Evidence-based editing: factors influencing the number of citations in a national journal

Purpose: Citations received by papers published within a journal serve to increase its bibliometric impact. The objective of this paper was to assess the influence of publication language, article type, number of authors, and year of publication on the citations received by papers published in Gaceta Sanitaria, a Spanish-language journal of public health. Methods: The information sources were the journal website and the Web of Knowledge, of the Institute of Scientific Information. The period analyzed was from 2007 to 2010. We included original articles, brief original articles, and reviews published within that period. We extracted manually information regarding the variables analyzed and we also differentiated among total citations and self-citations. We constructed logistic regression models to analyze the probability of a Gaceta Sanitaria paper to be cited or not, taking into account the aforementioned independent variables. We also analyzed the probability of receiving citations from non-Spanish authors. Results: Two hundred forty papers fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The included papers received a total of 287 citations, which became 202 when excluding self-citations. The only variable influencing the probability of being cited was the publication year. After excluding never cited papers, time since publication and review papers had the highest probabilities of being cited. Papers in English and review articles had a higher probability of citation from non-Spanish authors. Conclusions: Publication language has no influence on the citations received by a national, non-English journal. Reviews in English have the highest probability of citation from abroad. Editors should decide how to manage this information when deciding policies to raise the bibliometric impact factor of their journals.

Integrating Evidence-Based Practice in the Training Programme Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing, University Jaume I

The Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) aims to combine a form methodological process of professional experience in health with the most current information on the clinical situation. The professional novice can make better decisions despite lacking sufficient years in clinical practice. We then train the student in correct habits within the methodological process by which you can strengthen both their knowledge and their attitude and ability, allowing secure customs, where all of your work is based on PBE.

Does the scientific evidence support the advertising claims made for products containing Lactobacillus casei and Bifidobacterium lactis? A systematic review

Background To analyse the scientific evidence that exists for the advertising claims made for two products containing Lactobacillus casei and Bifidobacterium lactis and to conduct a comparison between the published literature and what is presented in the corporate website. Methods Systematic review, using Medline through Pubmed and Embase. We included human clinical trials that exclusively measured the effect of Lactobacillus casei or Bifidobacterium lactis on a healthy population, and where the objective was related to the health claims made for certain products in advertising. We assessed the levels of evidence and the strength of the recommendation according to the classification criteria established by the Oxford Centre for Evidence Based Medicine (CEBM). We also assessed the outcomes of the studies published on the website that did not appear in the search. Results Of the 440 articles identified, 16 met the inclusion criteria. Only four (25%) of these presented a level of evidence of 1b and a recommendation grade of A, all corresponding to studies on product containing Bifidobacterium lactis, and only 12 of the 16 studies were published on the corporate website (47). Conclusions There is insufficient scientific evidence to support the health claims made for these products, especially in the case of product containing Lactobacillus casei.

Gender analysis of moxifloxacin clinical trials

Purpose: To determine the inclusion of women and the sex-stratification of results in moxifloxacin Clinical Trials (CTs), and to establish whether these CTs considered issues that specifically affect women, such as pregnancy and use of hormonal therapies. Previous publications about women’s inclusion in CTs have not specifically studied therapeutic drugs. Although this type of drug is taken by men and women at a similar rate, adverse effects occur more frequently in the latter. Methods: We reviewed 158 published moxifloxacin trials on humans, retrieved from MedLine and the Cochrane Library (1998–2010), to determine whether they complied with the gender recommendations published by U.S. Food and Drug Administration Guideline. Results: Of a total of 80,417 subjects included in the moxifloxacin CTs, only 33.7% were women in phase I, in contrast to phase II, where women accounted for 45%, phase III, where they represented 38.3% and phase IV, where 51.3% were women. About 40.9% (n = 52) of trials were stratified by sex and 15.3% (n = 13) and 9% (n = 7) provided data by sex on efficacy and adverse effects, respectively. We found little information about the influence of issues that specifically affect women. Only 3 of the 59 journals that published the moxifloxacin CTs stated that authors should stratify their results by sex. Conclusions: Women are under-represented in the published moxifloxacin trials, and this trend is more marked in phase I, as they comprise a higher proportion in the other phases. Data by sex on efficacy and adverse effects are scarce in moxifloxacin trials. These facts, together with the lack of data on women-specific issues, suggest that the therapeutic drug moxifloxacin is only a partially evidence-based medicine.

Actualizaciones sobre declaraciones nutricionales y de propiedades saludables

Existe preocupación por la influencia de los determinantes sociales relacionados con la publicidad, la comunicación y la información sobre la selección de productos alimenticios para conseguir una alimentación saludable y segura. Desde este punto de vista, la legislación española normaliza este aspecto, a través del Reglamento Europeo 1924/2006 (RE1924/2006). El objetivo es asegurar y favorecer el acceso a alimentos inocuos que beneficien la salud y, evitar que la información recibida por los consumidores sea inexacta, ambigua o engañosa. El Reglamento pretende impedir que se atribuyan propiedades nutritivas y declaraciones de propiedades saludables a los alimentos sin razón o sin que exista suficiente evidencia científica. En este sentido, un grupo de profesionales de la Universidad de Alicante en diciembre de 2012 llevó a cabo la Primera Jornada de Alimentación y Nutrición, organizada por el Gabinete ALINU de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud de la Universidad de Alicante, relacionada con actualizaciones sobre declaraciones nutricionales y de propiedades saludables y sus implicaciones en la salud pública. Por el interés y la importancia del tema, se presenta un resumen de las ponencias desde la postura de los diferentes agentes implicados: consumidores, Administración, industria alimentaria, dietistas-nutricionistas, la Academia y la Salud Pública.

The relationship between plants used to sustain finches (Fringillidae) and uses for human medicine in southeast Spain

We analyzed plants that are traditionally used by wild bird hunters and breeders to capture and promote captive breeding of Fringillidae (finches or songbirds) in the province of Alicante, Spain. The majority of plants used in songbird breeding have medicinal properties in traditional human medicine (48 different uses); thus, another main goal was to show their relationships with human medical uses. We compiled a list of 97 plant species from 31 botanical families that are used to attract finches and identified 11 different use categories for these plants in finch keeping. The most common uses were for trapping birds and as a source of food for birds in captivity. Cannabis sativa has the greatest cultural importance index (CI = 1.158), and Phalaris canariensis (annual canary grass or alpist) was the most common species used to attract Fringillidae and was used by all informants (n = 158). Most of the 97 species are wild plants and mainly belong to the families Compositae, Gramineae, Cruciferae, and Rosaceae and also have medicinal properties for humans. In the study area, the intensification of agriculture and abandonment of traditional management practices have caused the population of many songbirds to decline, as well as the loss of popular ethnographic knowledge.