- Email: [email protected]
Peer reviewers deserve recognition
Comment
extracted from mushrooms, but the ingredients of the Clitheroe treatment remain a closed book. More is known about the Ormskirk medicine—this contained chalk and Armenian bole (a sort of clay), alum, elecampane root (the herb horseheal, still used in veterinary practice), and oil of anise5,6—and I understand that attempts have recently been made to recreate this pungent brew. Dr William Buchan, in his book for the lay reader from 1800, describes several prophylactic measures but urges the use of a “a proper combination of their different powers…for a sufficient length of time”, including cauterisation, excision, or both.7 Even though Buchan displayed a healthy scepticism about the “whimsical medicines” of his day, he claimed that prophylaxis was 100% successful in his hands, which presumably explains why he had never needed to try Tissot’s method for treating established disease (table). Since the expected frequency of hydrophobia after a dog bite was unknown, many a miraculous avoidance of disease will have been wrongly ascribed to postexposure medication. This statistical point is used in George Bernard Shaw’s tedious preface to A Doctor’s Dilemma where, having savaged most other things medical, he directs his wrath at Pasteur’s postexposure inoculations. Recovery from rabies encephalitis remains rare8 so individual cases attract much attention, as happened with a 2005 report on the survival of a 15-year-old girl bitten by a rabid bat. Her treatment included ketamine, ribavirin, and amantadine. Follow-up, more than 2 years after the bite,
remains encouraging9 but interpretation of this case is difficult.10 A similar approach proved unsuccessful in one patient treated in Bangkok, Thailand.11 Writing 200 years ago, Buchan thought it “a good rule” to avoid dogs as far as possible.7 To follow this advice in today’s dog-loving Britain would be regarded by many as antisocial or worse, but at least rabies-control policies, culminating in the current Pet Travel Scheme, have removed one risk of close association with these animals within the country’s borders. David Sharp c/o The Lancet, London NW1 7BY, UK 1 2 3 4 5 6
7
8 9 10 11
Warrell MJ, Warrell DA. Rabies and other lyssavirus diseases. Lancet 2004; 363: 959–69. Dodet B. An important date in rabies history. Vaccine 2007; 25: 8647–50. Pemberton N, Worboys M. Mad dogs and Englishmen: rabies in Britain, 1830–2000. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. Teigen PM. Legislating fear and the public health in gilded age Massachusetts. J Hist Med Allied Sci 2007; 62: 141–70. Hunter WR. William Hill and the Ormskirk medicine. Med Hist 1968; 12: 294–97. Qureshi Y. Victorian rabies remedy found. Manchester Evening News Nov 1, 2007. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/ s/1022314_victorian_rabies (accessed Dec 6, 2007). Buchan W. Domestic medicine or, a treatise on the prevention and cure of diseases by regimen and simple medicines, 17th edn. London: Strahan, 1800: 477–85. Jackson AC, Warrell MJ, Rupprecht CE, et al. Management of rabies in humans. Clin Infect Dis 2003; 36: 60–63. Hu WT, Willoughby RE Jr, Dhonau H, Mack KJ. Long-term follow-up after treatment of rabies by induction of coma. N Engl J Med 2007; 357: 945–46. Jackson AC. Recovery from rabies. N Engl J Med 2005; 352: 2549–50. Hermachudha T, Sunsaneewitayakul B, Desudchit T, et al. Failure of therapeutic coma and ketamine for therapy of human rabies. J Neurovirol 2006; 12: 407–09.
Peer reviewers deserve recognition
See Online for webappendix
798
It is time again to thank our many dedicated and enthusiastic clinical and statistical peer reviewers who give up their valuable time, and without whom we would find it difficult to judge and improve submitted papers. As a small token of our gratitude, all those who reviewed for The Lancet in 2007 are listed in a webappendix and an asterisk marks those who advised us on five or more papers. In a recent editorial, we stated that “without peer reviewers, the whole edifice of scientific research and publication would have no foundation”.1 Most journal editors would agree. Yet peer review is only slowly gaining stature as an acknowledged and valued academic activity. Academics themselves are overwhelmingly
convinced about the importance of peer review. In a survey published earlier this year, 90% of 3040 surveyed researchers said that peer review improved the quality of the published paper.2 Publications are an important currency for academic achievement and career progress. The missing link is for universities and other employers of researchers to include peer review in the list of expected and rewarded tasks. Sabine Kleinert The Lancet, London NW1 7BY, UK 1 2
The Lancet. The pitfalls and rewards of peer review. Lancet 2008; 371: 447. Ware M. Peer review benefits, perceptions and alternatives. 2008. http:// www.publishingresearch.net/documents/PRCsummary4Warefinal.pdf (accessed March 3, 2008).
www.thelancet.com Vol 371 March 8, 2008
extracted from mushrooms, but the ingredients of the Clitheroe treatment remain a closed book. More is known about the Ormskirk medicine—this contained chalk and Armenian bole (a sort of clay), alum, elecampane root (the herb horseheal, still used in veterinary practice), and oil of anise5,6—and I understand that attempts have recently been made to recreate this pungent brew. Dr William Buchan, in his book for the lay reader from 1800, describes several prophylactic measures but urges the use of a “a proper combination of their different powers…for a sufficient length of time”, including cauterisation, excision, or both.7 Even though Buchan displayed a healthy scepticism about the “whimsical medicines” of his day, he claimed that prophylaxis was 100% successful in his hands, which presumably explains why he had never needed to try Tissot’s method for treating established disease (table). Since the expected frequency of hydrophobia after a dog bite was unknown, many a miraculous avoidance of disease will have been wrongly ascribed to postexposure medication. This statistical point is used in George Bernard Shaw’s tedious preface to A Doctor’s Dilemma where, having savaged most other things medical, he directs his wrath at Pasteur’s postexposure inoculations. Recovery from rabies encephalitis remains rare8 so individual cases attract much attention, as happened with a 2005 report on the survival of a 15-year-old girl bitten by a rabid bat. Her treatment included ketamine, ribavirin, and amantadine. Follow-up, more than 2 years after the bite,
remains encouraging9 but interpretation of this case is difficult.10 A similar approach proved unsuccessful in one patient treated in Bangkok, Thailand.11 Writing 200 years ago, Buchan thought it “a good rule” to avoid dogs as far as possible.7 To follow this advice in today’s dog-loving Britain would be regarded by many as antisocial or worse, but at least rabies-control policies, culminating in the current Pet Travel Scheme, have removed one risk of close association with these animals within the country’s borders. David Sharp c/o The Lancet, London NW1 7BY, UK 1 2 3 4 5 6
7
8 9 10 11
Warrell MJ, Warrell DA. Rabies and other lyssavirus diseases. Lancet 2004; 363: 959–69. Dodet B. An important date in rabies history. Vaccine 2007; 25: 8647–50. Pemberton N, Worboys M. Mad dogs and Englishmen: rabies in Britain, 1830–2000. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. Teigen PM. Legislating fear and the public health in gilded age Massachusetts. J Hist Med Allied Sci 2007; 62: 141–70. Hunter WR. William Hill and the Ormskirk medicine. Med Hist 1968; 12: 294–97. Qureshi Y. Victorian rabies remedy found. Manchester Evening News Nov 1, 2007. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/ s/1022314_victorian_rabies (accessed Dec 6, 2007). Buchan W. Domestic medicine or, a treatise on the prevention and cure of diseases by regimen and simple medicines, 17th edn. London: Strahan, 1800: 477–85. Jackson AC, Warrell MJ, Rupprecht CE, et al. Management of rabies in humans. Clin Infect Dis 2003; 36: 60–63. Hu WT, Willoughby RE Jr, Dhonau H, Mack KJ. Long-term follow-up after treatment of rabies by induction of coma. N Engl J Med 2007; 357: 945–46. Jackson AC. Recovery from rabies. N Engl J Med 2005; 352: 2549–50. Hermachudha T, Sunsaneewitayakul B, Desudchit T, et al. Failure of therapeutic coma and ketamine for therapy of human rabies. J Neurovirol 2006; 12: 407–09.
Peer reviewers deserve recognition
See Online for webappendix
798
It is time again to thank our many dedicated and enthusiastic clinical and statistical peer reviewers who give up their valuable time, and without whom we would find it difficult to judge and improve submitted papers. As a small token of our gratitude, all those who reviewed for The Lancet in 2007 are listed in a webappendix and an asterisk marks those who advised us on five or more papers. In a recent editorial, we stated that “without peer reviewers, the whole edifice of scientific research and publication would have no foundation”.1 Most journal editors would agree. Yet peer review is only slowly gaining stature as an acknowledged and valued academic activity. Academics themselves are overwhelmingly
convinced about the importance of peer review. In a survey published earlier this year, 90% of 3040 surveyed researchers said that peer review improved the quality of the published paper.2 Publications are an important currency for academic achievement and career progress. The missing link is for universities and other employers of researchers to include peer review in the list of expected and rewarded tasks. Sabine Kleinert The Lancet, London NW1 7BY, UK 1 2
The Lancet. The pitfalls and rewards of peer review. Lancet 2008; 371: 447. Ware M. Peer review benefits, perceptions and alternatives. 2008. http:// www.publishingresearch.net/documents/PRCsummary4Warefinal.pdf (accessed March 3, 2008).
www.thelancet.com Vol 371 March 8, 2008