Medical Journals

Medical journals arepublications that report medical information to physicians and other healthprofessionals. in the past,these journals were available only in print.With the

development ofelectronic publishing, many medical journals now have Web sites on theInternet,and some journals are published only online.A few medical journals,likethe

Journal of theAmerican Medical Association,are considered general medical journals becausethey cover many fields of medicine.Most medical journals are specialty

journals that focuson a particular area of medicine.

Medical journalspublish many types of articles.Research articles report the results of researchstudies on a range of topics varying from the basic mechanisms of diseases to

clinical trials thatcompare outcomes of different treatments.Review articles summarize and analyzethe information available on a specific topic based on a careful search of

the medicalliterature.

Because the resultsof individual research studies can be affected by many factors,combiningresults from different studies on the same topic can be helpful in reaching

conclusions aboutthe scientific evidence for preventing,diagnosing or treating a particulardisease.Case conferences and case reports may be published in medical journalsto

educate physiciansabout particular illnesses and how to treat them.Editorials in medical journalsare short essays that express the views of the authors,often regarding a

research or reviewarticle published in the same issue.Editorials provide a perspective on how thecurrent article fits with other information on the same topic.Letters to the

editor provide a wayfor readers of the medical journal to express comments,questions or criticismsabout articles published in that journal.The main readersof medical journals are______.

A.the general public

B.healthprofessionals

C.medical critics

D.news reporters