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The New England Journal of Medicine

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Not to be confused withJournal of Medicine.
The New England Journal of Medicine
DisciplineMedicine
LanguageEnglish
EditedbyEric Rubin
Publication details
Former name(s)
  • The New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery
  • The New England Medical Review and Journal
  • The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal
History1812–present
Publisher
Frequencyweekly
Delayed (6 months)
96.2 (2023)
Standard abbreviations
BluebookNew Eng. J. Med.
ISO 4N. Engl. J. Med.
Indexing
CODENNEJMAG
ISSN0028-4793(print)
1533-4406(web)
LCCN20020456
OCLCno.231027780
Links

The New England Journal of Medicine(NEJM) is a weeklymedical journalpublished by theMassachusetts Medical Society.Founded in 1812, the journal is among the most prestigiouspeer-reviewedmedical journals.[1]Its 2023 impact factor was 96.2, ranking it 2nd out of 168 journals in the category "Medicine, General & Internal".[2]

History

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In September 1811,BostonphysicianJohn Collins Warren,[3]along with James Jackson, submitted a formal prospectus to establish theNew England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and Collateral Branches of Scienceas a medical and philosophical journal.[4]Subsequently, the first issue of theNew England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and the Collateral Branches of Medical Sciencewas published in January 1812.[5]The journal was published quarterly.[6]

In 1823, another publication, theBoston Medical Intelligencer,appeared under the editorship ofJerome V. C. Smith.[7]

The editors of theNew England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and the Collateral Branches of Medical Sciencepurchased the weeklyIntelligencerfor $600 in 1828,[8]merging the two publications to form theBoston Medical and Surgical Journal,and shifting from quarterly to weekly publication.[9]

In 1921, the Massachusetts Medical Society purchased theJournalfor US$1[10](equivalent to $17 in 2023) and, in 1928, renamed it toThe New England Journal of Medicine.[11]

Evolution of the Journal
  • January 1814 edition of the Journal
    January 1814 edition of theJournal
  • 1823 Boston Medical Intelligencer
    1823Boston Medical Intelligencer
  • 1828 Boston Medical and Surgical Journal
    1828Boston Medical and Surgical Journal
  • February 23, 1928, cover of The New England Journal of Medicine. First use of present name.
    February 23, 1928, cover ofThe New England Journal of Medicine.First use of present name.
[edit]

The journal's logo depicts the snake-wrappedRod of Asclepiuscrossed over aquillpen. The dates on the logo represent the founding of the components ofThe New England Journal of Medicine:1812 for theNew England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and Collateral Branches of Medical Science,1823 for theBoston Medical Intelligencer,1828 for theBoston Medical and Surgical Journal,and 1928 for theNew England Journal of Medicine.[12]

Notable articles

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Notable articles from the course ofThe New England Journal of Medicine'shistory include:

  • In November 1846, the New England Journal of Medicine published a report byHenry Jacob Bigelowon the first public demonstration of a generalized anesthetic. The agent was inhaled ether, the first modern anesthetic.[13]This allowed patients to remain sedated during operations ranging fromdental extractiontoamputation.[14]"A patient has been rendered completely insensible during an amputation of the thigh, regain consciousness after a short interval," Bigelow wrote. "Other severe operations have been performed without the knowledge of the patients."
  • In June 1906,James Homer Wrightpublished an article that described how he stained and studiedbone marrowwith descriptions of what are now known asmegakaryocytesandplatelets.[15]
  • In October 1872, a lecture byCharles-Édouard Brown-Séquardwas published that proposed the then-revolutionary idea that onecerebral hemispherecan influence both sides of the body. The neurologist would go on to describe what is now known as theBrown-Séquard syndrome.[16]
  • In June 1948,Sidney Farberreported promising results in treatment of early childhoodleukemia.Based on anecdotal evidence that children with acute leukemia worsened if they were givenfolic acid,he worked on blocking folic acid metabolism. His team gave 16 infants and children withacute lymphoblastic leukemiaa folic acid inhibitor,aminopterin—10 showed improvement by clinical and hematologic parameters after three months.[17]In his article, Farber advised receiving the results cautiously: "It is again emphasized that these remissions are temporary in character and that the substance is toxic and may be productive of even greater disturbances than have been encountered so far in our studies," he wrote. "No evidence has been mentioned in this report that would justify the suggestion of the term 'cure' of acute leukemia in children."
  • In November 1952, cardiologistPaul Zollpublished an early report on resuscitation of the heart. "The purpose of this report is to describe the successful use in 2 patients of a quick, simple, effective and safe method of arousing the heart from ventricular standstill by an artificial, external, electric pacemaker", he wrote. "For the first time it was possible to keep a patient alive duringventricular asystolelasting for hours to days. This procedure may prove valuable in many clinical situations. "[18]
  • In February 1973,NEJMpublished the first report of polyp removal using acolonoscopeand introduced a procedure during screening to reduce cancer risk. The authors reported on 218 patients, from whom they removed 303 polyps (at one or more procedures per patient).[19]
  • A letterpublished in theNEJMin 1980 was later described by the journal as having been "heavily and uncritically cited"[20]to claim that addiction due to use of opioids was rare, and its publication in such an authoritative journal was used bypharmaceutical companiesto push widespread use ofopioiddrugs, leading toan addiction crisis in the U.S.and other countries.[21]
  • In December 1981, two landmark articles[22][23]described the clinical course of four patients—first reported in the CDC's June 1981 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report—with the disease that would come to be known asAIDS.
  • In April 2001,Brian Drukeret al. reported a targeted therapy forchronic myelogenous leukemia.Based on the knowledge that BCR-ABL, a constitutively activatedtyrosine kinase,causes CML, the authors tested with success an inhibitor of this tyrosine kinase in patients who had failed first-line therapy. The finding helped begin the era of designing cancer drugs to target specific molecular abnormalities.[24]
  • In October 2020, the journal published an editorial, signed by all 34 editors, in which they condemned theTrump administration's handling of theCOVID-19 pandemicsaying that "they are dangerously incompetent" and that "they have taken a crisis and turned it into a tragedy." This is the first timeNEJMhas ever supported or condemned a political candidate and only three other times in history has an editorial been signed by all the editors.[25]
  • In April 2021,Robin Carhart-Harriset al. demonstrated that in the pharmacological treatment ofmajor depressive disorder,there was no significant difference inantidepressanteffects between thepsychedelic drugpsilocybinand theSSRIescitalopramafter six weeks.[26]Significant doses of psilocybin were only administered twice in the six-week period, while escitalopram was taken daily. This was the first time psychedelics and SSRIs were compared in the treatment of depression.[27][28][29]

Social media

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On April 25, 1996, theNEJMannounced a new web site, which published each week the abstracts for research articles and the full text of editorials, cases, and letters to the editor. After print publishing for 184 years this was theNEJM's first use of the Internet for electronic publication.[30]

The site was launched several months earlier in 1996, but the editors wanted proof that weekly electronic publication would work. Only then was an announcement approved for publication on the editorial page. In 1997, the website included prepublication releases of certain articles prior to their print publication.[31]In 1998, online publication extended to include the full text of all its articles from 1993 forward.[32]

Since its launch,NEJMhas added to its site:[33]

  • Videos in Clinical Medicine, peer-reviewed educational videos to teach procedures requiring skilled techniques and specialized physical examination.[34]
  • Interactive Medical Cases, which mimic a clinical encounter by presenting the patient's history with results of the physical examination and laboratory and radiographic tests. Multiple-choice questions throughout test the taker's knowledge.[35]
  • NEJM Archive, the entire collection of the journal's published material.[33]

Influence

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TheGeorge Polk Awardssite noted that its 1977 award toThe New England Journal of Medicine:"...provided the first significant mainstream visibility for a publication that would achieve enormous attention and prestige in the ensuing decades."[36]

The journal usually has the highestimpact factorof the journals ofinternal medicine.According to theJournal Citation Reports,NEJMhad a 2017 impact factor of 79.258,[37]ranking it first of 153 journals in the category "General & Internal Medicine".[38]It was the only journal in the category with an impact factor of more than 70. By comparison, the second and third ranked journals in the category (The LancetandJAMA) had impact factors of 53.254 and 47.661 respectively.[39]

Theodore Dalrymplefeels that this influence is unwarranted. InFalse Positive: A Year of Error, Omission, and Political Correctness in the New England Journal of Medicine,he examines various articles on medical and social issues that theNEJMpublished over the course of a year. He found that many arrived at conclusions which were not supported by the evidence presented, or ignored easily available evidence that contradicted their conclusions.[40]

Specialty journals

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In 2022, NEJM set up a new sub-journal,NEJM Evidence.NEJM Evidence is a monthly digital journal featuring original research. It focuses on clinical trials and decision making.

NEJM Evidence
DisciplineMedicine
LanguageEnglish
EditedbyJeffrey M. Drazen
Publication details
History2022–present
Publisher
NEJM Group (United States)
Frequencymonthly
Standard abbreviations
ISO 4NEJM Evid.
Links

Ingelfinger rule

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The New England Journal of Medicinerequires that articles it publishes have not been published or released elsewhere. Referred to as theIngelfinger rule,the policy is intended to protect newsworthiness, and to subject research to peer review "before it is touted to the public or the profession".[41]By 1991, four types of exceptions were recognized, including when "prepublication release of research conclusions is warranted because of immediate implications for the public health".[42]

The rule was first described in a 1969editorial,"Definition of Sole Contribution", byFranz Ingelfinger,theeditor-in-chiefat that time.[41][43]A number ofmedical journalshave similar rules in place.[44][45]

Vioxx correction controversy

[edit]
See also:VIGOR study and publishing controversy

In the early 2000s,The New England Journal of Medicinewas involved in a controversy around problems with research on the drugVioxx.A study was published in the journal in November 2000 which noted an increase inmyocardial infarctionamongst those taking Vioxx.[46]According toRichard Smith,the former editor of theBritish Medical Journal,concerns about the correctness of that study were raised with the journal's editor,Jeff Drazen,as early as August 2001. That year, both the USFood and Drug Administrationand theJournal of the American Medical Associationalso cast doubt on the validity of the data interpretation that had been published in theNEJM.[47]Merckwithdrew the drug from market in September 2004. In December 2005,NEJMpublished an expression of concern about the original study following discovery that the authors knew more about certain adverse events than they disclosed at the time of publication. From the Expression of Concern: "Until the end of November 2005, we believed that these were late events that were not known to the authors in time to be included in the article published in the Journal on November 23, 2000. It now appears, however, from a memorandum dated July 5, 2000, that was obtained by subpoena in the Vioxx litigation and made available to the Journal, that at least two of the authors knew about the three additional myocardial infarctions at least two weeks before the authors submitted the first of two revisions and 4 1/2 months before publication of the article."[48]During the five-year period between publication and Expression of Concern, it has been estimated that Merck paidNEJMas much as US$836,000 for article reprints that Merck used for promotional purposes.[49]The journal was publicly rebuked for its response to the research issues in editorials appearing in publications including theBritish Medical Journal[47]and theJournal of the Royal Society of Medicine.[50]

Open access policy

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NEJM makes articles that meet the criteria for global and public health importance freely available to all readers upon publication at NEJM.org. NEJM also partners with Research4Life in their Access to Research in Health (Hinari) program to grant to low-income countries immediate free access to NEJM.org.

NEJM does not charge authors any submission or publication fees. NEJM also works with authors whose articles report research supported by funding bodies with open access mandates, including (but not limited to) Plan S funders and the U.S. government, including NIH, to ensure that authors are able to meet their funders’ requirements for public access to research results.

For research articles submitted before February 1, 2024, NEJM makes the full-text Version of Record available at NEJM.org six months after publication. For research articles submitted on or after February 1, 2024, NEJM will provide authors with a PDF file of the Author Accepted Manuscript that may be deposited in a noncommercial repository after publication.[51]

NEJMalso has twopodcastfeatures, one with interviews of doctors and researchers that are publishing in the journal, and another summarizing the content of each issue. Other offerings include Continuing Medical Education, Videos in Clinical Medicine (showing videos of medical procedures), and the weekly Image Challenge.

Editors

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See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^Zuger, Abigail (March 19, 2012)."A journal stands out in prestige and longevity".The New York Times.RetrievedJune 24,2014.
  2. ^"Web of Science Master Journal List - WoS MJL by Clarivate".mjl.clarivate.com.Retrieved2024-07-24.
  3. ^Cary, John (1961).Joseph Warren: Physician, Politician, Patriot.Urbana: University of Illinois Press.OCLC14595803.
  4. ^Boston Patriot.September 28, 1811
  5. ^"January 1, 1812, table of contents for theNew England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and the Collateral Branches of Medical Science".Retrieved2011-12-22.
  6. ^"About NEJM: Past and Present".nejm.org.New England Journal of Medicine.Retrieved2021-08-31....publishing the first quarterly edition of the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and the Collateral Branches of Medical Science (Boston) in January of 1812.
  7. ^Fitz-Gilbert Waters, Henry (1894).The New England Historical and Genealogical Register.Vol. 48. New England Historic Genealogical Society. pp. 148–149.
  8. ^Garland, Joseph (1952). "The New England Journal of Medicineand the Massachusetts Medical Society".New England Journal of Medicine.246(21): 801–806.doi:10.1056/NEJM195205222462101.PMID14929322.
  9. ^Campion, Edward W.; Miller, Pamela W.; Costello, Jean; Duff, Ellen; Drazen, Jeffrey M. (2010)."TheJournalfrom 1812 to 1989 at NEJM.org ".New England Journal of Medicine.363(12): 1175–1176.doi:10.1056/NEJMe1009367.PMID20843253.
  10. ^"About NEJM: Past and Present".nejm.org.New England Journal of Medicine.Retrieved2021-08-31.In 1921, the journal merged with the Boston Medical Intelligencer to become the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal; it also began weekly publication that year and was purchased by the Massachusetts Medical Society for $1.
  11. ^"About NEJM: Past and Present".nejm.org.New England Journal of Medicine.Retrieved2021-08-31.Renamed to the New England Journal of Medicine in 1928, the journal is known for many firsts in medicine,....
  12. ^Kassirer, Jerome P. (1996)."TheJournal's New Look ".New England Journal of Medicine.335:50–51.doi:10.1056/NEJM199607043350110.S2CID75449829.
  13. ^"History of Anesthesia".Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.Retrieved2024-07-08.
  14. ^Bigelow, Henry Jacob (1846). "Insensibility during surgical operations produced by inhalation".The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal.35(16): 309–317.doi:10.1056/NEJM184611180351601.S2CID46290593.
  15. ^Wright, James Homer (1906)."The origin and nature of the blood plates".The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal.154(23): 643–645.doi:10.1056/NEJM190606071542301.
  16. ^Brown-Sequard, C.E.; Webber, S.G. (1872). "The origin and signification of the symptoms of brain disease".The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal.87(16): 261–263.doi:10.1056/NEJM187210170871601.
  17. ^Farber, Sidney; Diamond, Louis K.; Mercer, Robert D.; Sylvester, Robert F.; et al. (1948). "Temporary remissions in acute leukemia in children produced by folic acid antagonist, 4-Aminopteroyl-Glutamic Acid (Aminopterin)".New England Journal of Medicine.238(23): 787–793.doi:10.1056/NEJM194806032382301.PMID18860765.
  18. ^Zoll, PM (November 1952). "Resuscitation of the heart in ventricular standstill by external electric stimulation".New England Journal of Medicine.247(20): 768–771.doi:10.1056/NEJM195211132472005.PMID13002611.
  19. ^Wolff, William I.; Shinya, Hiromi (1973). "Polypectomy via the fiberoptic colonoscope".New England Journal of Medicine.288(7): 329–332.doi:10.1056/NEJM197302152880701.PMID4682941.
  20. ^Porter, J.; Jick, H. (1980)."Addiction Rate in Patients Treated with Narcotics".New England Journal of Medicine.302(2): 123.doi:10.1056/NEJM198001103020221.PMID7350425.
  21. ^"Opioid crisis: The letter that started it all".BBC News.June 3, 2017.RetrievedJune 3,2017.
  22. ^Gottlieb, Michael S.; Schroff, Robert; Schanker, Howard M.; Weisman, Joel D.; et al. (1981). "Pneumocystis cariniipneumonia and mucosal candidiasis in previously healthy homosexual men ".New England Journal of Medicine.305(24): 1425–1431.doi:10.1056/NEJM198112103052401.PMID6272109.
  23. ^Masur, Henry; Michelis, Mary Ann; Greene, Jeffrey B.; Onorato, Ida; et al. (1981). "An outbreak of community-acquiredPneumocystis cariniipneumonia ".New England Journal of Medicine.305(24): 1431–1438.doi:10.1056/NEJM198112103052402.PMID6975437.
  24. ^Druker, Brian J.; Talpaz, Moshe; Resta, Debra J.; Peng, Bin; et al. (2001)."Efficacy and safety of a specific inhibitor of the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase in chronic myeloid leukemia".New England Journal of Medicine.344(14): 1031–1037.doi:10.1056/NEJM200104053441401.PMID11287972.S2CID8399298.
  25. ^Kolata, Gina (7 October 2020)."In a First, New England Journal of Medicine Joins Never-Trumpers".The New York Times.RetrievedOctober 8,2020.
  26. ^Carhart-Harris, Robin; Giribaldi, Bruna; Watts, Rosalind; Baker-Jones, Michelle; Murphy-Beiner, Ashleigh; Murphy, Roberta; Martell, Jonny; Blemings, Allan; Erritzoe, David; Nutt, David J. (2021-04-14)."Trial of Psilocybin versus Escitalopram for Depression".New England Journal of Medicine.384(15): 1402–1411.doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2032994.ISSN0028-4793.PMID33852780.S2CID233243518.
  27. ^Sloat, Sarah (18 April 2021)."Scientist compared psilocybin against antidepressants for the first time".Inverse.Retrieved2021-05-24.
  28. ^"Psychedelic drug worked for depression as well as common antidepressant, small trial finds".NBC News.14 April 2021.Retrieved2021-05-24.
  29. ^Siebert, Amanda."Could Psilocybin Treat Depression? New Head-To-Head Trial Shows It's At Least As Effective As Leading SSRI".Forbes.Retrieved2021-05-24.
  30. ^Campion, Edward W. (1996)."TheJournal's new presence on the internet ".New England Journal of Medicine.334(17): 1129.doi:10.1056/NEJM199604253341712.
  31. ^Kassirer, Jerome P.; Angell, Marcia (1997)."Prepublication Release ofJournalArticles ".New England Journal of Medicine.337(24): 1762–1763.doi:10.1056/NEJM199712113372409.PMID9392703.
  32. ^Campion, Edward W. (1998)."Improvements to theJournal's Site on the World Wide Web ".New England Journal of Medicine.339(9): 629.doi:10.1056/NEJM199808273390912.PMID9718386.
  33. ^ab"The New England Journal of Medicine Celebrates 200th Anniversary in 2012"(Press release). Business Wire. January 12, 2012.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-09-28.Retrieved2021-09-27.
  34. ^McMahon, Graham T.; Ingelfinger, Julie R.; Campion, Edward W. (2006)."Videos in clinical medicine – A newJournalfeature ".New England Journal of Medicine.354(15): 1635.doi:10.1056/NEJMe068044.
  35. ^McMahon, Graham T.; Solomon, Caren G.; Ross, John J.; Loscalzo, Joseph; et al. (2009)."Interactive medical cases – A newJournalfeature ".New England Journal of Medicine.361(11): 1113.doi:10.1056/NEJMe0809756.
  36. ^Hershey, Edward."A history of journalistic integrity, superb reporting and protecting the public: The George Polk Awards in Journalism".LIU Brooklyn.Archived fromthe originalon March 28, 2010.
  37. ^"Media Center: Fact Sheet".nejm.org.Massachusetts Medical Society.RetrievedAugust 20,2014.
  38. ^"Rank in Category: New England Journal of Medicine".2017 Journal Citation Reports.Web of Science(Science ed.).Thomson Reuters.2015.
  39. ^"Journals Ranked by Impact: Medicine, General & Internal".2014 Journal Citation Reports.Web of Science(Science ed.).Thomson Reuters.2015.
  40. ^Dalrymple, Theodore(2019).False Positive: A Year of Error, Omission, and Political Correctness in the New England Journal of Medicine.Encounter. p. 272.ISBN978-1641770460.
  41. ^abRelman, Arnold S. (1981)."The Ingelfinger Rule".New England Journal of Medicine.305(14): 824–826.doi:10.1056/NEJM198110013051408.PMID7266634.
  42. ^Angell, Marcia; Kassirer, Jerome P. (1991)."The Ingelfinger Rule Revisited".New England Journal of Medicine.325(19): 1371–1373.doi:10.1056/NEJM199111073251910.PMID1669838.
  43. ^"Definition of Sole Contribution".New England Journal of Medicine.281(12): 676–677. 1969.doi:10.1056/NEJM196909182811208.PMID5807917.
  44. ^Altman, L.K. (1996)."The Ingelfinger rule, embargoes, and journal peer review-part 1".The Lancet.347(9012): 1382–1386.doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(96)91016-8.PMID8637347.S2CID44524038.
  45. ^Kardas-Nelson, Mara (2020)."Covid-19's impact on US medical research—shifting money, easing rules".BMJ.369:m1744.doi:10.1136/bmj.m1744.PMID32357953.S2CID218479874.
  46. ^VIGOR Study Group; Bombardier, C.; Laine, L.; Reicin, A.; et al. (2000)."Comparison of upper gastrointestinal toxicity of rofecoxib and naproxen in patients with rheumatoid arthritis".New England Journal of Medicine.343(21): 1520–1528.doi:10.1056/NEJM200011233432103.PMID11087881.
  47. ^abDobson, Roger (July 15, 2006)."NEJM" failed its readers "by delay in publishing its concerns about VIGOR trial".BMJ.333(7559): 116.doi:10.1136/bmj.333.7559.116-f.PMC1502213.PMID16840463.
  48. ^Curfman, Gregory D.; Morrissey, Stephen; Drazen, Jeffrey M. (2005)."Expression of Concern: Bombardier et al.," Comparison of Upper Gastrointestinal Toxicity of Rofecoxib and Naproxen in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis, "N Engl J Med 2000;343:1520-8".New England Journal of Medicine.353(26): 2813–2814.doi:10.1056/NEJMe058314.PMID16339408.S2CID10745161.
  49. ^Lemmens, Trudo; Bouchard, Ron A. (2007). "Regulation of Pharmaceuticals in Canada"".In Downie, Jocelyn; Caulfield, Timothy A.; Flood, Colleen M. (eds.).Canadian Health Law and Policy(3rd ed.). Toronto: LexisNexis Canada. p. 336.ISBN9780433452218.
  50. ^Smith, Richard (August 2006)."Lapses atThe New England Journal of Medicine"(PDF).Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine(editorial).99(8): 380–382.doi:10.1177/014107680609900802.PMC1533509.PMID16893926.RetrievedMay 22,2010.
  51. ^"Editorial Policies".nejm.org.Massachusetts Medical Society.RetrievedFebruary 15,2024.

Bibliography

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