La Revista Médica de Chile en el año 2012 / Revista Médica de Chile in the year 2012

During the year 2012, 539 manuscripts were submitted to this journal, following an increasing trend in the recent decade. Rejection rate was 33%. This higher number of submissions demanded a larger number and wider scope of external reviews, retarding the editorial process. The mean time lapse from reception to acceptance (or rejection) was 6.3 months (range 2-14) and from acceptance to publication 5.3 months (range 3-7). Research articles were 43.9% of published manuscripts and the remaining articles were Reviews, Special Articles, Case Reports, articles on Medical Ethics, Medical Education, Evidence Based Medicine, Public Health, History of Medicine, Letters to the Editor and others. Thirty seven published manuscripts (14.6%) came from foreign countries and 9 of them were published with full text in English. The 2012 Impact Factor was 0.360, showing little variation from previous years, locating the journal in the upper part of quartil 4 in the ISI-JCR category "Medicine, General and Internal", while the SCImago Journal & Country Rank locates the Revista in quartil 2 of its category "Medicine (miscellaneous)". In contrast with the low citation rate, the number of visits to the open access electronic version in www.scielo.cl averages over 3 million visits per year, illustrating that the interest among readers outnumbers the country’s expectable readership. Only 22% of articles declared to have received financial help from entities external to the institution where the work was performed, coming mainly from Chilean Governmental competitive funds. The aim of Revista Médica de Chile is to provide readers and authors a valuable source of information about current relevant topics in general and internal medicine, progress in related specialties and updates in basic sciences, rendering them available to Health professionals in Chile and worldwide, following international standards of ethical and scientific quality in medical publications.

[Revista Médica de Chile in the year 2012]. / La Revista Médica de Chile en el año 2012.

During the year 2012, 539 manuscripts were submitted to this journal, following an increasing trend in the recent decade. Rejection rate was 33%. This higher number of submissions demanded a larger number and wider scope of external reviews, retarding the editorial process. The mean time lapse from reception to acceptance (or rejection) was 6.3 months (range 2-14) and from acceptance to publication 5.3 months (range 3-7). Research articles were 43.9% of published manuscripts and the remaining articles were Reviews, Special Articles, Case Reports, articles on Medical Ethics, Medical Education, Evidence Based Medicine, Public Health, History of Medicine, Letters to the Editor and others. Thirty seven published manuscripts (14.6%) came from foreign countries and 9 of them were published with full text in English. The 2012 Impact Factor was 0.360, showing little variation from previous years, locating the journal in the upper part of quartil 4 in the ISI-JCR category "Medicine, General and Internal", while the SCImago Journal & Country Rank locates the Revista in quartil 2 of its category "Medicine (miscellaneous)". In contrast with the low citation rate, the number of visits to the open access electronic version in www.scielo.cl averages over 3 million visits per year, illustrating that the interest among readers outnumbers the country's expectable readership. Only 22% of articles declared to have received financial help from entities external to the institution where the work was performed, coming mainly from Chilean Governmental competitive funds. The aim of Revista Médica de Chile is to provide readers and authors a valuable source of information about current relevant topics in general and internal medicine, progress in related specialties and updates in basic sciences, rendering them available to Health professionals in Chile and worldwide, following international standards of ethical and scientific quality in medical publications.

Tradición y Progreso (1872-2012) / Tradition and Progress (1872-2012)

Background:The first issue of Revista Médica de Chile appeared in July, 1872. Since then it has been published monthly and thus it became one of the oldest medical journals being printed since the 19th Century. The opening Editorial in the first issue, labeled as "Prospecto"and written by the first editor, Germán Schneider, M.D., is reproduced. The current Editors comment the main statements found in that document establishing the purpose and scope of this journal. There are good reasons to sustain that through its 140 years of life, Revista Médica de Chile has fully accomplished the expectations of its founders and the owning institution: Sociedad Médica de Santiago-Chilean Society of Internal Medicine. The journal is serving well the medical community as a forum to present and discuss clinical experience, topics in scientific and technological advances related to medicine, medical education, medical ethics, and public health.

[The 140th anniversary of Revista Médica de Chile]. / El aniversario 140 de la Revista Médica de Chile.

Revista Médica de Chile was founded in 1872 and thus is one of the oldest medical journals being published since the 19th Century. The sponsoring institution--"Sociedad Médica de Santiago", founded in 1869--initially was the only scientific society in Chile, gathering medical doctors from every existing specialty. With the splitting of independent organizations representing specific specialties, including subspecial-ties of internal medicine, Sociedad Médica de Santiago focused its scope of action to become the "Chilean Society of Internal Medicine". Its official journal -Revista Médica de Chile--is currently a general and internal medicine journal that also publishes articles on scientific and technological advances in many fields of medicine and health sciences. While initially all authors were Chilean, the journal is now open to submissions from abroad and since the year 2000 articles are published in English when the local language of authors is not Spanish. The number of articles received determines an increasing administrative and editorial burden and, together with the high cost of publishing, will require changes in publication policies. The journal will participate in continuing medical education programs as soon as reaccreditation of medical specialties becomes officially organized in Chile.

El aniversario 140 de la Revista Médica de Chile / The 140th Anniversary of Revista Médica de Chile

Revista Médica de Chile was founded in 1872 and thus is one of the oldest medical journals being published since the 19th Century. The sponsoring institution -"Sociedad Médica de Santiago", founded in 1869- initially was the only scientific society in Chile, gathering medical doctors from every existing specialty. With the splitting of independent organizations representing specific specialties, including subspecial-ties of internal medicine, Sociedad Médica de Santiago focused its scope of action to become the "Chilean Society of Internal Medicine". Its official journal -Revista Médica de Chile- is currently a general and internal medicine journal that also publishes articles on scientific and technological advances in many fields of medicine and health sciences. While initially all authors were Chilean, the journal is now open to submissions from abroad and since the year 2000 articles are published in English when the local language of authors is not Spanish. The number of articles received determines an increasing administrative and editorial burden and, together with the high cost of publishing, will require changes in publication policies. The journal will participate in continuing medical education programs as soon as reaccreditation of medical specialties becomes officially organized in Chile.

[Tradition and progress (1872-2012)]. / Tradición y Progreso (1872-2012).

The first issue of Revista Médica de Chile appeared in July, 1872. Since then it has been published monthly and thus it became one of the oldest medical journals being printed since the 19th Century. The opening Editorial in the first issue, labeled as "Prospecto"and written by the first editor, Germán Schneider, M.D., is reproduced. The current Editors comment the main statements found in that document establishing the purpose and scope of this journal. There are good reasons to sustain that through its 140 years of life, Revista Médica de Chile has fully accomplished the expectations of its founders and the owning institution: Sociedad Médica de Santiago-Chilean Society of Internal Medicine. The journal is serving well the medical community as a forum to present and discuss clinical experience, topics in scientific and technological advances related to medicine, medical education, medical ethics, and public health.

[The relevance and fate of abstracts presented in scientific meetings]. / La importancia y el destino de los resúmenes presentados en reuniones científicas.

Abstracts presented in scientific meetings are indispensable tools to diffuse the latest research in the field. They provide the authors with an opportunity to receive feedback from a critical audience so they can prepare a final manuscript to be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. However, several studies in a wide range of medical specialties and other related sciences showed that no more than 50% of abstracts presented in annual meetings of learned societies are published in a 5-year follow up after the meeting. Therefore, abstracts are considered "preliminary publications" and it is recommended not to include them as bibliographic references unless they have been published recently (less than 3 years) in peer-reviewed journals (regular issues or supplements) or in their official websites. Databases dependent on the National Library of Medicine (USA) or SciELO do not index individual abstracts from a meeting. Authors and reviewers should be reminded that manuscripts that have shaped current knowledge probably had also been presented as abstracts in scientific meetings, sometime before their final publication.

La importancia y el destino de los resúmenes presentados en reuniones científicas / The relevance and fate of abstracts presented in scientific meetings

Abstracts presented in scientific meetings are indispensable tools to diffuse the latest research in thefield. They provide the authors with an opportunity to receive feedbackfrom a critica! audience so they can prepare a final manuscript to be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. However, several studies in a wide range of medical specialties and other related sciences showed that no more than 50 percent of abstracts presented in annual meetings oflearned societies are published in a 5-year follow up after the meeting. Therefore, abstracts are considered "preliminary publications" and it is recommended not to include them as bibliographic references unless they have been published recently (less than 3 years) in peer-reviewed journals (regular issues or supplements) or in their official websites. Databases dependent ofthe National Library of Medicine (USA) or SciELO do not Índex individual abstracts from a meeting. Authors and reviewers should be reminded that manuscripts that have shaped current knowledge probably had also been presented as abstracts in scientific meetings, sometime before their final publication.

[Revista Médica de Chile in the year 2009]. / La Revista Médica de Chile en el año 2009.

During the first semester of 2009 Revista Médica de Chile has received an increasing number of manuscripts. Close to 30% were rejected while most other are in the process of being improved by the authors after receiving criticisms by external peer reviewers and the editors. The time lag between acceptance and publication of manuscripts is on an average six months. During 2008, 10% of articles published were submitted by authors from countries other than Chile and most of them were printed in English. Impact factor and other indexes provided by the ISI Web of Knowledge showed a promising improvement in 2008. The International Advisory Committee and the National Editorial Committee were renewed, a new Section on Laboratory Medicine was incorporated and several minor changes were done in design and format, in the title page and the issues' content. The main problems to be faced relate to the increasing cost of editing and printing, with a reduction in commercial advertising historically contributed by the pharmaceutical industry. Another major concern is to stimulate governmental agencies, scientific societies and universities to establish a national independent registry of clinical trials, that should become a mandatory requisite for every manuscript submitted to Chilean medical journals, reporting clinical trials performed in the country; foreign manuscripts should document the satisfaction of an identical requisite in their original source.

[Adult celiac disease]. / Enfermedad celíaca del adulto.

Celiac disease is a chronic enteropathy caused by intolerance to gluten. The true prevalence of this condition is much greater than previously recognized, with more silent cases being diagnosed and a greater proportion of cases diagnosed later in adulthood. It presents with a spectrum of clinical manifestations and histological abnormalities. Duodenal biopsy remains the gold standard for diagnosis of celiac disease, even though there are new serologic tests that are very specific. Correlation of clinical, serologic, and histological features are essential for a definitive diagnosis of celiac disease. The pathogenesis consists in an interaction between genetic, immunologic and environmental factors, which interact with HLA molecules to activate an immunologic response in the small bowel mucosa causing tissue damage. The main treatment is a free gluten diet. Health risks for untreated celiac disease appear to be greater compared with those patients who adhere to this treatment.

Enfermedad celíaca del adulto / Adult celiac disease

Celiac disease is a chronic enteropathy caused by intolerance to gluten. The true prevalence of this condition is much greater than previously recognized, with more silent cases being diagnosed and a greater proportion of cases diagnosed later in adulthood. It presents with a spectrum of clinical manifestations and histological abnormalities. Duodenal biopsy remains the gold standard for diagnosis of celiac disease, even though there are new serologic tests that are very specific. Correlation of clinical, serologic, and histological features are essential for a definitive diagnosis of celiac disease. The pathogenesis consists in an interaction between genetic, immunologic and environmental factors, which interact with HLA molecules to activate an immunologic response in the small bowel mucosa causing tissue damage. The main treatment is a free gluten diet. Health risks for untreated celiac disease appear to be greater compared with those patients who adhere to this treatment.

Ética de las publicaciones en revistas médicas / Ethics in articles published in medical journals

Authors of clinical articles have similar motivations and rules than authors in other scientific fields. In addition, medical research must obey specific ethical rules that apply to studies involving human subjects, including biological samples, tissues, cellular or sub cellular samples obtained from them. When submitting their reports for publication, authors must declare that they have followed such ethical rules and also should declare any possible conflict of interest that may have arisen. External peer reviewers and the editors should also conform to limitations by eventual conflicts of interest. Authors should respect specific ethical norms that apply to the process of submitting, publishing and reproducing their manuscripts. In recent years, the editors of Revista Médica de Chile have become aware of five instances of misconduct committed by authors of articles submitted or already published. Four correspond to redundant publications and one exhibits overt plagiarism in the text and syntax. Appropriate actions have been taken following recommendations published by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, the World Association of Medical Editors and other groups. The present article stresses that authors and their sponsoring institutions must be aware of the importance of following ethical rules when reporting scientific work.

[What determines the time-lag for publications in Revista Médica de Chile?]. / Por qué demoran en publicarse los manuscritos en la Revista Médica de Chile?

The number of manuscripts submitted for publication in Revista Médica de Chile has increased steadily. Consequently, the number of external experts that generously contribute in the peer review process has also been enlarged. When the manuscripts return to the authors with specific requests to be improved, according to the criticisms raised by their reviewers or the editors, more time is added until a corrected version is received and accepted. After acceptance, the manuscripts are programmed by the editors to be included in future monthly issues of the Revista. The number of manuscripts that can be included in an issue is limited by the number of pages accorded between the publishers and the owner institution. Therefore, an additional time-lag occurs: research articles and case reports may be published 6-8 months after they were finally accepted, while reviews and special articles have to wait even more. As experienced in prestigious journals worldwide, a computational program to handle the editorial process through the Internet is needed, but it is not yet available in Spanish language. Although it should fasten communications and facilitate the authors a rapid insight in the stages of the editorial process where their manuscripts are, the increasing number of submissions, the current acceptance rate and the limitation in space will still retard the publications once they are accepted.

[The growing challenge of the editorial process in Revista Médica de Chile]. / El creciente desafio del proceso editorial en la Revista Médica de Chile.

During the recent 6 years, a growing number of manuscripts have been submitted annually to Revista Médica de Chile. In 2005 this number was 60% greater than in the year 2000. This determined an increased workload in the editorial handling of manuscripts and in the number of external peer reviewers, who were over 400 participants during 2004, each one reviewing from one to five manuscripts in that year. An increasing use of the electronic mail helps to communicate editors with reviewers and authors. However, there is yet no availability of a software in Spanish to handle all communications in the editorial process in this language. The number of pages per issue has been increased and authors have been requested to limit the extension of their manuscripts, in order to allow more accepted manuscripts to appear in a shorter period of time. At the present, an average of 8.9 months separates the date of submission to the date of publication, in those manuscripts that were accepted in revised version after external peer review. The increasing number of submissions and the fact that this journal ranks high among Chilean journals, in the number of visits to full-text articles in the web page www.scielo.cl, testify that in spite of the aforementioned limitations Revista Médica de Chile is well considered among authors and readers in Chile and other Spanish-speaking countries.

El Comité Editorial Asesor: Nuevos miembros con mayores responsabilidades / The Editorial Advisory Committee: New members with greater responsibilities

During the 1960's Revista Médica de Chile started to request external peer reviews to assess the quality of the manuscripts received and an official Editorial Advisory Committee was incorporated in 1973. Since then, its members have been changed four times. The Committee has served the purposes of providing an external peer review independent to the editors, assessing manuscripts submitted, although many other experts have also contributed and their names have been acknowledged yearly in the July issues of the journal. At the present time, the journal receives an increasing number of manuscripts from a wider range of medical specialties as well as from basic scientists doing research in topics connected with clinical medicine. The overload of papers forces the editors to adopt policies to cope with it. One of them is to renew and enlarge the list of members of the Editorial Advisory Committee, including experts who have recently provided efficient help in reviewing manuscripts. They have also accepted to collaborate with the Editors in selecting other external experts able to participate in the peer-review process, while decisions on acceptance or rejection remain in the Editor and Associate Editors. As a Special Article in this issue, Revista Médica de Chile recognizes again the generosity of all those who along the recent decades have contributed as Members of the Editorial Advisory Committee to the educational, professional and scientific role of this journal.

El manejo editorial de los manuscritos recibidos en la Revista Médica de Chile / The editorial handling of manuscripts submitted to Revista Médica de Chile

This Editorial describes the steps followed by a manuscript when it is submitted to Revista Médica de Chile: its reception, format checking as requested in Instructions to Authors, and the editors' decision whether it is considered suitable for the purposes of this journal or not; the selection of peer reviewers, a direct contact with them to ask for their willingness to review this particular manuscript; an analysis by the editors of the reviewers' criticisms leading them to the decision of whether to accept it in the current version, or to return it to the authors with a request to prepare a new corrected version, or a definitive rejection; the editors' review of a corrected version (that may require again the opinion of the external reviewers) and the final decision to accept it or not; printing of the manuscript, two successive galley proofs reviewed by authors and editors; and the final printing of the journal with its simultaneous reproduction in the web page www.scielo.cl. Roughly 70 percent of the manuscripts are returned to the authors offering them the opportunity to resubmit a corrected version, 12 percent are definitively rejected and 20 percent are accepted in their first version. The mean time taken for an accepted manuscript since its first submission until it appears printed is currently 7.6 months. Having only part time editors and a time-limited secretarial staff, efforts to shorten this time are difficult to implement, although electronic mail and fax are increasingly being used in this editorial process (Rev Med Chile 2004: 132: 7-10).

La importancia de declarar un conflicto de intereses en las revistas médicas / The relevance of declaring an interest conflict in medical journals

Medical journals are often at risk of difussinng research articles, reviews, position articles, editorials or letters ubose message has been influenced by a conflict of interest. The readers may then be induced to accept conclusions and recommendations based on bisaaed protocols or an unwarranted interpretation of the results. Financial support or professional links witb pharmaceutical companies or other supporting agencies are the most common sources of conflict of interests, often difficult to detect. Similarly, reviews of manuscripts can be biassed by personal relationsbips (good or bad) between reviewers and autbors, by academic competition or intellectual passion, becoming otber sources of conflict of interest. Even uben a potential conflict of interest exists, it may not necessarily bave influenced the manuscript or its review but in order to defend the transparency of the editorial process, from submission to publication, authors, reviewers and editors sbould declare any conflict of interest they may have and allou others to decide whether the action has been biassed or not. In the present issue of Revista Médica de Chile, and updated text of the Instructions to Authors establishes that all autbors should sign a statement of habing or not a conflict of interest, clarifying which aspects of the work might have been affected by it

Actualización de los criterios de autoría en las publicaciones biomédicas / Update in authorship criteria in biomedical articles

In the year 2000, a previous Editorial in this journal reviewed the criteria for authorship as defined by experienced authors and editors, discussed in selected references from the biomedical literature. An emphasis was given to the definition of authorship stated in the available 1997 version of the "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals". After that Editorial was published, an updated version of the "Uniform Requirements" established important changes in their criteria; eg. Participation of each author in the work should permit them to take public responsibility for "appropiate portions of the content"; and acquisition of data was added as an acceptable alternative in the first requisite for authorship. These and other changes should be difussed to prospective authors, particularly in multicentric studies usually leading to multiauthorship. This new Editorial and a translation into Spanish of the authorship criteria contained in an updated (2001) version of the "Uniform Requirements" are included in this issue of Revista Médica de Chile with the purpose of stimulating authors and readers to think in their implications