Writing keywords while submitting articles – a new confusion

Writing keywords while submitting articles – a new confusion

The number of authors writing in medical journals is increasing day by day, thanks to the "Publish or perish" and the "need for promotions" among academicians. I meet many of these authors (or want to be authors) when I deliver lectures or conduct workshops. I teach about MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) in PubMed - an important - actually the most important part of PubMed. And most often I understand that it is in my lectures and workshops that people understand how to use MeSH correctly. During one such event some years ago a journal editor had asked me if he…
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Medical research: is it done correctly?

Medical research: is it done correctly?

A lot of discussions happen about medical research in India. About how we do not have a conducive environment / encouragement and more. I am not commenting on any of the earlier discussions. I would like to stress on one activity in medical research that is most often not done right. It concerns me on a continuous basis. That activity is "Literature searching" While searching the literature, most "Google". Often when I ask people how they do a literature search in PubMed (or other databases) they say "we type in keywords and search". They say it in a tone that…
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We are delighted to discover that our teaching spreads…

We are delighted to discover that our teaching spreads…

Recently three Postgraduate residents from a Dental College visited our office. Their research guide told them to consult me as each one of them was working on a systematic review. They needed help with search strategies that they had worked on. The residents explained that as part of a project submission, they were required to do either a "Literature Review" or a "Systematic Review", and their institution wanted them to work on the latter. I had done a workshop in this institution in 2017, and this was a follow up from their side. I checked each resident's search strategy. As expected,…
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