Stem cell researchers from some major international institutions have written an open letter to journal editors complaining that they have received unreasonable and obstructive reviews (Euro Stem Cell) […]
Richard Smith asks: Can we create a global network of mentors?
I’m on a plane flying home from Nigeria, where I’ve been participating in a workshop on writing and publishing in journals, reading scientific papers, and encouraging evidence based practice. I had a wonderful time. The workshop had around 100 participants, and they were exuberant and highly responsive. The debate was intense, and some struggled with […]
Domhnall MacAuley on armchair winter sports
The Olympics are imminent. Not 2012, but the Winter Olympics in Vancouver opening in less than three weeks. Coming from a country where rare snowfalls are wet, soggy and turn almost immediately to slush, winter sport usually means rugby in the rain. Much to the amusement of my family, however, I’m a TV snow sports […]
Tracey Koehlmoos: To Haiti, with solidarity from Bangladesh
Natural disasters, a history of corruption, high population density, and extreme poverty. Am I talking about Haiti or Bangladesh? When the 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Port au Prince and brought devastation, the usual providers of humanitarian aid raced to the scene. But this time Bangladesh, long the recipient of such emergency services, is on the giving end. A 30 […]
What we’re reading: 29 January 2010
In the BMJ editorial office, we often come across interesting articles, blogs, and web pages. We thought we would share these with you. Some are medical, some techie, and some just general. […]
Ishbel Matheson on aid agencies in Haiti
Little over two weeks ago, I was blearily watching the closing minutes of Newsnight, when Jeremy Paxman dropped in a late-breaking news story. There had been – he said – a large earthquake in Haiti. Early reports were of widespread destruction. Shaking myself awake, I picked up the phone to the on-call press officer. “I’ve […]
Harry Brown: Are medical paper texts dead?
I don’t know about you but when I was a medical student I was brought up firmly on the side of paper. I went to lecture theatres and took notes on paper and referred to traditional medical textbooks and journals, usually having to physically go to a library and there was no computer in sight. […]
Julian Sheather: On form in nature
Poking around the bookshop at the Wellcome Trust, as is my occasional habit, I recently came across a small book, not much bigger than my hand, that, in spite of my seasonal poverty, I knew I had to buy. (I have never quite succeeded in aligning my passion for books with their price, some infant […]
Sally Carter and Birte Twisselmann: Imagining synaesthesia
Mixing of the senses Synaesthesia, this “mixing of the senses,” is a difficult thing to describe. I have read David Eagleman’s editorial and an anonymous patient’s and psychiatrist Steve Logdail’s patient’s journey article. I see that having synaesthesia may add colour and depth your writing, if writing is your thing (see below for synaesthesia as […]
Richard Smith on a chance to collaborate on a book on complex chronic disease
Would you like to contribute to a book on complex chronic disease? The book has been written for the Spanish government, which currently has the presidency of the European Union and wants to draw attention to the importance of complex chronic disease. You probably don’t recognise the term “complex chronic disease,” but it’s actually the […]