Short abstract
An open access, online journal from the Public Library of Science; first issue October 2004 ISSN 1549 1277 www.plosmedicine.org
Rating: ★★★★
“Prescription for a healthy journal: take monthly, at no cost; reaches six billion.” These are the heady first words written by the editors of PLoS Medicine, which hit our screens for the first time this month. This first issue, with its fascinating variety of commentary, essays, and original research, is about as good as it gets for a global medical journal. With science and research at the core of the journal, the editors have tackled head on the problems that cause a huge disease burden worldwide, with accessible articles about public health and the latest in molecular research in clinical disease and immunology.
Health problems and their solutions need research that ranges from the test tube to debates about the political context of care delivery. This journal encompasses them all in a truly international context. In this issue Bernard Pécoul writes about an initiative to improve the pipeline for new drugs for neglected diseases, such as sleeping sickness. Ann Taket and colleagues debate the evidence for whether health professionals screen all women for domestic violence. Dingle Spence from Kingston, Jamaica, and colleagues from Kampala and Kigali highlight the need for palliative care in Africa and the Caribbean. And Helene Arentz-Hansen and colleagues report research on the molecular basis for oat intolerance in people with coeliac disease. Other exciting columns are planned, such as “research in translation”—a refreshing innovation for a medical journal.
The internet is a great leveller. With immediate and free global access PLoS Medicine overcomes the iniquities of subscription based journals for people in developing countries. We have personal experience of this: when, with colleagues in Thailand, we were writing a systematic review on snake bite treatment we were able to access a paper in the BMJ just 10 minutes after it had been published, before anyone in the United Kingdom had woken up. Better access reduces power imbalance and helps global ownership; and open access publishing addresses head on the problem of user subscription charges. The Health InterNetwork access to research initiative has done much to overcome this problem for some journals for readers in registered institutions, but the initiative does not cover all countries and readers.
And what of connectivity? Is web access really an option for a doctor in Nigeria, for example? Over the last five years internet access in many countries has increased massively through commercial providers and institutional networks. Although connection charges can be costly, access seems to be getting better all the time and is often more certain, immediate, and cheaper than paper based distribution.
Journals are about engaging the reader, and this first issue of PLoS Medicine does just that. The journal has a clear mission to encourage research and comment that addresses the global burden of disease, the core values of medicine. Let us hope the editors and contributors ensure that subsequent issues are as good as the first.