The BMJ received some praise this week in a blog by Revere, on the Science Blogs forum. Here is an extract:

“Science journals are not just about science. They compete with each other for readership, public recognition and prestige. It used to be that in the UK publishing world The British Medical Journal (BMJ) was the dull, conservative journal and The Lancet was more “out there.”….Now they seemed to have switched places.”

Elsewhere, the press reported extensively on the news that passive smoking can lead to dementia. A study published in the BMJ last week found that non-smokers who were exposed to high levels of second hand smoke were at greater risk of developing memory or other cognitive problems.

BMJ in the news

• Second-hand smoke ‘can increase the risk of dementia’ - Daily Telegraph, UK
• Passive Smoke ‘Leads To Dementia’ - Sky News
• Secondhand Smoke Bad for Brain? - WebMD, USA
• Passive smoking linked to dementia: study – AFP, France
• Plymouth research links passive smoking and dementia - The Herald, UK
• Pre-conception diet tips ignored - BBC News, UK
• Why health at conception must be immaculate - The Independent, UK
• Funding and findings: the impact factor – The Guardian, UK

BMJ in the blogs

• Passive Smoke Dementia - NHS Choices, UK
• Vaccine Awakening: Vaccine Studies: Under the Influence of Pharma - Barbara Loe Fisher, USA
• Search This Blog using Google – ScienceBlogs, USA

Most commented

• Promoting breast feeding in the community
• Encouraging the use of cycle helmets—effect of a brief intervention
• A 38 year old woman with hypotensive shock at the onset of menstruation: case presentation
• Prescribe prednisolone alone for Bell’s palsy diagnosed within 72 hours of symptom onset
• Doctors, patients, and the drug industry

Most read

• Doctors, patients, and the drug industry
• Dementia
• Alzheimer’s disease
• A 38 year old woman with hypotensive shock at the onset of menstruation: case presentation
• Prescribe prednisolone alone for Bell’s palsy diagnosed within 72 hours of symptom onset

Juliet Walker is the Editorial Intern, BMJ