title: Increasing the evidence base in journalology: creating an international best practice journal research network.
abstract: Biomedical journals continue to be the single most important conduit for disseminating biomedical knowledge. Unlike clinical medicine, where evidence is considered fundamental to practice, journals still operate largely in a 'black box' mode without sufficient evidence to drive their practice. We believe there is an immediate need to substantially increase the amount and quality of research by journals to ensure their practice is as evidence based as possible. To achieve this goal, we are proposing the development of an international 'best practice journal research network'. We invite journals and others to join the network. Such a network is likely to improve the quality of journals. It is also likely to address many unanswered questions in publication science, including peer review, which can provide robust and generalizable answers.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, The Ottawa Hospital, General Campus, 501 Smyth Rd, Room L1288, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8 L6, Canada. dmoher@ohri.ca.|School of Epidemiology, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. dmoher@ohri.ca.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Moher
authors.affiliation: METHODS Team, Epidemiology and Statistics Sorbonne Paris Cité, Research Center INSERM UMR 1153, Paris Descartes University, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ravaud
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D017712:Peer Review, Research / Q000592:standards*; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D011643:Publishing / Q000592:standards*
keywords: Best practice; Editors; Evidence; Funders; Journalology; Publishers; Quality of reporting; Research