intelligencer, appeared under the stewardship of Jerome V.C. Smith.[5][6]

1828 Boston Medical and Surgical Journal

The Intelligencer ran into financial troubles in the spring of 1827, and the editors of the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and the Collateral Branches of Medical Science purchased it in February 1828 merging the two publications to form the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal,[5] published weekly.

The Massachusetts Medical Society purchased it in 1921 for $1[7] and renamed it in 1928 the New England Journal of Medicine.

Logo

The journal’s logo depicts the 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.

February 23, 1928, cover of The New England Journal of Medicine. First use of present name.

Notable articles

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

Website

On April 25, 1996, NEJM announced their new website, 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.[17]

The website 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. Two years later, online publication extended to include the full text of all articles.[18]

Since its launch, NEJM has added to its website:

Influence

The website for the George Polk Awards 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."[21]

The journal usually has the highest impact factor of the journals of internal medicine. According to the Journal Citation Reports, NEJM had a 2014 impact factor of 55.873,[22] ranking it first of 153 journals in the category "General & Internal Medicine".[23] It was the only journal in the category with an impact factor of more than 50. By comparison, the second and third ranked journals in the category (The Lancet and JAMA) had impact factors of 45.217 and 35.289 respectively.[24]

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, this policy protects the originality of content.

The rule was first described in a 1969 editorial by Franz Ingelfinger, the editor-in-chief at that time.[25] Most medical journals have similar rules in place.

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 Vioxx. A study was published in the journal in November 2000 which noted an increase in myocardial infarction amongst those taking Vioxx.[26] According to Richard Smith, the former editor of the 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.[27] 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."[28] 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.[29] The journal was publicly rebuked for its response to the research issues in editorials appearing in publications including the British Medical Journal[27] and the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.[30]

Open access policy

NEJM provides delayed free online access to its research articles (it does so six months after publication, and maintains that access dating back to 1990).[31] This delay does not apply to readers from the least developed countries, for whom the content is available at no charge for personal use.[32]

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. 1 2 Zuger, Abigail (March 19, 2012). "A journal stands out in prestige and longevity". The New York Times. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
  2. Cary, John (1961). Joseph Warren: Physician, Politician, Patriot. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. OCLC 14595803.
  3. Boston Patriot. September 28, 1811. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. "January 1, 1812, table of contents for the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and the Collateral Branches of Medical Science". Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  5. 1 2 "The Boston Medical Library: A reconstruction of the collection of 1805 and its history". Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  6. Fitz-Gilbert Waters, Henry (1961). The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 48. New England Historic Genealogical Society.
  7. "About NEJM: Past and Present". nejm.org. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  8. Bigelow, Henry Jacob (1846). "Insensibility during surgical operations produced by inhalation". The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal 35 (16): 309–17. doi:10.1056/NEJM184611180351601.
  9. Wright, James Homer (1906). "The origin and nature of the blood plates". The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal 154 (23): 643–45. doi:10.1056/NEJM190606071542301.
  10. Brown-Sequard, C.E.; Webber, S.G. (1872). "The origin and signification of the symptoms of brain disease". The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal 87 (16): 261–3. doi:10.1056/NEJM187210170871601.
  11. Farber, Sidney; Diamond, Louis K.; Mercer, Robert D.; Sylvester, Robert F.; et al. (1948). "Temporary remissions in acute leukemia in children produced by folic acid antagonist, 4-Aminopteroyl-Glutamic Acid (Aminopterin)". New England Journal of Medicine 238 (23): 787–93. doi:10.1056/NEJM194806032382301. PMID 18860765.
  12. Zoll, PM (November 1952). "Resuscitation of the heart in ventricular standstill by external electric stimulation". New England Journal of Medicine 247 (20): 768–71. doi:10.1056/NEJM195211132472005. PMID 13002611.
  13. Wolff, William I.; Shinya, Hiromi (1973). "Polypectomy via the fiberoptic colonoscope". New England Journal of Medicine 288 (7): 329–32. doi:10.1056/NEJM197302152880701. PMID 4682941.
  14. Gottlieb, Michael S.; Schroff, Robert; Schanker, Howard M.; Weisman, Joel D.; et al. (1981). "Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and mucosal candidiasis in previously healthy homosexual men". New England Journal of Medicine 305 (24): 1425–31. doi:10.1056/NEJM198112103052401. PMID 6272109.
  15. Masur, Henry; Michelis, Mary Ann; Greene, Jeffrey B.; Onorato, Ida; et al. (1981). "An outbreak of community-acquired pneumocystis carinii pneumonia". New England Journal of Medicine 305 (24): 1431–38. doi:10.1056/NEJM198112103052402. PMID 6975437.
  16. Druker, Brian J.; Talpaz, Moshe; Resta, Debra J.; Peng, Bin; et al. (2001). "Efficacy and safety of a specific inhibitor of the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase in chronic myeloid leukemia". New England Journal of Medicine 344 (14): 1031–7. doi:10.1056/NEJM200104053441401. PMID 11287972.
  17. Campion, Edward W. (1996). "The Journal's new presence on the internet". New England Journal of Medicine 334 (17): 1129. doi:10.1056/NEJM199604253341712.
  18. "First NEJM website". Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  19. McMahon, Graham T.; Ingelfinger, Julie R.; Campion, Edward W. (2006). "Videos in clinical medicine — A new Journal feature". New England Journal of Medicine 354 (15): 1635. doi:10.1056/NEJMe068044.
  20. McMahon, Graham T.; Solomon, Caren G.; Ross, John J.; Loscalzo, Joseph; et al. (2009). "Interactive medical cases — A new Journal feature". New England Journal of Medicine 361 (11): 1113. doi:10.1056/NEJMe0809756.
  21. 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.
  22. "Media Center: Fact Sheet". nejm.org. Massachusetts Medical Society. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  23. "Rank in Category: New England Journal of Medicine". 2014 Journal Citation Reports. Web of Science (Science ed.). Thomson Reuters. 2015.
  24. "Journals Ranked by Impact: Medicine, General & Internal". 2014 Journal Citation Reports. Web of Science (Science ed.). Thomson Reuters. 2015.
  25. "Definition of sole contribution". New England Journal of Medicine 281 (12): 676–77. 1969. doi:10.1056/NEJM196909182811208. PMID 5807917.
  26. VIGOR Study Group; Bombardier, C.; Laine, L.; Reicin, A.; et al. (2000). "Comparison of upper gastrointestinal toxicity of rofecoxib and naproxen in patients with rheumatoid arthritis". New England Journal of Medicine 343 (21): 1520–28. doi:10.1056/NEJM200011233432103. PMID 11087881.
  27. 1 2 Dobson, Roger (July 15, 2006). "NEJM "failed its readers" by delay in publishing its concerns about VIGOR trial". BMJ 333 (7559): 116. doi:10.1136/bmj.333.7559.116-f. PMC 1502213. PMID 16840463.
  28. Curfman, Gregory (December 29, 2005). "Expression of Concern: Bombardier et al., "Comparison of upper gastrointestinal toxicity of rofecoxib and naproxen in patients with rheumatoid arthritis," N Engl J Med 2000;343:1520-8.". Retrieved May 13, 2011.
  29. Lemmens, Trudo; Bouchard, Ron A. (2007). "Regulation of Pharmaceuticals in Canada"". In Downie, Jocelyn; Caulfield, Timothy A.; Flood, Colleen M. Canadian Health Law and Policy (3rd ed.). Toronto: LexisNexis Canada. p. 336. ISBN 9780433452218.
  30. Smith, Richard (August 2006). "Lapses at The New England Journal of Medicine" (PDF). Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (editorial) 99 (8): 380–2. doi:10.1258/jrsm.99.8.380. PMC 1533509. PMID 16893926. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
  31. "About NEJM: Online access levels" (PDF). nejm.org (Massachusetts Medical Society). Retrieved October 26, 2011.
  32. "About NEJM: Access from outside the U.S". nejm.org (Massachusetts Medical Society). Retrieved October 26, 2011.

Further reading

External links

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