Linked, tagged, or poked: What’s your status?

Issue: BCMJ, vol. 52, No. 10, December 2010, Page 496 Editorials

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when the earnest reporter called. With all the attention our revised and updated web site had been garnering it made sense that the Globe and Mail would want to run an article.[1] However, I’d never been interviewed before and this made me a little nervous.

G&M Is it true that your web site now has new interactive features?
DRR Yes. [Gee, this is easier than I thought.]

G&M And that the New England Journal of Medicine and Lancet have been copying some of your web site features?
DRR No comment.

G&M How did you come up with the brilliant idea of online story commenting, allowing for physician feedback and conversations?
DRR No idea.

G&M Is there any way I can get myself in to the “People” section, which features current physician-related content, In Memoriam, and presidential interviews? I can’t believe it also contains author profiles and video interviews so that BC physicians can learn more about their colleagues, get more information about how articles are written, and read BCMJ author biographies.
DRR I can’t believe it either, and no you can’t get in as you are a pathetic little reporter and not an incredibly good-looking physician like I am.

G&M What an excellent idea to include video content linked to clinical stories, such as surgical videos and author interviews. This will be a huge draw to readers of the print issue. I hear you’ve got content available on YouTube, making your videos searchable by keyword, adding yet another valuable source of referral traffic to the BCMJ site.
DRR Of course. [I really think I am getting a handle on this interview thing.]

G&M Here at the Globe and Mail we are amazed by the brilliance of the BCMJ.org Health Notes.
DRR Aw, shucks.

G&M I see that the Health Notes section of the web site provides physicians with reliable information that they can pass along to their patients. I think it’s mind blowing that the public will be able to access these resources.
DRR If you think this is mind blowing then maybe you should get out more. Have you heard of sex?

G&M Would you like to comment on your use of social media?
DRR I’m certain I’m in favor of it.

G&M Do you think social media will be helpful in building web site traffic, thereby enhancing awareness of BCMJ content? It appears your new web site has been designed with these strategies in mind; incorporating RSS feed capability, a BCMJ blog, and links to the BCMJ’s Twitter and Facebook pages. 
DRR Yes, it has. [Did I just get called a twit?]

G&M You must be excited that with the launch of your new site, phy­sicians can come to bcmj.org to weigh in on hot issues, creating a community that will attract new and repeat visits to see what people are saying on the site.
DRR How do you know all this stuff?

G&M I read your news release.
DRR We did a news release?
—DRR
www.bcmj.org

Note
1. Apart from the facts about our rad web site, my editorial has no basis in reality.

David R. Richardson, MD. Linked, tagged, or poked: What’s your status?. BCMJ, Vol. 52, No. 10, December, 2010, Page(s) 496 - Editorials.



Above is the information needed to cite this article in your paper or presentation. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommends the following citation style, which is the now nearly universally accepted citation style for scientific papers:
Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002;347:284-7.

About the ICMJE and citation styles

The ICMJE is small group of editors of general medical journals who first met informally in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1978 to establish guidelines for the format of manuscripts submitted to their journals. The group became known as the Vancouver Group. Its requirements for manuscripts, including formats for bibliographic references developed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), were first published in 1979. The Vancouver Group expanded and evolved into the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), which meets annually. The ICMJE created the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals to help authors and editors create and distribute accurate, clear, easily accessible reports of biomedical studies.

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