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The process and costs of publishing medical journals in Sri Lanka: an economic evaluation.

ABSTRACT: Objectives Medical journals have contributed to the advancement of medicine by helping to disseminate scientific knowledge and providing a forum for medical communities to debate issues in depth. To the authors' knowledge, there are no studies examining the process of medical journal publication in developing Asian countries. The authors analysed the process and costs of publishing medical journals in Sri Lanka, a developing country in South Asia. Methods Data were collected by interviewing the editors and perusing the records at the editorial offices of the respective medical journals. Articles published in 2009 (or 2008 for journals not published in 2009) were analysed by perusing the respective journals. Results A total of 44 medical journals were published in Sri Lanka's history, of which only 28 journals remained in publication after 2007. A majority (54%) of the journals published after 2007 were published once per year. Seventeen journals in publication after 2007 were published in paper version only, and 11 journals were also available online. The mean cost of printing one issue was Sri Lankan Rupees (LKR) 97?720 (US$888) (range LKR 28?000-270?000). The cost of distribution ranged from LKR 2000 to 140?000 (US$18-1273). The mean cost of publishing one article was LKR 6646 (US$60). A total of 456 articles were published in 2009 (/2008). The total number of pages published was 1723. Conclusion The infrastructure for medical journal publishing in Sri Lanka has many good qualities such as free access, minimum charges for authors and potential for online availability. The journals are solely academic (non-profit), but the costs remain high.

SUBMITTER: Ranasinghe P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3191407 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The process and costs of publishing medical journals in Sri Lanka: an economic evaluation.

Ranasinghe P P Perera Y S YS Abeygunasekara A M AM

BMJ open 20110618 1

Objectives Medical journals have contributed to the advancement of medicine by helping to disseminate scientific knowledge and providing a forum for medical communities to debate issues in depth. To the authors' knowledge, there are no studies examining the process of medical journal publication in developing Asian countries. The authors analysed the process and costs of publishing medical journals in Sri Lanka, a developing country in South Asia. Methods Data were collected by interviewing the ...[more]

PMID: 22021741

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Project description:BackgroundNeurophobia is the fear of neurosciences held by medical students and doctors. The present study aims to identify whether Neurology is considered a difficult subject by medical students and non-specialist doctors from Sri Lanka and evaluate reasons for such perceived difficulties.MethodsThe study was conducted from May-June 2008. One hundred non-specialist doctors from the Colombo South Teaching Hospital and 150 medical students from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura were invited for the study. Data were collected by a pre-tested expert-validated self-administered questionnaire, designed to assess the degree of perceived difficulty, confidence, interest and knowledge of Neurology as compared to other subjects. It also evaluated reasons and probable strategies to overcome the perceived difficulties and/or lack of interests.ResultsAll non-specialist doctors and 148 medical students responded to the questionnaire (response rate-99.2%). The most favourite subject among medical students and non-specialist doctors were Cardiology and Endocrinology respectively, while Neurology was ranked third. In all participants the current level of interest was most for Cardiology (3.52±1.36), while Neurology was the least interesting specialty for majority of medical students (18.5%) and non-specialist doctors (25.0%). The current level of knowledge among medical students was most for Cardiology (3.12±0.86), while Neurology (2.53±0.96) was ranked fifth. The most difficult specialty for majority of medical students (50.0%) and non-specialist doctors (41.7%) was Neurology. All the participants were least confident when dealing with patients with headache (2.20±0.81), numbness of feet (2.07±0.79) and dizziness (2.07±0.78) when compared to dealing with other non-neurological complaints. The commonest reasons 'why Neurology was felt to be a difficult subject' were; the need to know basic neuro-anatomy and having a complex clinical examination. Participants' felt that clinical/hospital based teaching (3.49±0.65), case discussions (3.45±0.68) and teaching aids (3.10±0.89) would be the most important teaching strategies to improve their competency in Neurology.ConclusionNeurology is considered a difficult subject by undergraduates and non-specialist doctors of Sri Lanka. The main reason for the perceived difficulty was the lack of understanding of basic sciences and deficiencies in clinical teaching. This lack of confidence could have a significant impact on patient care.

Project description:IntroductionThe cost in managing hospitalised dengue patients varies across countries depending on access to healthcare, management guidelines, and state sponsored subsidies. For health budget planning, locally relevant, accurate costing data from prospective studies, is essential.ObjectiveTo characterise the direct costs of managing hospitalised patients with suspected dengue infection in Sri Lanka.MethodsColombo Dengue Study is a prospective single centre cohort study in Sri Lanka recruiting suspected hospitalised dengue fever patients in the first three days of fever and following them up until discharge. The diagnosis of dengue is retrospectively confirmed and the cohort therefore has a group of non-dengue fever patients with a phenotypically similar illness, managed as dengue while in hospital. The direct costs of hospital admission (base and investigation costs, excluding medication) were calculated for all recruited patients and compared between dengue and non-dengue categories as well as across subgroups (demographic, clinical or temporal) within each of these categories. We also explored if excluding dengue upfront, would lead to an overall cost saving in several hypothetical scenarios.ResultsFrom October 2017 to February 2020, 431 adult dengue patients and 256 non-dengue fever patients were recruited. The hospitalisation costs were USD 18.02 (SD: 4.42) and USD 17.55 (SD: 4.09) per patient per day for dengue and non-dengue patients respectively (p>0.05). Laboratory investigations (haematological, biochemical and imaging) accounted for more than 50% of the total cost. The costs were largely homogenous in all subgroups within or across dengue and non-dengue categories. Excluding dengue upfront by subsidised viral genomic testing may yield overall cost savings for non-dengue patients.ConclusionAs non-dengue patients incur a similar cost per day as the dengue patients, confirming dengue diagnosis using subsidised tests for patients presenting in the first three days of fever may be cost-efficient.

Project description:BackgroundScientific research is an essential component in guiding improvements in health systems. There are no studies examining the Sri Lankan medical research output at international level. The present study evaluated the Sri Lankan research performance in medicine as reflected by the research publications output between years 2000-2009.MethodsThis study was based on Sri Lankan medical research publication data, retrieved from the SciVerse Scopus® from January 2000 to December 2009. The process of article selection was as follows: Affiliation - 'Sri Lanka' or 'Ceylon', Publication year - 'January 2000 to December 2009' and Subject area - 'Life and Health Sciences'. The articles identified were classified according to disease, medical speciality, institutions, major international collaborators, authors and journals.ResultsSri Lanka's cumulative medical publications output between years 2000-2009 was 1,740 articles published in 160 different journals. The average annual publication growth rate was 9.1%. Majority of the articles were published in 'International' (n = 950, 54.6%) journals. Most articles were descriptive studies (n = 611, 35.1%), letters (n-345, 19.8%) and case reports (n = 311, 17.9%). The articles were authored by 148 different Sri Lankan authors from 146 different institutions. The three most prolific local institutions were Universities of; Colombo (n = 547), Kelaniya (n = 246) and Peradeniya (n = 222). Eighty four countries were found to have published collaborative papers with Sri Lankan authors during the last decade. UK was the largest collaborating partner (n = 263, 15.1%).Malaria (n = 75), Diabetes Mellitus (n = 55), Dengue (n = 53), Accidental injuries (n = 42) and Lymphatic filariasis (n = 40) were the major diseases studied. The 1,740 publications were cited 9,708 times, with an average citation of 5.6 per paper. The most cited paper had 203 citations, while there were 597 publications with no citations. The Sri Lankan authors' contribution to the global medical research output during the last decade was only 0.086%.ConclusionThe Sri Lankan medical research output during the last decade is only a small fraction of the global research output. There it is a necessity to setup an enabling environment for research, with a proper vision, support, funds and training. In addition, collaborations across the region need to be strengthened to face common regional health challenges.

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The process and costs of publishing medical journals in Sri Lanka: an economic evaluation.

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The process and costs of publishing medical journals in Sri Lanka: an economic evaluation.

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