Canadian Medical Association Journal

Infobox Journal
title = Canadian Medical Association Journal


editor = Paul Hebert
discipline = Medicine
language = English
abbreviation = CMAJ
publisher = Canadian Medical Association
country = Canada
frequency = biweekly
history = Established in 1911
openaccess = yes
license =
impact = 7.1
impact-year = 2007
website = http://www.cmaj.ca
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ISSN = 0820-3946
eISSN = 1488-2329

The "Canadian Medical Association Journal" (CMAJ) is a general medical journal that is published biweekly by the Canadian Medical Association (CMA). It showcases innovative research and ideas aimed at improving health for people in Canada and globally. CMAJ publishes original clinical research, analyses and reviews, news, practice updates and thought-provoking editorials.

It is considered to be one of the top six general medical journals [ Journal Impact Factors [http://www.epidemiologic.org/2006/10/journal-impact-factors-for-2005.html] ] ; the others being the "New England Journal of Medicine", the "Journal of the American Medical Association", "The Lancet", the "British Medical Journal", and the "Annals of Internal Medicine". The journal has an impact factor of 7.1 and its website receives over 25 million requests a year.

Dr. Paul Hebert, a medical researcher and senior scientist with the Ottawa Health Research Institute, is the editor-in-chief.

Notable publications

The "CMAJ" published Banting and Best's 1922 report, "Pancreatic extracts in the treatment of diabetes mellitus".cite journal | url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=1933711 author= Banting FG, Best CH, Collip JB, Campbell WR, Fletcher AA | title=Pancreatic extracts in the treatment of diabetes mellitus | journal= Canad Med Assoc J | year=1922 | pages=141–146 | volume=12 | pmid=1933711]

Free access

"CMAJ" is the only one of the six major general medical journals to have the entire electronic version of the journal free online from date of publication since 1911. The historical archives are also free online. The other major journals allow free access to limited content or to content of a specified age.

"CMAJ" does not have authorship or page charges.

Public policy impact

CMAJ impacts public policy in Canada, recently in the case of “Jordan’s Principle.” In a lead editorial which cited the example of a 4-year-old First Nations child Jordan River Anderson who died alone and away from his family while governments squabbled over who should pay for his care, the journal called on governments to put the medical needs of First Nations children first. In the wake of national media attention, in December 2007 Canada’s Parliament unanimously adopted “Jordan’s Principle,” a “child first” approach to resolving jurisdictional disputes involving the care of child.Fact|date=September 2008

Controversy about editorial independence

On February 20 2006, John Hoey, the last long-standing editor, was fired over an editorial independence dispute with the then owners of the "CMAJ", CMA Media.

The "CMAJ" sent 13 women to buy the emergency contraceptive levonorgestrel (Plan B) over-the-counter in pharmacies across Canada, and report their experiences. The pharmacists asked them for personal data, including the woman's name, address, date of last menstrual period, when she had unprotected sex, customary method of birth control, and reason for dispensing the medication. This was at the recommendation of the Canadian Pharmacists Association, which also advised members to store the information permanently in their computers. The Canadian Women's Health Network said that collecting this information was unnecessary and a violation of privacy. [ [http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/173/12/1435 CMAJ] ] The Canadian Pharmacists Association complained to the Canadian Medical Association, demanding that the names of the pharmacists be removed from the article. The Canadian Medical Association ordered the "CMAJ" to comply. [ [http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/174/1/9 CMAJ] ] The Canadian Medical Association then fired Hoey, without giving a reason.

On February 28 2006, the acting-editor, Stephen Choi and editorial fellow Sally Murray, resigned from journal over the same reason leaving it without any full-time editorial staff, which raised questions about the future of the publication. [ [http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/354/19/1982 John Hoey, Editorial Independence and the Canadian Medical Association Journal] , N Engl J Med, 354:1982–1983 (May 11, 2006)] [CBC: [http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2006/03/01/cmaj-editors060301.html"Canadian Medical Association Journal loses two more editors"] . CBC News, March 1 2006.]

In January 2007, Dr. Paul Hebert became editor-in-chief.

In April 2007, the former staff at CMAJ launched a new open-access journal, Open Medicine [ [http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/334/7599/870 BMJ 2007;334:870 (28 April)] , News: Former staff at CMAJ launch open access journal, David Spurgeon] .

Editorial fellowship

"CMAJ" hires young "editorial interns" every year, for one year. These interns help to write and edit articles, among other duties. The editorial intern program has proven popular. [Editorial Fellowship. CMAJ Web Site. Available at: http://www.cmaj.ca/misc/fellowship.shtml. Accessed on March 5 2006.]

History

The "CMAJ" was established in 1911.

See also

* "New England Journal of Medicine"
* "Journal of the American Medical Association"
* "The Medical Letter on Drugs and Therapeutics"
* "JAMA"
* "Nature Medicine"
* "The Lancet"
* "British Medical Journal"
* "Annals of Internal Medicine"
* "Archives of Internal Medicine"
* "Journal Watch", sibling publication to "NEJM"
* List of medical journals
* List of journals available free online

References

External links

* [http://www.cmaj.ca/ Canadian Medical Association Journal]
* [http://www.cmaj.ca/misc/about.shtml About CMAJ]
* [http://www.cma.ca/ Canadian Medical Association]