question regarding journals

[daisygirl]

I figured one of you savvy scientists could help me. How do I find out whether a journal is reputable? I'm doing a presentation soon, and I've used an article from Pediatrics International. I found a discrepancy in the numbers listed within the article (table vs. print)- which makes me wonder whether this journal has rigorous standards

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[X.O.]

I would look up the journal's impact factor at http://www.sciencegateway.org/ and compare it to the biggies in clinical medicine like the New England Journal of Medicine.

Per that site, Peds International barely registers so it sounds like a junk journal. It probably wouldnt matter to people that dont publish so its all about knowing your audience.

 

[daisygirl]

I would look up the journal's impact factor at http://www.sciencegateway.org/ and compare it to the biggies in clinical medicine like the New England Journal of Medicine.

Per that site, Peds International barely registers so it sounds like a junk journal. It probably wouldnt matter to people that dont publish so its all about knowing your audience.

Thanks so much. The physician monitoring my presentation does publish and he is the poster-boy of ebm. I'm still using the article b/c (1)my whole discussion does not revolve around this article, and (2)I think that questioning the article's reliability may be an interesting point.

Hopefully it'll go well

 

[X.O.]

If youre trying to the wow the attending or circulate the article around to others, I would look for the same topic coverage in a better journal. Those EBM people are freaks about the quality of the journal and how many times an article is cited which all goes into an journal's impact factor #.

Sometimes good work gets published in lesser known journals when it goes against dogma and what the most respected people in the field think. If thats not the case and if the article wasnt assigned, I would punt it rather than trying to prempt questions on why you picked the article. But thats just me.

BTW, Im a big fan of your posts in the allo forum. I'll be starting med school next year and i found your posts really helpful.

Thanks so much. The physician monitoring my presentation does publish and he is the poster-boy of ebm. I'm still using the article b/c (1)my whole discussion does not revolve around this article, and (2)I think that questioning the article's reliability may be an interesting point.

Hopefully it'll go well