Hong Kong Med J 2023 Feb;29(1):15 | Epub 3 Feb 2023
© Hong Kong Academy of Medicine. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
EDITORIAL
Perspective: a new article type for the Hong Kong
Medical Journal
Michael G Irwin, MB, ChB, FHKAM (Anaesthesiology)1; Martin CS Wong, MD, MPH2
1 Senior Editor, Hong Kong Medical Journal
2 Editor-in-Chief, Hong Kong Medical Journal
Corresponding authors: Dr Michael G Irwin (mgirwin@hku.hk), Prof Martin CS Wong (wong_martin@cuhk.edu.hk)
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“And those who were seen dancing, were thought to be crazy, by those who could not hear the music.”—Friedrich Nietzsche
The Hong Kong Medical Journal (HKMJ) was
first indexed on MEDLINE in 2000 and has developed
over the years to now have a Journal Impact Factor
of 3.125 (Clarivate, 2022). The HKMJ is an important
forum for the dissemination of both local and
international medical research and, with the support
of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine and the
Hong Kong Medical Association, is freely accessible
online with no publication charges. The HKMJ
constantly evolves, and the Editorial Board take
strategic decisions to keep the content contemporary
and interesting for our readers.
Healthcare changes rapidly. New drugs,
techniques and guidelines can be bewildering.
Perspectives exhibit a new and original viewpoint on
available issues, basic concepts, or widespread notions
on a particular topic, suggest and encourage a new
speculation, or discuss the implications of a newly
implemented innovation. Perspectives may focus
on common advances and coming directions on a
topic, and may include unique information along with
personal experience and point of view. Perspectives
can be just that or an opinion or commentary. Similar
to the Perspective section of the New England Journal
of Medicine, this new article type for HKMJ will cover
timely and relevant topics in Medicine and Healthcare
presented in a brief manner.1 These are scholarly
articles which denote a personalised point of view or a
new perspective on a specific topic. Perspectives may
also be narrative reviews of the literature discussing
recent developments in a specific topic or guiding
practice for clinicians as our new Perspective article
type. Although these articles do not amount to unique
research, they can be clinically elucidating and still add
value to the scientific literature, encourage discourse,
and improve the overall impact of the journal.
Perspective articles mainly constitute an
opinion which exhibits the author’s viewpoint
on the strengths and weaknesses of a speculation
or scientific theory and ought to be constructive
criticism backed by evidence intended to promote
scientific dialogue that challenges the current
state of knowledge in a specific field. The editors
will also consider perspective articles discussing
timely clinical or health topics, or research studies
published elsewhere. The editors request, however, that authors do not principally aim to discuss their
own work and try to be balanced in their opinions.
Commentaries can also be considered under
this banner but tend to be shorter (≤1200 words)
and should draw attention to or critique a previously
released article, book, report or guideline, using
anecdotal evidence or the author’s personal experience
to highlight points of wider relevance to the field.
Perspective articles should be generally <2000 words and usually include one figure or
table, and will be peer reviewed.
While editors may invite such articles from
reviewers or experts in the field, authors should
consider writing a Perspective or Commentary in
situations where: the topic is of broad concern to
a wider audience or to the scholarly community in
general; the author wishes to present opinions and
ideas or describe an innovation that has not yet been
broadly implemented; or the author wishes to provide
an in-depth discussion of a topic or literature review
that would be too lengthy for a commentary but does
not amount to a systematic review.
Whether you are writing a Perspective
detailing an innovation, or providing your opinions
or ideas from a particular perspective, decide on
the message you wish to express and organise your
thoughts logically. Perspectives are still scholarly
articles, although they denote a personalised
point of view or a new perspective about available
research; references, figures and tables should be
used sparingly to support key facts. A number of
journals have adopted similar article types and we
feel that Perspectives is an innovation that will prove
very popular with readers. Guidelines on format
and presentation are now available in our Guide
for Authors (https://www.hkamedtrack.org/hkmj/guide_for_author). What are you waiting for?
Author contributions
The author contributed to the editorial, approved the final version for publication, and takes responsibility for its accuracy and integrity.
Conflicts of interest
The author has declared no conflict of interest.
References
1. Article types. The New England Journal of Medicine. Available from: https://www.nejm.org/author-center/article-types. Accessed 13 Jan 2023.