by Dr Evelyn Ho

If you missed this excellent workshop, review the lectures at the Biomedical Imaging and Intervention Journal

The 3^rd International University of Malaya Research Imaging Symposium was focused on “Publishing in a Global Competitive World”. The workshop was targeted for the major stakeholders in the biomedical publishing world – from authors, editors, reviewers, copy-editors, designers to publishers and librarians. The aim was to set benchmarks in biomedical publishing.

There were about 120 participants from 16 countries, giving the event a truly international flavour! The workshop was also to encourage research, writing and reporting of these findings as well as exchange of ideas and new developments. The value of research was only realised when others were able to use the information. Publishing is the prime medium for dissemination of the knowledge and even this was taking new forms with the explosion of electronic and instant access to communications. The internet and the computer have revolutionised research and publishing. Electronic journals are now a common feature, allowing faster processing and publication and therefore timely delivery of the information to the physicians and ultimately benefiting the patients and the public.

The programme had been cleverly designed to be comprehensive and current with invited international speakers and editors. It even included a mini-debate on the Impact Factor of journals. The topics included responsibilities of authors, editors and reviewers; the role of editors and reviewers; editorial independence and governance; the peer review process; publication ethics; manuscripts for the evidence-based medicine era; developments in international journal publishing; the art of copy editing; the publishing cycle to Open Access Online Publishing.

Even though one of the distinguished speakers was suddenly unable to be physically present because of health reasons, this did not stop the organisers from ensuring Bruce Paul Squires, MD, PhD from participating in the opening lectures from his home in Ottawa, Canada via teleconferencing. His lectures were still delivered with voiceover presentation slides. Bruce Squires is Editor Emeritus of the Canadian Medical Association Journal and also Co-Founder of the World Association of Medical Editors.

Other distinguished speakers were: John Arokiasamy, MPH, Editor of Medical Journal of Malaysia; Pik-To Cheung, MBBS MRCP, Senior Editor of Hong Kong Medical Journal; Siew-Tyng Fung, BSc, Director of Training and Technical Support, Thomson Scientific; Arnout Jacobs, MA, MBA, Content Acquisitions Manager, Elsevier; Rajendra Kale, MD, Clinical Reviews Editor, British Medical Journal; Senthil Kumar, MSc, Technical Communicator; Li-Ming Leong, PhD, MSc, Editor, Taylor & Francis Asia Pacific; Lai-Meng Looi, MD FRCPath, Editor, Malaysian Journal of Pathology; Wilfred CG Peh, MD, MHSM, FRCP, FRCR, Editor, Singapore Medical Journal and Martin van der Weyden, MD, FRACP, FRCPA, Editor, The Medical Journal of Australia.

From the lively Q & A (question and answer) sessions as well as discussions that punctuated the lectures, it was obvious that the participants had benefited from the interaction as well as the topics presented.

As the co-organising chairman, Professor Dr Basri JJ Abdullah said in his closing remarks, “…there was an underlying spirit for editorial integrity and professional kinship among biomedical editors.”

The organising chairman, Professor Dr KH Ng’s drive and passion to ensure the success of the workshop is underlined in this quote from him, “For science to progress, we need to publish!”

The organisers were the University of Malaya Research Imaging Centre (UMRIC) and Biomedical Imaging and Intervention Journal (BIIJ) and the co-sponsors were British Medical Journal, Canadian Medical Association Journal, The College of Pathologists, Academy of Medicine of Malaysia, College of Radiology, Academy of Medicine of Malaysia, Elsevier, Hong Kong Medical Journal, Medical Journal of Australia, Medical Journal of Malaysia, Singapore Medical Journal, Taylor and Francis and Thomson Scientific. Special thanks to the generous financial support from Schering AG, Siemens and GE Healthcare.
 

Scenes from the Workshop

Audience in rapt attention at the Workshop	Speakers dinner at Kelantan Delights, Suria KLCC
Active discussion during the Point-Counterpoint Session on The Impact Factor: Use and Abuse	Dr Rajendra Kale (L), Clinical Reviews Editor, British Medical Journal and Dr Martin van der Weyden, Editor of The Medical Journal of Australia