E-cigarettes are popular with teens, including those who have never smoked, but few of those who try them become regular users, while most of those who do so are also smokers, finds research published in the online journal BMJ Open. The researchers base their findings on the results of two nationally representative surveys of primary […]
Category: Uncategorized
BMJ Open’s fourth anniversary
Today is the fourth anniversary of BMJ Open publishing its first papers. Since 23 February 2011 we have published over 3000 open access papers with our open peer review process. One hundred of these papers have accompanying datasets in the Dryad data repository. We are still one of very few medical journals integrated with Dryad […]
UCL Qualitative Health Research Symposium 2015
The UCL Division of Psychiatry’s Qualitative Researchers Working Group is working together with the UCL Department of Applied Health Research and the UCL Health Behaviour Research Centre on a one day symposium to discuss questions, and to generate constructive commentary on the contributions that qualitative inquiry can make to understandings of health, illness and care. […]
Alcohol vs semen quality, Tamiflu trials and mindfulness: The Most Read Articles in October
October’s most read articles include a cross-sectional study by Jensen et al. on the association of habitual alcohol consumption and reduced semen quality in young men. We also have a report on the risk of bias in industry-funded oseltamivir (Tamiflu) trials by Jefferson et al., and the ever popular paper on a web-based mindfulness course for the relief of anxiety and […]
Prediabetes, PoTS and Portuguese physicians: most read articles in June
Several new papers made our top ten this month including Mainous et al.’s study on the prevalence of prediabetes in England, and McDonald et al.’s paper on postural tachycardia syndrome predominantly affecting young women. Other popular papers were the recently published paper from Krüsi et al., which explores the effects of criminalisation and policing of […]
Use of cement in partial hip replacement linked to risk of death
The use of cement in partial hip replacement surgery may be linked to a risk of death – often occurring within minutes – finds research published in the online journal BMJ Open. The risk is relatively rare. But the alarm was first sounded in 2009, and most of the cases that have come to light […]
Rates of pre-diabetes have tripled over past decade in England
The prevalence of pre-diabetes – higher than normal blood glucose levels – has tripled within the space of 8 years in England, reveals research published in the online journal BMJ Open. More than a third of adults in England now have pre-diabetes, the findings suggest, with those who are disadvantaged and of black and minority […]
Divorce may be linked to higher risk of overweight/obesity among kids involved
Divorce may be linked to a higher risk of overweight and obesity among children affected by the marital split, suggests research published in the on-line journal BMJ Open. Boys may be especially prone to excess weight gain, the findings indicate. The researchers base their findings on a nationally representative sample of more than 3000 pupils […]
Global salt intake, smoking cessation through Facebook and the cost of childbirth: Most read articles in January
The most-read article in January was Snow et al.’s patient led study ‘What happens when patients know more than their doctors?’ on the impact of patient education on the lives of people with diabetes. Hsia et al.’s newly-published cross-sectional study on the variation in charges and prices paid for vaginal and caesarean births has also been popular. Other […]
Open access: the research funders’ perspective
Anyone following progress on open access since the Finch Review report last year might think that the UK’s direction of travel is pretty much set. Since the Government and then Research Councils UK (RCUK) backed Gold open access, the same policy endorsed by the Wellcome Trust, it seemed likely that this would become much […]