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Information for Readers
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
•Type with double-spacing
•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.
Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.
TO THE EDITOR:
The interest in improving the Instructions for Authors section of Annals [1] should be matched by the same interest in developing an Instructions for Readers section. Compared with authors and editors, practicing physicians and other consumers of the medical literature have an even greater need for clarity and efficient guidance [2].
The Instructions for Readers section would not only contain the list of criteria for a quality clinical trial [1] but would also contain a description of a clinical trial grading system analogous to those used by organizations that make evidence-based recommendations. These existing grading systems assess the quality of evidence from various sources and convert it into a grade using explicit conventions [3]. For the evaluation of individual clinical trials, the system would grade the specific criteria that are essential in determining a study's internal and external validity [4]. Although many have proposed such grading systems to assist editors, reviewers, and authors, I have seen no such system used by a journal to assist its readers.
The abstract for each clinical trial would then contain the grades for the important criteria to indicate how well the study answered the following question [4]: What are the results and how valid are they? In addition, the abstract could contain a summary grade with commentary to determine whether these results should change clinical practice behavior and, if so, in what situations. I believe that until all physicians have the skills and time to do this for themselves, such a system is necessary to ensure better patient outcomes. Even if qualified editors or reviewers do not make such recommendations, someone else will [5]; too often, those that do are less qualified and much less objective.
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
•Type with double-spacing
•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.
Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.
- Copyright ©2004 by the American College of Physicians
