Objective: To describe the duties of editors and the ways in which authors can make an editor's life easier.
Conclusions: An editor's tasks include knowing his or her reader, making a journal attractive and ensuring articles are accurate and up to date. Authors can assist by having the reader in mind, writing in plain English and keeping articles short. Peer review is an important aspect of medical publishing but has limitations.
RochonPAGurwitzJHCheungCMHayesJAChalmersTC. Evaluating the quality of articles published in journal supplements compared with the quality of those published in the parent journal. Journal of the American Medical Association1994; 272: 108–113.
GilbodySNFongS. Publication bias and the integrity of psychiatric research. Psychological Medicine2000; 30: 254.
4.
PetersDPCeciSJ. Peer review practices of psychological journals; the fate of published articles, submitted again. Behavioural and Brain Sciences1982; 5: 187–255.
5.
RothwellPMMartynCN. Reproducibility of peer review in clinical neuroscience. Is agreement between reviewers any greater than would be expected by chance alone?. Brain2000; 123: 1964–1969.