Healio
Healio
Issue: July 2008
ByHenry J. Rohrs, MD
July 25, 2008
2 min read
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How does a fellow decide what to read?

Issue: July 2008
ByHenry J. Rohrs, MD
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One of the difficult decisions that I (and other fellows, I’m sure) have encountered during my journey through subspecialty training is deciding which articles are worth reading and which are not.

We, as well as our mentors, set goals of publishing articles in highly cited and respected journals, in addition to keeping up-to-date with the most cutting-edge science. To help achieve these goals, we must turn to scientific publications. With the limited experience that we have in our new specialties, how do we know whether something is worth reading?

After spending three years of subspecialty training at an academic center, it is easier to discover which are “quality” journals in your own specific discipline by finding out what your mentors read and in which journals their articles are published. However, when a specific problem comes up that is better answered by searching the literature in other fields, the question of which journals are the best becomes more difficult.

Henry J. Rohrs, MD
Henry J. Rohrs

Consider from which kind of journal and articles you are choosing to gather information. When looking for in-depth discussion on a subject, review articles provide a summary of a topic and the relevant literature. Our goal should be to read review articles from within the past one to two years so the most current data and research are included. When trying to keep yourself updated on new techniques and breakthroughs in your own specialty, choose journals that are directed at readers in your area of interest.

One method that can be used to evaluate the quality of a journal is impact factor. In 1975, Thomson Scientific published the first Journal Citation Reports where impact factor was one of many tools used to evaluate the quality of scientific journals. Impact factor is calculated by dividing the number of current year citations by the total number of published and “citable” articles in that journal during the previous two years.

Fortunately many of us work at academic centers with multiple attending physicians who have significant experience with reading, writing and reviewing published articles. During this time we should make the most of our opportunities to review articles with these mentors.

Journal clubs, which allow critical appraisal of published manuscripts, are a great educational tool. This affords us the opportunity to learn about a particular topic that is relevant to our field, and also receive input from multiple experts at one time.

We as fellows have limited experience in determining what is worth reading, but we have many tools and opportunities from which to learn if we choose to actively seek them out. Understand and take part in the reviewing process, be aware of a publication’s impact factor, participate in journal clubs and answer yes the next time your mentor asks, “Does anyone want to review this article with me?”

Henry J. Rohrs, MD, is a Pediatric Endocrinology Fellow at the University of Florida in the Department of Pediatrics and a member of the Endocrine Today Fellows Advisory Board.

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