Can National Medical Association Journals Make Greater Contributions to Global Health? An international survey and comparison

摘要

Background National medical associations (NMAs) publish many kinds of periodicals to educate theirmembers and improve medical science, clinical care, and public health. As the internet and related forcescontinue to disrupt this mode of communication, NMAs will increasingly face complex decisions in areas such astheir new responsibilities to global society, whether to publish in print or electronically, to focus on domestic orinternational audiences, and which languages to publish in. However, little is known about the nature, purpose,underlying policies and other aspects of periodicals published by NMAs worldwide. Purpose To determine the characteristics of the NMAs and their periodicals, with a focus on general medicaljournals and the obstacles to their having a greater international scope. Methods We surveyed the 92 NMAs that are members of the World Medical Association (WMA) and/or theConfederation of Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania (CMAAO) on the characteristics of their organizationand periodicals. Some responses were clarified by interviews and reviews of NMA websites. Results The response rate to the survey was 34% (31/92). NMAs varied greatly in their human resources,including number of members (1,150-395,000), staff (3-1,000), and staff density (staff per thousand members0.12-5.44). The type of membership in 86% (25/29) of NMA respondents was voluntary, and the participationrates ranged from 5 to 99%. Journals' revenues came mainly from NMA budgets (46%) and advertising revenues(43%). Approximately 73% (19/26) of journals provided free online access to full text, and 71% (22/31) were fullyor partly published in English. Most NMA journals were domestically focused in terms of readers and first authors(93%). Only a few journals had a scientific influence, as measured by "impact factors." Conclusions While NMAs had different capacities and business models, most of their general medical journalshad a domestic focus. For a journal to have a global impact requires substantial resources and intelligentmarketing in highly competitive markets. NMAs can more likely make meaningful global contributions by usingEnglish and the internet, and by developing a unique niche.