To the Editor: As one who has followed the Croatian Medical Journal (CMJ) for the past 6 years and been pleased to write editorials on medical education and problems in academia, I am shocked and appalled that the University of Zagreb has questioned the integrity of the Editors-in-Chief and the quality of the journal as recently reported in the journal (1).
The CMJ is the medical voice of Croatia to the world and plays an important role in the quality of medical research, education, and practice in Croatia. It has been faced with enormous challenges owing to a horrific war and the need to improve the quality of medicine in a developing nation, and it has been meeting these challenges with a remarkable level of scientific quality and integrity.
One cannot expect this young journal from a small nation to receive the research reports of a wide variety of the world’s leading scientists, but one can expect and does receive a consistently high level of mostly internally generated reports on a regular basis. Furthermore, a simple review of its contents and a detailed review of its articles make it clear at once that the journal collaborates with and has earned the respect of leading journals throughout the world, with its strong, consistent and clear messages encouraging the best of medical teaching, research, and practice.
The principles of sound science, integrity, and ethics are clearly encouraged and practiced by the Editors, and the medical schools of Croatia can be rightly proud of their journal as a result of their efforts. Their recent articulation of instances of plagiarism and duplicate publishing are to be applauded and appreciated rather than being castigated and challenged – behaviors that can only reflect badly on the schools.
I sincerely hope that the current disagreements will be quickly resolved.
References
- 1.Marusic M, Marusic A. Threats to the integrity of the Croatian Medical Journal. Croat Med J. 2007;48:779–85. doi: 10.3325/cmj.2007.6.779. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]