JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Scientific journals issue press releases to disseminate scientific news about articles they publish. ⋯ Journal articles described in press releases, in particular those described first or second in the press release, are associated with the subsequent publication of newspaper stories on the same topic.
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Many journals provide peer reviewers with written instructions regarding review criteria, such as the originality of results, but little research has been done to investigate ways to improve or facilitate the peer review task. ⋯ The majority of respondents indicated that supplemental materials helped (or would have helped) them evaluate manuscripts and valued them more highly when they actually received them.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Does masking author identity improve peer review quality? A randomized controlled trial. PEER Investigators.
All authors may not be equal in the eyes of reviewers. Specifically, well-known authors may receive less objective (poorer quality) reviews. One study at a single journal found a small improvement in review quality when reviewers were masked to author identity. ⋯ Masking reviewers to author identity as commonly practiced does not improve quality of reviews. Since manuscripts of well-known authors are more difficult to mask, and those manuscripts may be more likely to benefit from masking, the inability to mask reviewers to the identity of well-known authors may have contributed to the lack of effect.
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There is little information on the extent of persistent pain across cultures. Even though pain is a common reason for seeking health care, information on the frequency and impacts of persistent pain among primary care patients is inadequate. ⋯ Persistent pain was a commonly reported health problem among primary care patients and was consistently associated with psychological illness across centers. Large variation in frequency and the inconsistent relationship between persistent pain and disability across centers suggests caution in drawing conclusions about the role of culture in shaping responses to persistent pain when comparisons are based on patient samples drawn from a limited number of health care settings in each culture.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Effect of prolonged methylprednisolone therapy in unresolving acute respiratory distress syndrome: a randomized controlled trial.
No pharmacological therapeutic protocol has been found effective in modifying the clinical course of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and mortality remains greater than 50%. ⋯ In this study, prolonged administration of methylprednisolone in patients with unresolving ARDS was associated with improvement in lung injury and MODS scores and reduced mortality.