The primary purpose of a medical journal is to present high-quality information, obtained through robust scientific endeavour to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge, the ultimate aim being to improve health care (either directly or indirectly). The influence of medical journals in both the scientific community and the public is therefore considerable. The underlying premise of publications in a peer-reviewed medical journal is that the reader can believe the data and use the information in then-workplace if required. The process to achieve this information distribution is based on a combination of ethical research practice (usually overseen by an institutional ethics committee), blinded peer review, transparent journal assessment and publication processes, and author integrity. These principles have been developed and promoted by organisations such as World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) (http://www.wame.org) and Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (http://www.publicationethics. org). I would recommend those readers interested in the processes that underpin the standards of medical journals to review these societies' websites.
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