AMATEUR EDITORS
John Garrow,1 Michael Butterfield,2 Jacinta Marshall,2 and Alex Williamson2
1European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Dial House, 93 Uxbridge Road, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire WD3 2DQ, UK; 2BMJ Publishing Group, London, UK
Objective: To test the hypothesis that editors of medical clinical journals are active respected clinicians rather than respected editors.
Design: We mailed 262 questionnaires to all editors of peer-reviewed clinical journals that had received at least 1,000 citations in the 1994 Science Citation Report. The responses were to be anonymous.
Results: Replies were received from 191 editors (73%). In 1994 the journals they edited had 6,060 citations, (27,300/1000 maximum/minimum), 234 (740/31) source items, and an impact factor of 2.10 (l8.3/0.2). Nonresponding editors' journals had 7,910, (63,200/1000) citations, 258 (979/21) source items, and an impact factor of 2.43 (13.8/0.3). Of the responding editors, 95% were part-time, 69% treated patients, and 96% were male. The age of 69% was 50-69 years, and of 10% the age was greater than 69 years. The editorial office of 50% was located in the United States, 28% in the United Kingdom, 20% in other European countries, and 1.5% elsewhere. The editors were usually recruited by election by a scientific society (30%), nomination by the previous editor (25%), or response to an advertisement (18%). Only 5% were selected by the publisher, 3% were elected by the editorial board, and 1% had started the journal. Most (65%) had been on the editorial team before becoming editor; 38% had served for more than 5 years. Some reported formal training in editing (21%), writing (27%), statistics (25%), or reviewing (27%). There was no evident association between formal editorial training and the status of the journal. Fifty did not favor editorial training, but 129 wanted apprenticeship to an experienced editor and/or short courses by experienced editors on all aspects of editing, including statistics, ethics, and management.
Conclusions: Clinical journals are usually edited by practicing clinicians who are self-taught, part-time editors, but willing to accept further training.
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