160 likes | 290 Vues
The Malawi Medical Journal (MMJ) is guided by Editor-in-Chief Prof. Malcolm Molyneux, with Dr. Chiwoza Bandawe managing daily operations. The desk editor, Thengo Kavinya, oversees office management, advertising, and article writing. The editorial board, composed of members from the College of Medicine, is actively involved in manuscript review and editorial decisions. MMJ publishes quarterly and focuses on increasing visibility through open access and various distribution channels, including conferences and workshops. Manuscript submissions follow a structured process for efficient peer review.
E N D
www.mmj.medcol.mw Malawi Medical Journal
Editors, Editorial staff, and Editorial Board • Editor in Chief – Prof. Malcolm Molyneux - provides guidance, is not involved in the day to day running of the journal • Editor – 1st June – Dr. Chiwoza Bandawe -involved in day to day running of the journal, makes final decision on content of the journal, responsible to the EIC and Chairman of the Board • Desk editor – Thengo Kavinya - only paid employee of the journal, runs the office, manages advertising, subscriptions, distribution, and also writes articles for the journal • Board members all members of the College of Medicine (one sits on MAM executive) • Postgraduate Dean’s office - liaison with College of Medicine management
Manuscript submission and review process • Recently changed with incoming editor allows for more editorial board involvement in the content of the MMJ and lessens the pressure on the editor • Manuscripts submitted via Manuscript Central • Editor checks for suitable – either accepts or rejects • Manuscript assigned to member of editorial board • Member manages manuscript - invites two reviewers, looks at comments for reviewers and recommends decision to the editor based on reviewers comments • Editor makes final decision and communications with authors • EB responsible for copyediting • Review is blinded (was double blinded)
Production process, frequency of publication, dissemination and circulation • On acceptance the word file is downloaded from Manuscript Central and copied into Adobe Indesign • Layout is done by the Desk editor and the Editor • File are burnout onto a CD and then sent to the printers • Quarterly publication – March, June, September, December • Distributed free to all CHAM and DHO hospitals by Desk editor • Posted on the MMJ website with an email sent to a MMJ emailing list (currently only loading pdfs – errors occur when htmls are uploaded) • On sale during dissemination conferences and workshops COMREC, NAC and MAM • Pdf emailed to AJOL and SPi
Website www.mmj.medcol.mw • the website is hosted by the College of Medicine • open access (license required – Creative Commons?) • usage statistics – Google Analytics report • articles available in pdf and html (not all) • yet to include back issues prior to 2006 (?can we link to PMC?) • would like to add blog, podcasts, health news page
Google Analytics Report 1st Jan 2008 to 1st May 2009 • 439 Visits • 340 Absolute Unique Visitors • 988 Pageviews • 2.25 Average Pageviews • 00:01:59 Time on Site • 50.34% Bounce Rate • 75.63% New Visits • Countries – Malawi, US, UK, South Africa, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Australia, India
Business and financial operations • Revenue • College of Medicine pays for printing of two issues • Advertising • Subscriptions • Sponsorship for special issues • Working on strategic plan/business plan
PubMedCentral, Medline, AJOL • accepted for indexing in Medline in October 2008 – not current • need training on xml conversions for the desk editor (communicating with Nancy Kamua, formerly of KEMRI and Gift Kadzamira, Librarian at the American Library) • Possibility ? Charlesworth? • accepted for inclusion in PMC – working with SPi to have issues from vol 13 available on PMC • also accepted in Thomson ISI’s from 2008 – no content yet (will negotiate back issue)
Sustainability plans • Promote the journal locally with personal visits to academic and research institutes – publish in MMJ for tenure!!!! • Business plan • Impact factor ?!!?!
Major improvements • Editorial content • new features included Malawi Health News, Opinions on, a Deeper Look and Case reports • Services • emailing list • ? CPD points?
Medical librarians assistance • COM librarian sits on Board - ELDIS • COM library runs classes undergraduate and postgraduate (MPH) on information retrieval , ? Academics?
Outreach activities • Authors • workshop in 2007 with Tim Albert, writing tutorials with MPH and COM 4th year students, occasional email alerts, planning a workshop in June, 2 research methodology workshops with RSC • Local news media • occasional press releases, Editor had a weekly column in the Guardian newspaper, ?science communication workshop? • Science cafes with MLW
Past interactions with international partners • Annette and Ana Marusic (CMJ) facilitated author/reviewer workshop in 2006 • Guidance and advice on Medline, PMC, support with SPi • Scholarly publishing workshop on xml – arranged for our participation • Africa Health Science visited the Malawi Medical Journal to learn about ScholarOne in 2008 • Developed systematic review proposal with David, GMJ submitted to TDR
Future interactions with international partner • Increase visibility of the journal/website