June 17, 2002

Study looks at why doctors prefer glossy publications over prestigious peer-reviewed journals.

Toronto, CANADA - Why do physicians find "throwaway" medical journals more interesting to read than the scientifically superior, peer-reviewed heavyweights?

A recent study in the peer-review theme issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA, June 5, Vol. 287, No. 21) says it comes down to design. While the peer-reviewed journals were superior in methodologic and reporting quality of scientific articles, the glossy-type publications were rated consistently better on virtually all measures of presentation, readability and clinical relevance of the message.

"What we've learned is that presentation of content is critical when vying for the attention of physician readers," says lead investigator Dr. Paula Rochon. She is a geriatrician and researcher at the Kunin-Lunenfeld Applied Research Institute at Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, and associate professor of medicine at the University of Toronto.

The study found that glossy-type publications use more color, photographs, tables and figures, bigger fonts and catchy titles with more relevance to clinical practice. However, the articles are seldom peer-reviewed, almost never cited in the medical literature, often contain no original investigations, and are distributed free-of-charge.

"We want doctors to read higher quality scientific articles," says Dr. Rochon. "The challenge for peer-reviewed journals is to present their content in a more appealing way." Many are already moving in this direction using more color, larger font size and more graphics, but they still lag behind the throwaways in these communication techniques, she says.

In the study, 394 review articles were independently rated for methodologic, reporting and presentation quality by two trained reviewers who used quality scoring assessment tools. In addition, six physicians (recent graduates in full-time clinical practice) independently rated the articles for clinical relevance. The articles, focusing on the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions, were published in five leading peer-reviewed journals as well as glossy-type publications throughout 1998.

The study was presented last year at the Fourth International Congress on Peer Review in Biomedical Publication, held in Barcelona, Spain. Dr. Rochon is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. She was assisted on the study by international authors Dr. Jerry Gurwitz, University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Dr. Lisa Bero, University of California School of Medicine.