1. religion and spirituality
2. islam

SMJ IN THE EYES OF MEDICAL EXPERTS
The feeling I have towards SMJ is a mixture of admiration and respect. I observed the growth and
progress of the journal over the years. Besides its formal content, several of my communications with
the editorial board included comments on the general performance of SMJ and the impact of the
recent reforms implemented in the technical appearance and the content of the articles of the journal.
This is a simple indication for the feeling of belonging I feel towards SMJ and a way to support and
thank the people behind it.
Ghazi Omar Tadmouri
Turkey
I express my thanks to Saudi Medical Journal as it provides us in the Kingdom with a window to reach
the scientific world outside. In fact, I have received inquiries and paper requests from various parts of
the world ranging from Japan to Argentina after my abstracts were seen on Medline. Keep up the
good work.
Suhad M. Bahijri
Jeddah, KSA
I had a chance to see the most recent issue of Saudi Medical Journal and I think it is, as seen over the
years, at par with any international journal.
Ausaf Ahsan
India
It gives me great pleasure and honor to continue my support to Saudi Medical Journal and to see it as
one of the best medical journals in the world.
Ahmed Ghanem
Najran, KSA
I congratulate the editorial team of Saudi Medical Journal for the new shape that SMJ is taking, which
I believe is a successful start for the new millennium.
Mohamed A. Daw
Libya
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
Saudi Medical Journal
Contents
Processing
5
Editing
15
Marketing
25
English
26
Arabic
28
Editors’ Conclusive Report
31
English
32
Arabic
35
Quality Control Report
39
Previous Staff
45
Staff 2003
48
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
1
SAUDI MEDICAL JOURNAL
www.smj.org.sa
Patron: HRH Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz
Editorial Director: Ketab E. Al-Otaibi
Editors
Editorial Office
Saleh M. Al-Deeb
Basim A. Yaqub
Saudi Medical Journal
Armed Forces Hospital
PO Box 7897
Riyadh 11159
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
www.smj.org.sa
Arabic Editor
Ghada Al Ahmed
Tel. (00 966 1) 477 7714 Ext. 6570
Fax. (00 966 1) 476 1810 or 477 7194
Email: [email protected]
Editorial Office
Susan E. Douglas, Assistant Editor
Joyce E. Elicerio, Editorial Manager
Jeannette P. Von Possel, Editorial Assistant
Claire L. Rivers, Desktop Publisher
Ligaya M. Legaspi, Desktop Publisher
Leila T. Medrano, Graphic Designer
Ismail M. Al-Smadi, Statistician
Marketing & Advertising
Mrs. Ghada Al-Ahmed
Saudi Medical Journal
Armed Forces Hospital
PO Box 7897
Riyadh 11159
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
www.smj.org.sa
Tel. (00 966 1) 477 7714 Ext. 6577
Fax. (00 966 1) 476 1810 or 477 7194
Email: [email protected]
Saudi Medical Journal is copyright under the Berne
Convention and the International Copyright
Convention. All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced in any form or by any
electronic or mechanical means, including information
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form
or by any means without prior permission of the Editor.
Statements expressed in the Saudi Medical Journal
reflect the views and opinions of the authors and not the
policies of the journal. The Saudi Medical Journal
does not accept responsibility for statements made by
contributors or advertisers. Advertisements, which are
published in the Journal, are not endorsed by Saudi
Medical Journal
2
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to
biomedical Journals and Saudi Medical Journal Instruction
to Authors can be downloaded in PDF format free of
charge from the Saudi Medical Journal web site
www.smj.org.sa. If you would like to receive these
documents by e-mail, please send your request to
[email protected]
CITED IN INDEX MEDICUS, MEDLINE AND
PUBMED (Saudi Med J), EXCERPTA MEDICA AND
CURRENT CONTENTS
ASTM CODE N: SAMJDI 19 (1) 684-823
ISSN 0379-5284
Ad v i s o r y a nd E d i t o r i a l B o a r d
Advisory Board
Mohammed Abomelha
Armed Forces Hospital
Yagob Al-Mazrou
Ministry of Health
Ahmed Kurdi
Armed Forces Hospital
Hussein Al-Freihi
Saudi Council for Health Specialities
Khalaf Al-Moutaery
Armed Forces Hospital
Nayef Al-Rodhan
King Faisal Specialist Hospital & RC
Editorial Board
Abdullah Abanmi
Armed Forces Hospital
Riyadh, KSA
Assia Al-Rawaf
Armed Forces Hospital
Riyadh, KSA
Muhammad Majeed-Saidan
Armed Forces Hospital
Riyadh, KSA
Hisham Akbar
King Abdul-Aziz University Hospital
Jeddah, KSA
Ammar C. Al-Rikabi
Hamad Medical Corporation
Qatar
Ratib Mesleh
Armed Forces Hospital
Riyadh, KSA
Rabie Abdel-Halim
(History of Medicine)
King Saud University
Riyadh, KSA
Ali Al-Shehri
King Fahad National Guard Hospital
Riyadh, KSA
Adnan Mofti
Security Forces Hospital
Riyadh, KSA
Saeed Al-Ghamdi
King Khalid University
Abha, KSA
Shouki Bazarbashi
King Faisal Specialist Hospital & RC
Riyadh, KSA
Ashry Gad Mohammed
(Statistician)
King Saud University
Riyadh, KSA
Maher Al-Hadidi
University of Jordan
Jordan
Youssef Comair
American University Beirut
Lebanon
P.M.C. Nair
Sultan Qaboos University Hospital
Muscat, Oman
Hindi Al-Hindi
Armed Forces Hospital
Riyadh, KSA
Ahmed Elzubier
King Fahad University
Al-Khobar, KSA
Sadek R. Pharaon
Zahrawi Hospital
Syria
Abdullah Al-Mobeireek
King Khalid University Hospital
Riyadh, KSA
Mohammed Fouda
King Khalid University Hospital
Riyadh, KSA
Khalid Qattan
King Khalid University Hospital
Riyadh, KSA
Abdullah Al-Rabeeah
King Fahad National Guard Hospital
Riyadh, KSA
Issam Hamadah
King Faisal Specialist Hospital & RC
Riyadh, KSA
Assem Rostom
The Royal Marsden
United Kingdom
Abdulrahman Al-Rajhi
King Faisal Specialist Hospital & RC
Riyadh, KSA
Ali Hajeer
King Fahad National Guard Hospital
Riyadh, KSA
Mona Shahed
Armed Forces Hospital
Riyadh, KSA
Khalid Kalantan
King Khalid University Hospital
Riyadh, KSA
Ghazi Omar Tadmouri
Faith University
Turkey
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
3
Prepared by:
JOYCE ELICERIO – Editorial Manager
JEANNETE VON POSSEL – Editorial Assistant
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
5
PROCESSING
The Year 2002 was another significant year for Saudi Medical Journal. It was another year of
success and milestone developments for the pioneer medical journal of the Middle East. In the
Manuscript Processing Department, it was again a year of attaining goals, maintaining quality &
professional processing of manuscripts and development of state-of-the-art manuscript tracking
system to meet the demands of the continuous growing number of manuscripts submitted to Saudi
Medical Journal.
A 5-YEAR OVERVIEW
JOURNAL GROWTH. Since Saudi Medical Journal published its first issue in 1979, it has been
published bimonthly until in the Year 1999 that the Journal with its increasing number of
manuscripts decided to publish monthly. It was a worthwhile decision and proved to be the only
way to meet the growing number of authors who wish to publish in Saudi Medical Journal. From
the Year 1998 to 1999, there was a 2% increased in the number of manuscripts received while a
45% increased was noted in 2000. A 5% and 3% increased has also been recorded in 2001 and
2002 respectively. The Indexing of the Journal in the year 2000 has also contributed to the
increasing number of manuscripts submitted to Saudi Medical Journal and because of this, there
was a radical 50% increased of manuscripts received in 2002 as compared to the year 1999 where
the Journal first published monthly.
This year we have received a total of 478 manuscripts of
which, 249 has been accepted. In the last five years, we have doubled the number of received and
accepted papers from 1998 to 2000 by more than 100% as shown in Table 1 & Figure 1.
6
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
Table 1: Manuscript Status (1998 - 2002)
Status
1998
1999
2000 (%)
2001 (%)
2002 (%)
Received
205
209 (2%)
378 (45%)
398 (5%)
478 (20%)
Accepted
148
150 (1.3%)
215 (30%)
236 (9%)
249 (5%)
Note: Figures exclude Brief Communications, Correspondence & Clinical Notes
Received
Accepted
Figure 1: Manuscript Status (1998 to 2002)
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
7
REVIEWERS. As we strive to maintain an outstanding number of excellent reviewers, we usually
evaluate them from time to time. As a result of this extensive evaluation, we are proud to say that we
are able to maintain a group of topnotch reviewers who are well-respected experts in their respective
fields. We acknowledge the excellent reviewers who participated in reviewing manuscripts for Saudi
Medical Journal for the Year 2002 which consist of 70-75% of our reviewers. We also commend
the 32 outstanding reviewers who reviewed 3 or more articles in 2002.
MANUSCRIPT
TURNOVER
TIME
OF
SUBMISSION,
ACCEPTANCE
&
PUBLICATION. There was a 55% difference for the total turnover time for a manuscript from
the submission date to acceptance date in the years 1999 and 2000. And in 2001 and 2002, the
turnover time remained at 3.3. While we recorded a difference of 42% for the turnover time from
acceptance date to publication date in 1999 and 2000, an increased of 36% from 2001 to 2002 has
been noted (Table 2 & Figure 2). One major factor for this is the increasing number of high
impact factor articles submitted for publication to Saudi Medical Journal. As we have indicated in
our 2001 annual report, the Journal is considering a twice a month publication to accommodate the
growing number of accepted manuscripts and lessen the turnover time of publication for accepted
papers to our aim of 6 months (Table 3 & Figure 3). However, this decision is still under
consideration.
Table 2: Turnover Time of Submission to Acceptance (1998 - 2002)
Status
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
Received to Acceptance
5.1
4.5
2.9
3.3
3.3
Difference
55%
0%
Table 3: Turnover Time of Acceptance to Publication (1998 - 2002)
Status
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
Acceptance to Publication
10.1
9.1
6.4
4.7
7.4
Difference
8
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
42%
36%
6
5
Mean
4
3
2
1
0
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
Aim
Year
Figure 2: Received – Acceptance: A 5-Year Overview
11
10
9
8
Mean
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1998
1999
2000
Year
2001
2002
Aim
Figure 3: Acceptance- Publication: A 5-Year Overview
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
9
OBJECTIVES FOR 2003
LESSEN PROCESSING TIME FRAME. We aim to lessen the processing time frame from
Received to Publication date to a maximum of 6 months. We believe that one of the many qualities
of a reputable journal is the ability to adhere to timeliness & punctuality. Despite of the increasing
number of high impact factor articles submitted to Saudi Medical Journal, we shall strive to lessen
the processing time frame to a maximum of 6 months to ensure timely publication of significant
topics.
INCREASE REJECTION RATES. We also aim to increase the rejection rates of manuscripts for
publication in order to publish more “high impact” articles for Saudi Medical Journal. As we always
consider the interests of our readers, we feel we should maintain the high standard feature of the
Journal, which is publishing outstanding articles.
EDUCATE. As the Journal continues to receive more and more articles for publication, we notice
that there is a need to educate our future authors who wish to submit their articles for possible
publication to Saudi Medical Journal. With this, it is our aim to inform future authors of the
guidelines on how to write an article. We always stress the need for compliance with the Uniform
Requirements for Biomedical Journals which we already made available through our website,
www.smj.org.sa. Authors can download or print the Uniform Requirements via our website not to
mention the availability of our Instructions to Authors & Suggestions to Authors Online.
DEFINE REQUIREMENTS.
All manuscripts submitted for possible publication is not
immediately processed unless it complies with all the necessary requirements. We now require a
completed Author’s Declaration Form indicating the originality of the manuscript submitted so as to
avoid duplication of articles and conflicts of interest that may arise. Unless an author provides a
valid contact number: fax, telephone & email to speed up the communication process, a manuscript
shall not be processed.
With the availability of Saudi Medical Journal Online, authors can
download blank Copyright Forms, Checklists and other vital information for manuscript submission
through our website.
10 Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
VALUABLE INVESTMENTS
Saudi Medical Journal has been striving to stand on its own feet in as far as finances is concerned.
This is made possible with the help of its growing number of advertisers over the years. We started
building good business relationships with a few advertisers and much to our surprise; we have
maintained quite a number of valued regular advertisers, which stayed with the journal until the
present time. Because of this, Saudi Medical Journal has invested to worthwhile undertakings that
may contribute to the journal’s prestige. Among these undertakings are Indexing with NLM, Saudi
Medical Journal Website, Saudi Medbase 1st & 2nd Edition & a state-of-the-art Database Tracking
System.
NLM, PUBMED, INDEX MEDICUS
One of the many valuable investments that the
Journal has taken was the Indexing of the Journal
with NLM, Pubmed & Index Medicus in January
2000.
It has been a worthwhile undertaking as
we see our journal added to the internationally
acclaimed group of medical journals. It has been a
challenging task for every member of the Editorial
Office but more so very rewarding.
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview 11
SAUDI MED J ONLINE
During this age of Information Technology,
Saudi Medical Journal continues to conform to
the present trend. Since the development of our
website www.smj.org.sa, more and more
authors,
reviewers,
subscribers
prefer
communicating electronically.
FEATURES. Saudi Medical Journal Online features access to Current Issue, Instructions to
Authors, Information & Online Advertising. Online Subscription Management, which includes,
Renewal, Change of Address & Request of previous copy is also available. All subscribers have access
to full text articles in HTML and PDF format. Abstracts and Editorials are available to all online
guests, FREE OF CHARGE.
Aside from these features, online visitors may view the history of Saudi Medical Journal, which is
available in English and Arabic. It also gives information on the Journal’s Editorial Board Members
& Editorial Staff for easy contact in case of any inquiries.
DOWNLOADS. Authors can download Checklists for Manuscript Submission & Assignment of
Copyright Form.
Acrobat Reader is also downloadable from our very own site, FREE OF
CHARGE.
ONLINE ORDERS.
Aside from Online ordering of previous copies of the Journal, Saudi
Medbase CD Rom can also be ordered via our website.
LINKS. Links to PUBMED and Neurosciences Journal Website is also an added feature of the
website.
12 Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
NEW FEATURES. We recently added access to Saudi Medical Journal’s Future Contents &
Future Highlights, which are definitely subject to changes without prior notice to the concerned
author(s).
The Uniform Requirements for Biomedical Journals have also been added for
information.
STATISTICS. Ever since the development of Saudi Med J website in the year 2000, we continue
to think ways on how we can maximize the use of the website and reach more authors, reviewers and
subscribers by just a click of the mouse! Our statistics showed that between June and December
2002, the average number of hits per day is roughly 10,000 hits. Not to mention the successful hits
for the entire site, which is averaging to almost 260,000 a month. The highest hits were from Saudi
Arabia, followed by North America (Figure 4).
No. of Hits Per Day
Most Active Countries Visiting SMJ Website (July-September 2002)
1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Saudi
Arabia
North
America
Europe
Jordan
Other Arab
Countries
Japan
& Asia
Figure 4: Active Countries visiting SMJ website
We have also been receiving inquiries and suggestions of electronic submission of articles and
electronic review process. We are in the process of considering these suggestions and we are looking
forward to executing these plans in the future in order to gratify our valued readers.
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview 13
SAUDI MEDBASE 1st & 2nd EDITION
We are pleased to launch the Saudi MedBase
2nd Edition, a compilation of all literatures
published in other highly acclaimed medical
journals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from
the period 1979 to 1999. We earlier released
the first edition of Saudi Medbase in early
2000, which initially contained literatures
published for the period of 1979 to 1995.
Since the successful launching of its first edition, we thought of developing a more advanced edition
with a wider scope of literatures. The Saudi Medbase 2nd Edition is now available at a reasonable
price of SR100 however; it comes free-of-charge for every 2-year subscription of Saudi Medical
Journal.
DATABASE TRACKING SYSTEM
A state-of-the-art manuscript tracking system
for Saudi Medical Journal has just been
developed. In order to meet the demands of
the
increasing
number
of
manuscripts,
reviewers and subscribers, Saudi Medical
Journal has invested on a database tracking
system that would ease review process, speed
tracking system, and define reviewers and
perfect subscribers’ list.
14 Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
Prepared by:
SUSAN DOUGLAS – Assistant Editor
CLAIRE RIVERS – Desktop Publisher
LIGAYA LEGASPI– Desktop Publisher
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
15
EDITING: A 5- YEAR OVERVIEW
There can be no doubt that Saudi Medical Journal is a success story with an increasing number of
submissions (+124% from 1998), increasing number of pages (+91% from 1998), an increasing
impact factor and the launch of the web page and electronic version of the journal. We have to
recognize the outstanding work of the submitting authors, the staff at the editorial office, and the
readers, who have all, contributed to this Journal.
OUTCOME FOR YEAR 2002
This year we received 587 manuscripts with an increase of 42% from last year and an overall increase
of 124% in the last 5 years from 1998. The rejection rate for this year was 56% compared to 38%
last year and 30% in 1998. We published 1572 pages with a 36% increase from last year and a 91%
increase from 1998 (Table 1 & Figure 1). The turnover time from submission to acceptance for
this year was 3.3 months, the same as last year, but lower by 35% than it was in 1998 at 5.1 months.
The original articles still constitute the main subject of each issue (Table 2 & Figure 2). Our
articles are still mainly from the Kingdom, but we are receiving more articles from the Arab world
and other regional countries, such as, Turkey, Iran, India and Pakistan (Table 3 & Figure 3).
Despite the increase in the number of publications, we will still run monthly this year, in the future
we may increase publication to twice monthly. We also started to include related abstracts for some
articles from the Saudi Med base this will continue over the coming years. The year 2002 also
marked the introduction of the new Highlights section. This appears at the beginning of each issue,
and readers can quickly scan through a summary of some of the more interesting articles in that
issue.
QUALITY CONTROL SECTION. In the year 2002 Susan Douglas was appointed as Quality
Control Officer to ensure the excellence of the journal and to handle all the complaints arising
between the journal, the authors, the reviewers and the publisher. This was very productive and in
the coming years this will not be confined to the Quality Control Officer, but we will appoint an
Ombudsman.
16 Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
Table 1: No. of Pages Printed for Saudi Medical Journal 1998 to 2002
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
No. of Pages
822
998
1215
1158
1572
Percentage
91%
21%
21%
-4%
36 %
(36%)
(21%)
(-4%)
[91%]
(21%)
(%) Yearly Growth Rate
[%] Growth Rate over 5 years
Figure 1: Number of Pages Printed for SMJ (1998 to 2002)
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview 17
Table 2: Country of Origin of Articles Published in SMJ (1998 – 2002)
Origin
No. of Articles
Published in
1998 (%)
No. of Articles
Published in
1999 (%)
No. of Articles
Published in
2000 (%)
No. of Articles
Published in
2001 (%)
No. of Articles
Published in
2002 (%)
KSA
122 (67)
146 (65)
168 (66)
153 (62)
168 (66)
Gulf
Countries
17 (9)
23 (10)
24 (9)
50 (20)
24 (9)
Arab
Countries
32 (17)
36 (16)
54 (21)
28 (8)
54 (21)
Others
13 (7)
20 (9)
10 (4)
25 (10)
10 (4)
Total
184 (100)
225 (100)
256 (100)
248 (100)
256 (100)
(%) Mean for years 1998-2002
Figure 2: Country of Origin of Articles Published in SMJ (1998 – 2002)
18 Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
Table 3: Type of Manuscripts published in SMJ (1998 - 2002)
Review Articles*
No. of Articles
Published in
1998 (%)
20 (10.9)
No. of Articles
Published in
1999 (%)
23 (8.1)
No. of Articles
Published in
2000 (%)
29 (8.7)
No. of Articles
Published in
2001 (%)
26 (9.1)
No. of Articles
Published in
2002 (%)
21 (5.7)
Original Articles*
115 (62.5)
123 (43.3)
130 (38.9)
145 (50.9)
202 (54.6)
Case Reports*
30 (16.3)
42 (14.8)
54 (16.1)
29 (10.2)
59 (15.9)
Communications*
19 (10.3)
37 (13)
43 (12.9)
27 (9.5)
41 (11.1)
Correspondence**
16 (8.7)
17 (6)
24 (7.2)
13 (4.6)
16 (4.3)
Book Reviews**
35 (19)
38 (13.4)
47 (14.1)
40 (14)
15 (4.1)
Errata**
4 (2.2)
4 (1.4)
7 (2.1)
5 (1.7)
16 (4.3)
184
284
334
285
370
Type of Manuscript
Brief
Total
** Not included in the total number of statistics
55% (50%)
16% (14%)
11% (11%)
6% (8%)
4% (6%)
4% (2%)
(%) Mean for years 1998-2002
Figure 3: Type of Manuscripts published in SMJ (1998 - 2002)
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview 19
The first detailed Quality Control report is included in the Annual Report and was sent to members
of the Editorial and Advisory Board, and we have received very positive feedback:
"I commend Saudi Medical Journal for taking such an important step in establishing a Quality
Control Section. The positive effect on the quality of the journal is already seen in your management."
"This is great! It shows our strength and weaknesses, and provides a way to improve SMJ and fine
tune the instructions to authors. I think all issues addressed have been dealt with in a reasonable and
acceptable manner."
OBJECTIVES AND GOALS FOR 2003
Although the journal is now competitive indexed journal, we are still committed to our ambitious
plan for this year and the any years to follow. Our plans for the coming year are outlined.
CONTENT. This year we will concentrate on the quality in addition to the look and the size of the
Journal. Due to a steady increase in the number of publications, we suspect that the rejection rate
will be increased. Although this is sometimes painful, we believe it is necessary.
The reader will notice some changes in the layout of the Journal, and the Highlights section is now
an established part of each issue. There will be changes in the tables and figures, for the better.
Errata notices will appear in the website and be sent to the National Library of Medicine to be
linked to all the manuscripts on Pubmed. We have omitted Letters to the Editor and replaced them
by Brief Communications. The size of the Journal will be enlarged in width but not in length.
Lastly, Instructions to the Authors will now be
available in our website and not published in each issue, but will appear once at the end of each subvolume.
20 Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
CHANGES TO BE IMPLEMENTED FROM JANUARY 2003
♦ Each year the journal will now comprise 2 volumes - Jan - June will be the 1st volume, July -
December the 2nd volume. Full indexes will be included in both the June and December issues.
♦ Addition of the website address and the Founded date to the front cover and page numbers to
spine. Possible addition of SMJ slogan - to be decided.
♦ The width of the Journal will now change from 20 cm to 21 cm, the inside margins will change
from 1.3 cm to 1.5 cm.
♦ The layout of the editorial board will be updated.
♦ Section Headings to change to Helvetica Black font, colored green and blocked to the left for odd
numbered pages and block to the right for even numbered pages.
♦ The title of articles will now be Charcoal bold, size 24.
♦ For the section on original articles - section will be changed to "articles".
♦ Tables will no longer have vertical lines, but transverse lines and borders will remain in place. N
will be used for the total number; and n will be used for the subset total. Tables may be centered
across 2 columns, and the titles for tables - if long enough - may appear at the side of the table, to
avoid having to stretch the table across the columns. If a table comprises only 2 columns, and the
2nd is text, you may include one vertical line.
♦ The text of tables and figure legends will now appear in Helvetica black.
♦ Abbreviations will be used throughout the abstracts and main text in the expanded form with the
exception of those listed in the AMA Manual of Style. No abbreviations will be used in the titles.
♦ In the references section the names of the Journals will now appear in bold.
♦ If references are to appear in tables and they have not previously been cited in the text of the
article, the reference number will run on consecutively from the last reference number cited in the
text of the article i.e. Last reference in the text 29 - first reference in the table 30 - regardless of
where the tables appear in the article.
♦ In the brief communication section - items will now be run-on separated by a dotted line.
Correspondence will now start with "To the Editor:" in bold and italics. Same for "Reply from
the Authors:"
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview 21
♦ Spelling checking will now be carried out on articles in word and ready set go with the use of
Merriam Webster, while typesetting the article, and also again when page numbering the folder.
♦ AMENDMENTS TO INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS:
1. Instructions to Authors will now appear at the front of the issue between the contents page and the
highlights in the January and July issues only. Instructions to Authors and Uniform Requirements
will be made available on the web page. A sentence to this effect will be added to the introductory
pages of the journal.
2. References throughout the text in submitted manuscripts must be in bold.
3. Addition of a sentence indicating that the place and time period of each study should be stated in the
methods section of the abstract and the main methods section of each paper. This will now be a
prerequisite for processing of any papers.
4. Addition of sentence indicating: Upon acceptance of a paper all authors must be able to provide the
full paper for each reference cited upon request at any time up to publication. Failure to do so may
result in the paper being withdrawn from the journal.
5. Addition of list of accepted unexpanded abbreviations from the AMA Manual of Style.
♦ The end of volume indexes should now include a section on Errata notices published throughout
the year. We should also indicate in the contents index if an errata notice was published for any
article.
SUPPLEMENTS. The journal has published a number of special issues in the past in the Arabic
language. This year we are planning to issue 2 special supplements, one on Pediatric Surgery with
Assia Al-Rawaf as the Guest Editor and the second on Cancer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with
Shouki Bazarbashi as the Guest Editor. Additional supplements on important courses, workshops
and symposia are also planned for the coming years.
BINDER. Each yearly volume will be split into 2 sub-volumes with 2 binders for each annual
volume. With each bound issue, we will also include a CD containing all literature published for
that period.
22 Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
EQUIPMENT. In 2001, we invested in new equipment for the Editing Department. This year we
plan to upgrade the remaining older equipment, as we have been experience some time consuming
conflicts with formatting, software and graphics programs.
STAFFING LEVELS. Although the output of the Journal has increased significantly in the last
number of years, and the introduction of the electronic version of the Journal, the number of staff
within the Editing Department has remained constant. This has resulted in a maximum workload
for each member of staff and has caused delays in publication times during holiday periods. To
overcome this problem, we are planning to introduce a new member of staff to the Editing
Department, increasing the Editing team to 4 members.
PROBLEMS.
Incomplete reference information is the number one area in which there is
lacking information, or misinformation in an article. When the author is asked to provide the
original paper, he is often unable to do so. This may be due to a number of reasons, the not least of
which is the use of secondary references by authors. It is clearly stated in the Uniform Requirements
that all references must be verified by the author(s) against the original document. To try to
overcome the use of secondary referencing, we shall include in the instructions to authors a sentence
to indicate that upon acceptance of a paper all authors should be able to provide the full article for
each reference upon request.
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview 23
Prepared by:
GHADA AL AHMED – Marketing Manager
LEILA MEDRANO – Graphic Designer
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
25
MA R K E T I N G
KSA
3289 (50%)
ARAB COUNTRIES
1355 (21%)
SUBSCRIBERS
Saudi Medical Journal has maintained a
NORTH AMERICA
871 (13%
considerable number of subscribers until the
GULF
399 (6%)
end of year 2002.
Fifty percent of our
subscribers are from the Kingdom of Saudi
EUROPE
350 (5%)
ASIA
291 (4%)
AFRICA
26 (.3%)
AUSTRALIA
15 (.2%)
TOTAL
Arabia & the other 50% are dividing among
the other Arab countries which consist of
21%, 13% North America, 6% Gulf, 5%
Europe, 4% Asia, .3% Africa & .2% for
Australia.
6596 (100%)
SUBSCRIBERS’ TRACKING SYSTEM
The growing number of subscribers has been our
driving force to develop a state-of-the-art
Subscriber Tracking System for Saudi Medical
Journal. The system is a far more advanced
version of the old system that we had in the past
years. It has the capacity to store huge files
without affecting its performance. It provides a
faster, more efficient and more detailed
subscriber management.
26 Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
SAUDI MED J HISTORY IN ARABIC
Saudi Medical Journal Online offers easy access
to a number of important features of the
Journal. One of these many features is the
access to the Journal’s history in Arabic. By
just a click on the mouse, online visitors may
access information on how and when the
journal started and key personalities behind the
emergence of Saudi Medical Journal.
ARABIC SPECIAL ISSUE
Saudi Medical Journal is publishing a Special
Arabic Issue entitled Health & Life.
The
purpose of this special publication is to reach
out to the local readers in the Kingdom
through the articles written by topnotch
medical experts tackling on important health
issues.
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview 27
‫اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ‬
‫ﺗﻘﺮﻳﺮ داﺋﺮة اﻟﺘﺴﻮﻳﻖ ﻟﻠﻌﺎم ‪2002‬‬
‫ﺣﻘﻘﺖ داﺋﺮة اﻟﺘﺴﻮﻳﻖ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺎم ‪2002‬م ‪،‬ﻧﺠﺎح وارﺗﻘﺎء ﻡﻠﺤﻮظ آﺎن ﻟﻪ‬
‫اﻷﺛﺮ ﻓﻲ اﺣﺘﻼﻟﻬﺎ ﻡﻮﻗﻌﺎ ﻡﻤﺘﺎزا ﻡﻦ ﻧﺎﺣﻴﺔ درﺝﺔ اﻻﻧﺘﺸﺎر ودرﺝﺔ اﻟﻘﺮاﺋﻴﺔ وأﻳﻀﺎ اﺱﺘﺨﺪاﻡﻬﺎ آﻤﺮﺝﻊ ﺏﻮاﺱﻄﺔ‬
‫اﻟﻤﻬﻦ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﻤﻠﻜﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺏﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ وﻡﻨﻄﻘﺔ اﻟﺨﻠﻴﺞ واﻟﺸﺮق اﻷوﺱﻂ ودول اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ ﺏﺎﻟﻤﻘﺎرﻧﺔ ﻡﻊ‬
‫اﻟﻤﺠﻼت اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻤﻴﺔ‪.‬‬
‫وﻓﻴﻤﺎ ﻳﻠﻲ ﻋﺮﺽﺎ ﻷهﻢ اﻟﺘﻄﻮرات اﻟﺘﻲ ﺣﻘﻘﺖ ﻓﻲ هﺬا اﻟﻌﺎم‪،‬واﻟﺘﻲ أﻋﻄﺖ ﺛﻤﺎرا ﻃﻴﺒﺔ وذﻟﻚ ﺏﺠﻬﻮد اﻟﻌﺎﻡﻠﻴﻦ‬
‫واﻟﺘﻌﺎون اﻟﻤﺴﺘﻤﺮ واﻟﻘﺎﺋﻢ ﺏﻴﻦ ﻡﻜﺘﺐ اﻟﺘﺤﺮﻳﺮ وداﺋﺮة اﻟﺘﺴﻮﻳﻖ‪:‬‬
‫ﺗﻮزﻳﻊ اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ‪:‬‬
‫ﺣﻘﻘﺖ اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ وﻡﻦ ﺥﻼل اﻟﺨﻄﻂ اﻟﺠﺪﻳﺪة اﻟﺨﺎﺻﺔ ﺏﺎﻟﺘﻮزﻳﻊ واﻻﻧﺘﺸﺎر ﺣﻴﺚ أﺻﺒﺢ‬
‫ﻟﻠﻤﺠﻠﺔ ﻗﺎﺋﻤﺘﻬﺎ اﻟﺒﺮﻳﺪﻳﺔ واﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﺤﺘﻮي ﻋﻠﻰ ﻋﺪد ﻡﻀﺎﻋﻒ ﻡﻦ اﻟﻤﺸﺘﺮآﻴﻦ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﻤﻠﻜﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺏﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ‬
‫وﻡﻨﻄﻘﺔ اﻟﺨﻠﻴﺞ واﻟﺪول اﻟﻌﺮﺏﻴﺔ وآﺜﻴﺮ ﻡﻦ دول اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ ﺣﻴﺚ ﻗﺎﺋﻤﺔ ﺏﺮﻳﺪ ﺵﺎﻡﻠﺔ ﻳﺰﻳﺪ ﻋﺪدهﺎ ﺏﺎﺱﺘﻤﺮار ﻡﻦ ﺥﻼل‬
‫ﻃﻠﺒﺎت اﻻﺵﺘﺮاك اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﺼﻞ إﻟﻰ اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ ﻳﻮﻡﻴﺎ ﻡﻦ ﻡﺨﺘﻠﻒ ﻡﻨﺎﻃﻖ اﻟﻤﻤﻠﻜﺔ ودول اﻟﺨﻠﻴﺞ واﻟﺪول اﻟﻌﺮﺏﻴﺔ‬
‫وآﺜﻴﺮ ﻡﻦ دول اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ ‪.‬ﻡﻊ ﺗﻄﻮر ﻋﺎﻟﻢ اﻻﺗﺼﺎﻻت أﺱﺴﺖ اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ ﻡﻮﻗﻌﺎ ﻟﻠﻤﺠﻠﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺵﺒﻜﺔ‬
‫اﻻﻧﺘﺮﻧﺖ‬
‫‪www.smj.org.sa‬‬
‫وهﺬا اﻟﻤﻮﻗﻊ ﻡﺘﻮﻓﺮا ﻟﻤﺸﺘﺮآﻲ اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ ﺣﻴﺚ ﻳﺤﺘﻮي ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻤﻘﺎﻻت اﻟﺘﻲ ﻧﺸﺮت ﺏﺎﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ ﻡﻦ ﻋﺪد ﻳﻨﺎﻳﺮ ‪2000‬‬
‫وﻡﺎ ﻳﻠﻴﻪ ﻡﻦ أﻋﺪاد ﻻﺣﻘﺔ إﻳﻤﺎﻧﺎ ﻡﻨﺎ ﻟﻤﺴﺎﻳﺮة اﻟﺘﻄﻮر اﻟﻌﻠﻤﻲ اﻟﻤﺘﺴﺎرع ﺏﺎﺥﺘﻼف أﻧﻮاﻋﻪ ﻟﻤﺎ ﻓﻴﻪ ﺥﻴﺮ اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ‬
‫وأﻳﻀﺎ ﺗﺤﻘﻴﻖ اﻟﻔﺎﺋﺪة اﻟﻤﺮﺝﻮة ﻟﻘﺮاﺋﻬﺎ‪.‬‬
‫اﻹﺻﺪار اﻟﺸﻬﺮي‪:‬‬
‫ﻡﻮاﻇﺒﺔ اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻨﻬﺞ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺤﺮص ﺏﺎﻻﻧﺘﻘﺎء اﻟﺠﻴﺪ ﻟﻠﻤﻘﺎﻻت ﻡﻦ ﻗﺒﻞ اﻟﻤﺤﺮرﻳﻦ وﻡﺮاﺝﻌﺘﻬﺎ ﻡﻦ ﻗﺒﻞ‬
‫أﻓﻀﻞ اﻟﻤﺮاﺝﻌﻴﻦ ﻡﺤﻠﻴﺎ وﻋﺎﻟﻤﻴﺎ وﺥﻀﻊ ﻧﺸﺮ اﻟﻤﻘﺎﻻت واﻷﺏﺤﺎث ﻟﻤﻮاﺻﻔﺎت ﻡﺤﺪدة وﺻﺎرﻡﺔ ﺗﻀﻊ اﻋﺘﺒﺎرا‬
‫ﻟﻠﻘﻴﻤﺔ اﻟﻌﻠﻤﻴﺔ ﻟﻠﺒﺤﺚ وﻇﻞ اﻟﻘﺮار اﻟﺨﺎص ﺏﺎﻟﻨﺸﺮ ﻳﺘﺨﺬ ﺏﻌﺪ ﻧﻘﺎش ﻡﺸﺘﺮك ﺏﻴﻦ ﻡﺠﻤﻮع ﻡﻦ اﻟﻤﺤﻜﻤﻴﻦ‬
‫اﻟﻤﺨﺘﺼﻴﻦ واﻟﻤﺤﺎﻓﻈﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ إﺻﺪار آﻞ ﻋﺪد ﺝﺪﻳﺪ ﺏﻮﻗﺘﻪ اﻟﻤﺤﺪد وﺏﺪون أي ﺗﺄﺥﻴﺮ ﺝﻌﻞ اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ ﺗﺤﺎﻓﻆ‬
‫وﺗﺴﺘﻤﺮ ﻓﻲ ﺗﺤﺴﻦ اﻟﻤﺴﺘﻮى اﻟﻌﻠﻤﻲ وزﻳﺎدة ﻡﺴﺘﻤﺮة ﻟﻠﻤﺸﺎرآﺎت اﻟﻤﺨﺘﻠﻔﺔ ﻡﻦ ﻡﺨﺘﻠﻒ ﻡﻨﺎﻃﻖ اﻟﻤﻤﻠﻜﺔ ودول‬
‫اﻟﺠﻮار ودول اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ وأﻳﻀﺎ زﻳﺎدة ﻡﺴﺘﻤﺮة ﻟﻠﻤﻘﺎﻻت اﻷﺻﻠﻴﺔ ﻡﻤﺎ ﻳﻌﻜﺲ رﻏﺒﺔ اﻟﺒﺎﺣﺜﻴﻦ واﻷﻃﺒﺎء ﻓﻲ ﻧﺸﺮ‬
‫أﻋﻤﺎﻟﻬﻢ اﻷﺏﺘﻜﺎرﻳﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻡﺠﻠﺔ ذات ﻧﻮﻋﻴﺔ واﻡﺘﻴﺎز‪.‬‬
‫‪28 Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview‬‬
‫ﻡﺠﻠﺔ ﻡﺴﺠﻠﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﻜﺘﺒﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻤﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ واﺵﻨﻄﻦ‬
‫ﺗﺸﻬﺪ اﻟﻤﻤﻠﻜﺔ ﺗﻄﻮرات آﻤﻴﺔ وﻧﻮﻋﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺝﻤﻴﻊ اﻟﻤﺠﺎﻻت وﺥﺎﺻﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻡﺠﺎل ﺗﻘﺪﻳﻢ اﻟﺨﺪﻡﺎت اﻟﺼﺤﻴﺔ‬
‫ﻳﻌﻜﺲ اهﺘﻤﺎم اﻟﺪوﻟﺔ وﺣﻜﻮﻡﺔ ﺥﺎدم اﻟﺤﺮﻡﻴﻦ اﻟﺸﺮﻳﻔﻴﻦ اﻟﻤﺘﻮاﺻﻞ ﻟﻠﻨﻬﻮض واﻻرﺗﻘﺎء ﺏﺎﻟﺨﺪﻡﺎت اﻟﺼﺤﻴﺔ‬
‫آﻐﻴﺮهﺎ ﻡﻦ ﻗﻄﺎﻋﺎت اﻟﺘﻨﻤﻴﺔ وﺏﻤﺎ أن اﻟﺘﻌﻠﻴﻢ واﻹﻋﻼم اﻟﻄﺒﻲ أﺣﺪ رواﻓﺪ اﻟﻨﻬﻀﺔ اﻟﺼﺤﻴﺔ وأن اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ‬
‫اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ وﺱﻴﻠﺔ ﻡﻬﻤﺔ ﻟﻨﺸﺮ اﻷﺏﺤﺎث اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ وذات ﻡﺴﺘﻮى ﻡﺘﻤﻴﺰ ﺗﻢ اﺥﺘﻴﺎر اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ ﻟﺘﻜﻮن‬
‫ﻡﺠﻠﺔ ﻡﺴﺠﻠﺔ آﻤﺮﺝﻊ ﻃﺒﻲ ﻋﺎﻟﻤﻲ اﻟﺬي ﻳﺼﺪر ﻋﻦ اﻟﻤﻜﺘﺒﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻤﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ واﺵﻨﻄﻦ ﺏﺎﻟﻮﻻﻳﺎت اﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪة‬
‫اﻷﻡﺮﻳﻜﻴﺔ واﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﻌﺘﺒﺮ أهﻢ ﻡﺮﺝﻊ ﻃﺒﻲ ﻋﺎﻟﻤﻲ ﻡﻌﺘﺮف ﺏﻪ ﻡﻦ ﻗﺒﻞ ﺝﻤﻴﻊ اﻟﺠﺎﻡﻌﺎت واﻟﻤﻌﺎهﺪ واﻟﻤﺆﺱﺴﺎت‬
‫اﻟﺘﻌﻠﻴﻤﻴﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺝﻤﻴﻊ دول اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ‪.‬‬
‫اﻟﺴﺒﻖ اﻟﺼﺤﻔﻲ‪:‬‬
‫اﻻﺱﺘﻤﺮار ﻓﻲ اﻻﺗﺼﺎل ﺏﺎﻟﺼﺤﻒ اﻟﺼﺎدرة ﻡﺤﻠﻴﺎ وذﻟﻚ ﻟﻨﺸﺮ ﻡﻠﺨﺼﺎت اﻟﻤﻘﺎﻻت اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﻬﻢ اﻟﺠﻤﻬﻮر‬
‫ﺏﺸﻜﻞ ﻋﺎم وﺏﺎﻟﻔﻌﻞ ﺗﻢ ﻧﺸﺮ ﻋﺪد آﺒﻴﺮ ﻡﻦ ﻡﻠﺨﺼﺎت اﻟﻤﻘﺎﻻت ﻓﻲ ﺻﺤﻒ ﻳﻮﻡﻴﺔ )آﺼﺤﻴﻔﺔ اﻟﺸﺮق‬
‫اﻷوﺱﻂ‪،‬اﻟﺠﺰﻳﺮة‪،‬اﻟﺒﻼد‪،‬اﻟﺮﻳﺎض‪،‬اﻟﻴﻮم‪،‬اﻟﺒﻼد(ﻡﻤﺎ أدى إﻟﻰ ﺗﻮﺛﻴﻖ اﻟﻌﻼﻗﺔ ﺏﻴﻦ اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ واﻟﻮﺱﺎﺋﻞ اﻹﻋﻼﻡﻴﺔ‬
‫وأﻳﻀﺎ آﺎﻧﺖ وﺱﻴﻠﺔ ﻟﻼﻧﺘﺸﺎر اﻷوﺱﻊ ﺥﺎﺻﺔ أﻧﻪ ﺗﻢ اﻟﺘﻨﻮﻳﻪ إﻟﻰ ﻡﺼﺪر ﻧﺸﺮ هﺬﻩ اﻷﺏﺤﺎث‪.‬‬
‫اﻹﻋﻼﻥﺎت‪:‬‬
‫ﺗﻤﺜﻞ اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ أﻗﻮى وﺱﻴﻠﺔ ﻟﻺﻋﻼن واﻻﻧﺘﺸﺎر ﻓﻲ اﻟﺴﻮق اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ وأﺱﻮاق دول‬
‫اﻟﺨﻠﻴﺞ واﻟﻮﻃﻦ اﻟﻌﺮﺏﻲ ﻟﺬا اﺱﺘﻤﺮت ﺵﺮآﺎت اﻷدوﻳﺔ واﻟﻤﻌﺪات اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻨﺔ ﺱﺎﺏﻘﺎ ﺏﺈﻋﻼﻧﺎﺗﻬﺎ ﺏﻞ أﺽﺎﻓﺖ‬
‫إﻋﻼﻧﺎت ﺝﺪﻳﺪة وأﻳﻀﺎ آﺎن هﻨﺎك إﻋﻼﻧﺎت ﻟﻤﺆﺱﺴﺎت وﺵﺮآﺎت ﺝﺪﻳﺪة واﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ ﻻ ﺗﻨﻈﺮ إﻟﻰ اﻟﻨﺸﺎط اﻹﻋﻼﻧﻲ‬
‫ﻡﻦ اﻟﻤﻨﻈﻮر اﻟﺘﺠﺎري ﻓﻘﻂ وﻟﻜﻦ ﺏﺎﻋﺘﺒﺎرﻩ واﺣﺪا ﻡﻦ وﺱﺎﺋﻞ ﻧﺸﺮ اﻟﻤﻌﺮﻓﺔ اﻟﺼﺤﻴﺔ ﻟﻜﻞ اﻟﻤﻤﺎرﺱﻴﻦ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺤﻘﻞ‬
‫اﻟﻄﺒﻲ ﻡﻦ إدارﻳﻴﻦ وﻓﻨﻴﻴﻦ‪.‬‬
‫‪Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview 29‬‬
‫اﻟﻤﺆﺗﻤﺮات اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ‪:‬‬
‫ﺗﻠﻘﺖ اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ وﺏﻜﻤﻴﺎت آﺒﻴﺮة إﻋﻼﻧﺎت ﻋﻦ اﻟﻤﺆﺗﻤﺮات واﻟﻠﻘﺎءات واﻟﻨﺪوات اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ‬
‫واﻟﻨﺸﺎﻃﺎت اﻷآﺎدﻳﻤﻴﺔ ﻡﻦ اﻟﻤﺴﺘﺸﻔﻴﺎت وآﻠﻴﺎت اﻟﻄﺐ واﻟﻤﻌﺎهﺪ اﻟﺼﺤﻴﺔ ﻡﻦ اﻟﻤﻤﻠﻜﺔ وﺥﺎرﺝﻬﺎ ﺣﻴﺚ آﺎﻧﺖ‬
‫أﺝﻨﺪﻩ اﻟﻨﺸﺎﻃﺎت اﻷآﺎدﻳﻤﻴﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ زاﺥﺮة ﺏﻬﺬﻩ اﻹﻋﻼﻧﺎت ﻋﻠﻰ ﻡﺪار إﺻﺪارات هﺬا اﻟﻌﺎم‪.‬آﻤﺎ ﺵﺎرآﺖ اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ‬
‫ﺏﺤﻀﻮر ﻡﻜﺜﻒ ﻟﺒﻌﺾ اﻟﻤﺆﺗﻤﺮات اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻤﻴﺔ اﻟﺘﻲ ﻋﻘﺪت ﻓﻲ ﻡﺪﻳﻨﺔ اﻟﺮﻳﺎض ووزع آﺜﻴﺮ ﻡﻦ أﻋﺪاد اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ‬
‫ﻟﻠﺤﺎﺽﺮﻳﻦ ﻟﻬﺬﻩ اﻟﻨﺪوات آﻢ ﺗﻢ اﻟﺘﻌﺮﻳﻒ ﻋﻦ اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ ﻟﻠﺒﺎﺣﺜﻴﻦ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻤﻴﻴﻦ اﻟﻘﺎدﻡﻴﻦ ﻡﻦ دول ﻋﺮﺏﻴﺔ وﻋﺎﻟﻤﻴﺔ‬
‫ﻡﺨﺘﻠﻔﺔ وﺗﻢ ﻧﺸﺮ آﺜﻴﺮ ﻡﻦ اﻷﺏﺤﺎث اﻟﺘﻲ ﻃﺮﺣﺖ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﺆﺗﻤﺮات ﺏﺄﻋﺪاد ﻡﺨﺘﻠﻔﺔ ﻡﻦ اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ‪.‬‬
‫اﻟﺼﺤﺔ واﻟﺤﻴﺎة)ﻋﺪد ﺧﺎص ﺏﺎﻟﻠﻐﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺏﻴﺔ ﻳﺼﺪر ﻋﻦ اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ(‬
‫اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ وﺱﻴﻠﺔ ﻡﻬﻤﺔ ﻟﻨﺸﺮ اﻷﺏﺤﺎث اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ وﺏﻤﺎ أن ﺏﻌﺾ أﻋﺪاد اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ ﺗﺤﺘﻮي ﻋﻠﻰ ﻡﻘﺎﻻت‬
‫ﺗﻬﻢ اﻟﺠﻤﻬﻮر ﺏﺸﻜﻞ ﻋﺎم ﻟﺬا رأﻳﻨﺎ ﻡﻦ واﺝﺒﻨﺎ وواﺝﺐ اﻷﻃﺒﺎء واﻟﻌﻠﻤﺎء ﻧﺤﻮ اﻟﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊ ﺗﻮﻋﻴﺔ اﻟﺠﻤﻬﻮر ﺏﺎﻟﻤﺠﺎل‬
‫اﻟﺼﺤﻲ واﻟﻄﺒﻲ وﻧﺸﺮ اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻡﺎت اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ ﻡﻦ ﻡﺼﺪر ﻳﺘﻮﺥﻰ دﻗﺔ اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻡﻴﺔ وﺻﺤﺘﻬﺎ ﻟﺬا ﻃﻠﺐ ﻡﻦ ﻡﺆﻟﻔﻴﻦ‬
‫هﺬﻩ اﻟﻤﻘﺎﻻت إﻋﺎدة آﺘﺎﺏﺘﻬﺎ وﺗﺒﺴﻴﻂ اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻡﺎت اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ وأﻳﻀﺎ ﺗﻢ دﻋﻮة ﻋﺪد ﻡﻦ اﻷﻃﺒﺎء اﻟﻤﻤﻴﺰﻳﻴﻦ ﻓﻲ ﻡﺨﺘﻠﻒ‬
‫اﻟﺘﺨﺼﺼﺎت اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ ﻟﻨﺸﺮ ﻡﻘﺎﻻت ﻓﻲ هﺬا اﻟﻌﺪد اﻟﺨﺎص )اﻟﺼﺤﺔ واﻟﺤﻴﺎة( اﻟﺬي ﺻﺪرﻓﻲ ﻓﺒﺮاﻳﺮ‪.‬‬
‫اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ ﺗﺤﺮص ﻋﻠﻰ ﻡﻜﺎﻧﺘﻬﺎ اﻟﻘﻴﺎدﻳﺔ واﻡﺘﻴﺎزهﺎ‪ ،‬ﻃﻤﻮﺣﺎﺗﻨﺎ وﻗﺪراﺗﻨﺎ آﺒﻴﺮة ﻟﺬا ﻧﺄﻡﻞ ﻡﻦ اﻟﻌﻠﻲ اﻟﻘﺪﻳﺮ‬
‫اﻟﺘﻮﻓﻴﻖ واﻟﻨﺠﺎح ﻟﺘﺤﻘﻴﻖ ﻡﺰﻳﺪا ﻡﻦ اﻟﺘﻘﺪم واﻟﻨﺠﺎح ﻟﺘﺒﻘﻰ اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ ﻡﻔﺨﺮة وﻃﻨﻴﺔ ووﺱﻴﻠﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻏﺎﻳﺔ اﻷهﻤﻴﺔ ﻟﻨﺸﺮ‬
‫اﻟﻤﻌﺮﻓﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ‪.‬‬
‫ﻏﺎدة اﻷﺣﻤﺪ‬
‫اﻟﻤﺤﺮرة اﻟﻌﺮﺏﻴﺔ وﻡﺪﻳﺮة اﻟﺘﺴﻮﻳﻖ‬
‫‪30 Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview‬‬
Saud i Med ic al Jo urnal
A c ollege by itself!
Basim A. Yaqub, MD, FRCP, Saleh M. Al-Deeb, MD, FRCP
Saudi Medical Journal was founded in 1979. In 1999 it
became monthly with a steady growth in manuscripts
submitted and number of pages published. In the last 5
years, we have doubled in number of articles and pages
published. In addition we achieved growth not only in
quantity but also in quality. We have published many
supplements and special issues in Arabic and English. In
the year 2000, the journal was indexed by the National
Library of Medicine in Medline and Pubmed. We also
have established a website (www.smj.org.sa) with an
average of 1000 hits daily. We recollected all the
published data from all journals published in Saudi
Arabia from 1979 until the end of 1999, in a special CD,
MedBase.
Annual Report. This year we received 587
manuscripts with an increase of 42% from last year and
overall increase of 124% in the last 5 years from 1998.
The rejection rate for this year was 56% compared to
38% last year, and 30% in 1998 (Figure 1). We
published 1572 pages with a 36% increase from last year
and a 91% increase from 1998 (Figure 2). The turnover
time from submission to acceptance for this year was 3.3
months, the same as last year, but lower by 35% than it
was in 1998 at 5.1 months. Each yearly volume will be
split into 2 sub-volumes with 2 binders for each annual
volume. With each bound issue we will also include a
CD containing all literature published for that period.
The original articles still constitute the main subject of
each issue (Figure 3). Our articles are still mainly from
the Kingdom, but we are receiving more articles from the
Arab world and other regional countries, such as,
Turkey, Iran, India and Pakistan (Figure 4). Despite the
increase in the number of publications we will still run
monthly this year, however, in the future we may
increase publication to twice monthly. We also started
to include related abstracts for some articles, from the
Saudi MedBase (Figure 5), this will continue over the
coming years.
This year the reader will notice a major change in
the Editorial Board, and we would like to thank the
members of the Editorial Board who have retired at the
end of 2002: Abdul-Aziz Al-Meshari, Fahad Al32 Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
Manuscript Status for the Period
1998-2002
(%) Indicates the Rejection Rate
(%) Yearly Growth Rate
[%] Growth Rate of Submitted paper over 5 years
Figure 1
Number of Pages Printed
1998-2002
(%) Yearly Growth Rate)
[%] Growth Rate Over 5 Years
Figure 2
Type of Manuscripts Published in
Saudi Medical Journal in 2002
(%) Mean for years 1998-2002
Figure 3
Country of Origin of Articles
Published in Saudi Medical
Journal in 2002
(%) Mean for years 1998-2002
Figure 4
Figure 5
Most Active Countries Visiting
SMJ Website (July-December 2002)
Figure 6
Figure 7
Muhanna, Fahad Al-Rabiah, Zain Al-Shareef, Bahaa
AbaAlkhail, Menwar Anazi, George Araj (Lebanon), Talal
Bakhsh, Hassan Bassiouny (Egypt), Abdulbari Bener (UAE),
Joseph Dagher (USA), Dirk Deleu (Oman), Mohsen ElHazmi, Hatem El-Shanti (Jordan), Syed Haider (India),
Khalid Haque (UK), Ali Ibrahim (Syria), and Tariq Noman
(Yemen). Hussein Al-Freihi, Yagob Al-Mazrou, Nayef AlRodhan, Mohammed Abomelha, and Ahmed Kurdi retired
from the Editorial Board and joined the Advisory Board. We
would also like to thank Muhammad Al-Mufti, Mansour AlNozha and Khalid Tabbara who retired from the Advisory
Board. We were deeply shocked and saddened by the
departure of one of our eminent Advisory Board members,
Professor George W. Bruyn, one of the founding pillars of the
journal. We have invited an excellent faculty to join us in the
Editorial Board in addition to those who remain and we hope
that this new blood will maintain the progress of the journal.
We would especially like to welcome and thank them for
accepting our invitation to join our Editorial Board. The new
faculty are: Hisham Akbar, Saeed Al-Ghamdi, Maher AlHadidi (Jordan), Hindi Al-Hindi, Abulrahman Al-Rajhi, Assia
Al-Rawaf, Ammar Al-Rikabi (Qatar), Ali Al-Shehri, Shouki
Bazarbashi, Ahmed Elzubier, Mohammed Fouda, Issam
Hamadah, Ali Hajeer, Khalid Kalantan, Muhamad MajeedSaidan, Ratib Mesleh, Adnan Mofti, Sadek Pharaon (Syria),
Khalid Qattan, Assem Rostom (UK), Mona Shahed and
Ghazi Tadmouri (Turkey). Also, Ashry Gad Mohammed
(supervising statistics), and Rabie Abdel-Halim (editing
History of Medicine) will be added to our Editorial Board.
There will be some changes in the Editorial Office where
Susan Douglas, in addition to her post as the Copy Editor will
be Assistant Editor of the journal and Joyce Figuerres, in
addition to her post as Editorial Manager, will supervise the
Journal website.
In the year 2002 we appointed Susan Douglas as
Quality Control Officer to ensure the excellence of the journal
and to handle all the complaints arising between the journal,
the authors, the reviewers and the publisher. This was very
productive and in the coming years this will not be confined
to the Quality Control Officer, but we will appoint an
Ombudsmen. The first detailed Quality Control report is
published in this issue and will be sent to members of the
Editorial and Advisory Board for their comments.
The Future. Although the journal is now a
competitive indexed journal, we are still committed to
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview 33
our ambitious plan for this year and the many years to
follow. Our plans for the coming year are outlined.
Content. This year we will concentrate on the
quality in addition to the look and the size of the
journal. Due to a steady increase in number of
publications, we suspect that the rejection rate will be
increased. Although this is sometimes painful, we
believe it is necessary.
The reader will notice some changes in the
layout of the journal, and the highlights section is now
an established part of each issue. There will be
changes in the tables and figures, for the better. Errata
notices will appear in the website and be sent to the
National Library of Medicine to be linked to all the
manuscripts on Pubmed. We have omitted Letters to
the Editor and replaced them by Brief
Communications. The size of the Journal will be
enlarged in width but not in length.
Lastly,
Instructions to the Authors will now be available in
our web site and not published in each issue, but will
appear once at the end of each sub-volume.
Website. Our website has been modified to
accommodate an extensive search facility. We plan to
expand on electronic communication through our
website, and we may consider sending articles for
review electronically through the website, once we
ensure confidentially with a protected password for
each manuscript. Our website is still in the developing
stages, but still attracts 30,000 hits per month. The
highest hits were from Saudi Arabia & North America
followed by Europe, Arab countries and Japan (Figure
6). We hope to make many more improvements for
the benefit of the readers and reviewers. Any
suggestions or comments regarding our web page
should be sent directly to Joyce Figuerres, through email via the web page.
Supplements. The journal has published a
number of special issues in the past in the Arabic
language. This year we will have a new endeavor in
which we will publish a well designed issue in Arabic
called “Health and Life” which is addressed not only to
physicians but also to the public. It will be edited by
our Arabic Editor, Ghada Al-Ahmed. It will deal with
many topics important to the society addressed by
prominent clinicians and scientists giving real facts on
topics to educate the public by evidence based rather
than tabloid medicine. This endeavor was well
supported by His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin
Abdul-Aziz, our Patron, and Ketab Al- Otaibi, our
34 Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
Editorial Director. In addition to this we are planning
to have 2 supplements, one on Pediatric Surgery with
Assia Al-Rawaf as the Guest Editor and the second on
Cancer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with Shouki
Bazarbashi as the Guest Editor, both have joined our
Editorial Board.
Additional supplements on
important courses, workshops and symposia are also
planned for the coming years. We are willing to
publish more supplements on important academic
activities in the Kingdom or outside. We have
appointed Susan Douglas, to be Assistant to the Guest
Editors for any future supplements.
Courses, workshops and symposia. At the
beginning of this year, SMJ entered into an exciting
venture: The Second Intensive Course on (1) Planning
and Performing a Research Study and (2) Writing and
Presenting a Scientific Paper in conjunction with the
Research Committee of the Department of Surgery at
King Saud University. A report on this symposium
will be published in one of the coming issues. We have
approached the East Mediterranean Medical Journal
and the Bahrain Medical Bulletin with a view to
holding a combined meeting on Medical Journalism,
which has resulted in a Regional Conference to be held
in Cairo 24-27 November this year. The objectives of
this conference will be to review the current status of
medical journals published in the Region. This will
include assessing the problems, developing guidelines
and establishing a code of ethics. A one day training
workshop for editors will be conducted. As a result of
the meeting we hope to establish combined Council of
Editors of medical journals in the Region. Editors,
interested health educators, biomedical researchers,
authors, publishers, scientists and academicians are
asked to participate.
The journal has gone so far, not only as a basin
for publication of manuscripts on medical research,
but also in society education by publishing Arabic
issues. Our future vision is to be part of training and
education, and set a foundation for a college in
medical journalism not only in the Kingdom but also
in our area. Our future plans are very ambitious but
we cannot do it alone without the help of the Colleges,
Universities, researchers and subscribers.
At a time where “civilized” countries are busy
with war and terrorism in our area, Saudi Medical
Journal shines monthly as a civilized face coming from
Arabia.
‫اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ‬
‫ُآ ِﻠ ﱠﻴ ٌﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺣﺪ ذاﺗﻬﺎ‬
‫ﺻﺎﻟﺢ اﻟﺬﻳﻴﺐ‪ ،‬ﺏﺴﻴﻢ ﻳﻌﻘﻮب‬
‫ﺗﺄﺳﺴﺖ اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ ﻋﺎم ‪ ،1979‬وﻓﻲ ﻋﺎم ‪ 1999‬أﺻﺒﺤﺖ ﻡﺠﻠﺔ ﺷﻬﺮﻳﺔ‬
‫وﺷﻬﺪت ﻧﻤﻮا ﻡﻄﺮدا ﻓﻲ ﻋﺪد اﻟﻤﻘﺎﻻت اﻟﻌﻠﻤﻴﺔ اﻟﻤﻘﺪﻡﺔ وﻋﺪد اﻟﺼﻔﺤﺎت اﻟﻤﻨﺸﻮرة‪ .‬وﻓﻲ‬
‫‪Manuscript Status for the Period 1998-2002‬‬
‫اﻟﺴﻨﻮات اﻟﺨﻤﺲ اﻷﺧﻴﺮة ﺿﺎﻋﻔﻨﺎ ﻋﺪد اﻟﻤﻘﺎﻻت وﻋﺪد اﻟﺼﻔﺤﺎت اﻟﻤﻨﺸﻮرة وﺡﻘﻘﻨﺎ ﻓﻮق‬
‫ذﻟﻚ ﻧﻤﻮا ﻟﻴﺲ ﻡﻦ ﺡﻴﺚ اﻟﻜﻢ ﻓﺤﺴﺐ ﺏﻞ وﻡﻦ ﺡﻴﺚ اﻟﻨﻮع أﻳﻀﺎ‪ .‬وﻟﻘﺪ ﻧﺸﺮﻧﺎ اﻟﻌﺪﻳﺪ ﻡﻦ‬
‫اﻟﻤﻼﺡﻖ واﻷﻋﺪاد اﻟﺨﺎﺻﺔ ﺏﺎﻟﻠﻐﺘﻴﻦ اﻟﻌﺮﺏﻴﺔ واﻹﻧﺠﻠﻴﺰﻳﺔ‪ .‬وﻓﻲ ﻋﺎم ‪ ،2000‬ﺕﻤﺖ ﻓﻬﺮﺱﺔ‬
‫وﺷﺒﻜﺔ ﺏﺎﺏﻤﻴﺪ ‪Medline‬اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ ﻟﺪى اﻟﻤﻜﺘﺒﺔ اﻟﻮﻃﻨﻴﺔ ﻟﻠﻄﺐ ﻓﻲ ﺷﺒﻜﺔ ﻡﻴﺪﻻﻳﻦ‬
‫‪ .www.smj.org.sa‬آﻤﺎ ﻗﻤﻨﺎ ﺏﺘﺄﺱﻴﺲ ﻡﻮﻗﻊ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻹﻧﺘﺮﻧﺖ وهﻮ ‪Pubmed‬‬
‫‪(%) Indicates the Rejection Rate‬‬
‫‪(%) Yearly Growth Rate‬‬
‫‪[%] Growth Rate of Submitted paper over 5 years‬‬
‫‪Figure 1‬‬
‫ﻳﺒﻠﻎ ﻡﺘﻮﺱﻂ ﻋﻤﻠﻴﺎت اﻟﺒﺤﺚ اﻟﻴﻮﻡﻴﺔ ﻓﻴﻪ ‪ 1.000‬ﻋﻤﻠﻴﺔ‪ .‬وﻗﺪ ﻗﻤﻨﺎ ﺏﺈﻋﺎدة ﺝﻤﻊ آﺎﻓﺔ‬
‫اﻟﻤﻘﺎﻻت اﻟﻤﻨﺸﻮرة ﻡﻦ ﺝﻤﻴﻊ اﻟﻤﺠﻼت اﻟﺘﻲ ﺻﺪرت ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﻤﻠﻜﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺏﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ اﺏﺘﺪاء‬
‫ﻡﻦ ﻋﺎم ‪ 1979‬وﺡﺘﻰ ﻧﻬﺎﻳﺔ ﻋﺎم ‪ 1999‬ﻓﻲ ﻗﺮص ﻡﺪﻡﺞ ﺧﺎص ﺏﺎﺱﻢ اﻟﻘﺎﻋﺪة اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ‬
‫‪Medbase .‬اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ‬
‫‪Number of Pages Printed 1998-2002‬‬
‫اﻝﺘﻘﺮﻱﺮ اﻝﺴﻨﻮي‪-‬ﺕﻠﻘﻴﻨﺎ ﻓﻲ هﺬا اﻟﻌﺎم ‪ 587‬ﻡﻘﺎﻟﺔ ﺏﺰﻳﺎدة ﻗﺪرهﺎ ‪ %42‬ﻋﻦ اﻟﺴﻨﺔ اﻟﻤﺎﺿﻴﺔ‬
‫وﺏﺰﻳﺎدة آﻠﻴﺔ ﻗﺪرهﺎ ‪ %124‬ﺧﻼل اﻟﺴﻨﻮات اﻟﺨﻤﺲ اﻟﻤﺎﺿﻴﺔ اﺏﺘﺪاء ﻡﻦ ﻋﺎم ‪ .1998‬وﻗﺪ‬
‫وﺻﻞ ﻡﻌﺪل رﻓﺾ اﻟﻤﻘﺎﻻت ﻟﻬﺬا اﻟﻌﺎم ‪ %56‬ﻡﻘﺎرﻧﺔ ﺏﻤﻌﺪل ‪ %38‬اﻟﺴﻨﺔ اﻟﻤﺎﺿﻴﺔ و‪30‬‬
‫(‪ .‬آﻤﺎ ﻗﻤﻨﺎ ﺏﻨﺸﺮ ‪ 1572‬ﺻﻔﺤﺔ ﺏﺰﻳﺎدة ﻗﺪرهﺎ ‪ %36‬ﻋﻦ ‪ %Fig. 1‬ﻓﻲ ﻋﺎم ‪) 1998‬‬
‫)‪(%) Yearly Growth Rate‬‬
‫‪[%] Growth Rate Over 5 Years‬‬
‫‪Figure 2‬‬
‫(‪ .‬وﻗﺪ ﺏﻠﻐﺖ اﻟﻔﺘﺮة ‪Fig. 2‬اﻟﺴﻨﺔ اﻟﻤﺎﺿﻴﺔ وﺏﺰﻳﺎدة ﻗﺪرهﺎ ‪ %91‬ﻋﻦ ﻋﺎم ‪) 1998‬‬
‫اﻟﺰﻡﻨﻴﺔ اﻟﻔﺎﺻﻠﺔ ﺏﻴﻦ اﻟﺘﻘﺪﻳﻢ واﻟﻘﺒﻮل ﻟﻬﺬا اﻟﻌﺎم ‪ 3.3‬أﺷﻬﺮ وهﻲ ﻧﻔﺲ اﻟﻔﺘﺮة ﻟﻠﻌﺎم‬
‫اﻟﻤﺎﺿﻲ وﻟﻜﻨﻬﺎ أﻗﺼﺮ ﺏﻨﺴﺒﺔ ‪ %35‬ﻋﻨﻬﺎ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺎم ‪ 1998‬ﺡﻴﺚ آﺎﻧﺖ ﺕﻤﺘﺪ إﻟﻰ ‪5.1‬‬
‫أﺷﻬﺮ‪ .‬وﺱﻮف ﻳﺘﻢ ﺕﻘﺴﻴﻢ آﻞ ﻡﺠﻠﺪ ﺱﻨﻮي اﻟﻰ ﻡﺠﻠﺪﻳﻦ ﻓﺮﻋﻴﻴﻦ ﻟﻜﻞ ﺱﻨﺔ‪ .‬آﻤﺎ ﺱﻨﺮﻓﻖ ﻡﻊ‬
‫‪Type of Manuscripts Published in SMJ in 2002‬‬
‫آﻞ ﻋﺪد ﻡﺠﻠﺪ ﻗﺮﺻﺎ ﻡﺪﻡﺠﺎ ﻳﺤﺘﻮي ﻋﻠﻰ ﺝﻤﻴﻊ اﻟﻤﻮاد اﻟﻤﻨﺸﻮرة ﻟﺘﻠﻚ اﻟﻔﺘﺮة‪ .‬وﻡﺎﺕﺰال‬
‫(‪ .‬آﻤﺎ ﻻﻳﺰال ﻡﺼﺪر ‪Fig. 3‬اﻟﻤﻘﺎﻻت اﻷﺻﻠﻴﺔ ﺕﺸﻜﻞ اﻟﻤﻮﺿﻮع اﻟﺮﺋﻴﺴﻲ ﻟﻜﻞ ﻋﺪد )‬
‫اﻟﻤﻘﺎﻻت اﻟﺘﻲ ﻧﻨﺸﺮهﺎ اﻟﻤﻤﻠﻜﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺏﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ ﺏﺼﻮرة رﺋﻴﺴﻴﺔ وﻟﻜﻨﻨﺎ ﻧﺘﻠﻘﻰ اﻟﻤﺰﻳﺪ ﻡﻦ‬
‫اﻟﻤﻘﺎﻻت ﻡﻦ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ اﻟﻌﺮﺏﻲ واﻟﺒﻠﺪان اﻟﻤﺠﺎورة ﻡﺜﻞ ﺕﺮآﻴﺎ وإﻳﺮان واﻟﻬﻨﺪ وﺏﺎآﺴﺘﺎن )‬
‫(‪ .‬وﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺮﻏﻢ ﻡﻦ زﻳﺎدة ﻋﺪد اﻟﻄﺒﻌﺎت ﻓﺴﻮف ﻧﻈﻞ ﻧﺼﺪر اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ ﺷﻬﺮﻳﺎ هﺬا ‪Fig. 4‬‬
‫اﻟﻌﺎم وﻟﻜﻨﻨﺎ ﻗﺪ ﻧﺰﻳﺪ ﻋﺪد اﻟﻄﺒﻌﺎت إﻟﻰ ﻋﺪدﻳﻦ آﻞ ﺷﻬﺮ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺴﻨﻮات اﻟﻘﺎدﻡﺔ‪ .‬آﻤﺎ ﺏﺪأﻧﺎ‬
‫‪(%) Mean for years 1998-2002‬‬
‫‪Figure 3‬‬
‫ﻧﺪﺧﻞ اﻟﻤﻠﺨﺼﺎت ذات اﻟﺼﻠﺔ ﻟﺒﻌﺾ اﻟﻤﻘﺎﻻت ﻡﻦ اﻟﻘﺎﻋﺪة اﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ‬
‫(‪ .‬وﺱﻮف ﻳﺴﺘﻤﺮ ذﻟﻚ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻡﺪى اﻟﺴﻨﻮات اﻟﻘﺎدﻡﺔ‪Medbase) Fig. 5.‬‬
‫‪36 Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview‬‬
‫ﻓﻲ هﺬا اﻟﻌﺎم ﺳﻴﻼﺣﻆ اﻟﻘﺎرئ ﺗﻐﻴﻴﺮا رﺋﻴﺴﻴﺎ ﻓﻲ هﻴﺌﺔ اﻟﺘﺤﺮﻳﺮ وﻧﻮد أن‬
‫‪Country of Origin of Articles Published in Saudi‬‬
‫‪Medical Journal in 2002‬‬
‫ﻧﺸﻜﺮ أﻋﻀﺎء هﻴﺌﺔ اﻟﺘﺤﺮﻳﺮ اﻟﺬﻳﻦ أﻧﻬﻮا ﻓﺘﺮة ﻋﻤﻠﻬﻢ ﻓﻲ ﻧﻬﺎﻳﺔ ﻋﺎم‬
‫‪ ٢٠٠٢‬وهﻢ‪ :‬ﻋﺒﺪاﻟﻌﺰﻳﺰ اﻟﻤﺸﺎري‪ ،‬ﻓﻬﺪ اﻟﻤﻬﻨﺎ‪ ،‬ﻓﻬﺪ اﻟﺮﺑﻴﻌﺔ‪ ،‬زﻳﻦ‬
‫اﻟﺸﺮﻳﻒ‪ ،‬ﺑﻬﺎء أﺑﺎ اﻟﺨﻴﻞ‪ ،‬ﻡﻨﻮر اﻟﻌﻨﺰي‪ ،‬ﺟﻮرج ﻋﺮاج )ﻟﺒﻨﺎن(‪ ،‬ﻃﻼل‬
‫ﺑﺨﺶ‪ ،‬ﺣﺴﻦ ﺑﺴﻴﻮﻧﻲ )ﻡﺼﺮ(‪ ،‬ﻋﺒﺪاﻟﺒﺎري ﺑﻨﻴﺮ )اﻹﻡﺎرات اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ‬
‫اﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪة(‪ ،‬ﺟﻮزﻳﻒ داﻏﺮ )اﻟﻮﻻﻳﺎت اﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪة اﻷﻡﺮﻳﻜﻴﺔ(‪ ،‬دﻳﺮك دﻳﻠﻮ‬
‫)ﻋُﻤﺎن(‪ ،‬ﻡﺤﺴﻦ اﻟﺤﺎزﻡﻲ‪ ،‬ﺣﺎﺗﻢ اﻟﺸﻨﻄﻲ )اﻷردن(‪ ،‬ﺳﻴﺪ ﺣﻴﺪر )اﻟﻬﻨﺪ(‪،‬‬
‫ﺥﺎﻟﺪ ﺣﻖ )اﻟﻤﻤﻠﻜﺔ اﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪة(‪ ،‬ﻋﻠﻲ إﺑﺮاهﻴﻢ )ﺳﻮرﻳﺎ( وﻃﺎرق ﻧﻌﻤﺎن‬
‫‪(%) Mean for years 1998-2002‬‬
‫‪Figure 4‬‬
‫)اﻟﻴﻤﻦ(‪ .‬أﻡﺎ ﺣﺴﻴﻦ اﻟﻔﺮﻳﺤﻲ‪ ،‬ﻳﻌﻘﻮب اﻟﻤﺰروع‪ ،‬ﻧﺎﻳﻒ اﻟﺮوﺽﺎن‪ ،‬ﻡﺤﻤﺪ‬
‫أﺑﻮ ﻡﻠﺤﺔ وأﺣﻤﺪ آﺮدي ﻓﻘﺪ اﻧﺘﻘﻠﻮا ﻡﻦ هﻴﺌﺔ اﻟﺘﺤﺮﻳﺮ واﻧﻀﻤﻮا إﻟﻰ‬
‫اﻟﻬﻴﺌﺔ اﻻﺳﺘﺸﺎرﻳﺔ‪ .‬آﻤﺎ ﻧﻮد أن ﻧﺸﻜﺮ ﻡﺤﻤﺪ اﻟﻤﻔﺘﻲ‪ ،‬ﻡﻨﺼﻮر اﻟﻨﺰهﺔ‬
‫وﺥﺎﻟﺪ ﻃﺒﺎرة اﻟﺬﻳﻦ أﻧﻬﻮا ﻓﺘﺮة ﻋﻤﻠﻬﻢ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻬﻴﺌﺔ اﻻﺳﺘﺸﺎرﻳﺔ‪ .‬وﻗﺪ ﺹﺪﻡﻨﺎ‬
‫ﺑﺸﻜﻞ ﻋﻤﻴﻖ وأﺣﺰﻧﻨﺎ رﺣﻴﻞ أﺣﺪ أﻋﻀﺎء اﻟﻬﻴﺌﺔ اﻻﺳﺘﺸﺎرﻳﺔ اﻟﺒﺎرزﻳﻦ‬
‫‪Figure 5‬‬
‫وهﻮ اﻟﺒﺮوﻓﺴﻮر ﺟﻮرج دﺑﻠﻴﻮ‪ .‬ﺑﺮوﻳﻦ وهﻮ أﺣﺪ اﻷﻋﻤﺪة اﻟﻤﺆﺳﺴﻴﻦ‬
‫ﻟﻠﻤﺠﻠﺔ‪ .‬وﻗﺪ دﻋﻮﻧﺎ ﺑﻌﺾ اﻷﻃﺒﺎء اﻟﻤﻤﺘﺎزﻳﻦ ﻟﻼﻧﻀﻤﺎم إﻟﻴﻨﺎ ﻓﻲ هﻴﺌﺔ‬
‫‪Most Active Countries Visiting‬‬
‫)‪SMJ Website (July-December 2002‬‬
‫اﻟﺘﺤﺮﻳﺮ إﺽﺎﻓﺔ إﻟﻰ اﻷﻋﻀﺎء اﻟﻤﺘﺒﻘﻴﻦ وﻧﺄﻡﻞ ﺑﺄن ﺗﺤﺎﻓﻆ هﺬﻩ اﻟﺪﻡﺎء‬
‫اﻟﺠﺪﻳﺪة ﻋﻠﻰ ﺗﻘﺪم اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺔ‪ .‬آﻤﺎ ﻧﻮد ﺑﺸﻜﻞ ﺥﺎص أن ﻧﺮﺣﺐ ﺑﻬﻢ‬
‫وﻧﺸﻜﺮهﻢ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻗﺒﻮل دﻋﻮﺗﻨﺎ ﻟﻼﻧﻀﻤﺎم إﻟﻰ هﻴﺌﺔ اﻟﺘﺤﺮﻳﺮ‪ .‬واﻷﻋﻀﺎء‬
‫اﻟﺠﺪد هﻢ هﺸﺎم أآﺒﺮ‪ ،‬ﺳﻌﻴﺪ اﻟﻐﺎﻡﺪي‪ ،‬ﻡﺎهﺮ اﻟﺤﺪﻳﺪي )اﻷردن(‪ ،‬هﻨﺪي‬
‫اﻟﻬﻨﺪي‪ ،‬ﻋﺒﺪاﻟﺮﺣﻤﻦ اﻟﺮاﺟﺤﻲ‪ ،‬ﺁﺳﻴﺔ اﻟﺮواف‪ ،‬ﻋﻤﺎر اﻟﺮآﺎﺑﻲ )ﻗﻄﺮ(‪،‬‬
‫ﻋﻠﻲ اﻟﺸﻬﺮي‪ ،‬ﺵﻮﻗﻲ ﺑﺎزرﺑﺎﺵﻲ‪ ،‬أﺣﻤﺪ اﻟﺰﺑﻴﺮ‪ ،‬ﻡﺤﻤﺪ ﻓﻮدة‪ ،‬ﻋﺼﺎم‬
‫‪Figure 6‬‬
‫ﺣﻤﺎدة‪ ،‬ﻋﻠﻲ هﺠﻴﺮ‪ ،‬ﺥﺎﻟﺪ ﻗﻼﻧﺘﺎن‪ ،‬ﻡﺤﻤﺪ ﻡﺠﻴﺪ ﺳﻴﻌﺪان‪ ،‬راﺗﺐ ﻡﺼﻠﺢ‪،‬‬
‫ﻋﺪﻧﺎن ﻡﻔﺘﻲ‪ ،‬ﺹﺎدق ﻓﺮﻋﻮن)ﺳﻮرﻳﺎ(‪ ،‬ﺥﺎﻟﺪ ﻗﻄﺎن‪ ،‬ﻋﺎﺹﻢ رﺳﺘﻢ‬
‫)اﻟﻤﻤﻠﻜﺔ اﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪة(‪ ،‬ﻡﻨﻰ ﺵﺎهﺪ وﻏﺎزي ﺗﺪﻡﻮري )ﺗﺮآﻴﺎ(‪ .‬آﻤﺎ ﺳﻴﻀﺎف‬
‫اﻟﻰ هﻴﺌﺔ اﻟﺘﺤﺮﻳﺮ آﻞ ﻡﻦ ﻋﺸﺮي ﺟﺎد ﻡﺤﻤﺪ )ﻟﻼﺵﺮاف ﻋﻠﻰ‬
‫اﻻﺣﺼﺎءات( ورﺑﻴﻊ ﻋﺒﺪاﻟﺤﻠﻴﻢ )ﻟﺘﺤﺮﻳﺮ ﺗﺎرﻳﺦ اﻟﻄﺐ ﻟﺪى اﻟﻌﺮب‬
‫واﻟﻤﺴﻠﻤﻴﻦ(‪.‬‬
‫‪37‬‬
‫‪Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview‬‬
‫‪Figure 7‬‬
Prepared by:
SUSAN DOUGLAS – Assistant Editor
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
39
QUALITY CONTROL REPORT 2002
The objective of Saudi Medical Journal is to publish high quality manuscripts. In the year 2002 we
established a Quality Control Section and a member of staff was appointed to be the Quality
Control Officer (QCO) and act as an Ombudsman for the Journal. The QCO will act as a
spokesperson for authors and liaise with authors and editors. The QCO will deal with grievances
referred from authors, readers, editors and any members of the editorial staff. The QCO’s duties
will be to supervise the speed and proficiency of manuscript (ms) processing, to ensure the quality of
published ms and to investigate any errors of publications and to deal with complaints on
irregularities concerning published ms.
The QCO monitored all complaints received from 5 key areas: 1. Editing; 2. Processing; 3.
Post journal publication; 4. Readers and, 5. Marketing. The QCO also looked carefully at how the
editor or the editorial office dealt with, and responded to all the complaints. In addition, the QCO
was involved in policy changes resulting from the complaints.
EDITING. Authors. The complaints from authors regarding editing are summarized.
1. A letter was received from an author complaining about a change of title of the ms after
having been proofread. The title of the ms had been edited and changed prior to publication, and
the author felt that this changed the meaning of the ms. Action: (i) Although the Journal did not
entirely agree with the author in this case, an erratum notice was subsequently published regarding
this matter. (ii) It was decided that no change of title should occur at any of stage of editing except
by approval of the author, if disagreement continues the Editor makes the final decision, however
the right of the author is protected by withdrawing the ms.
2. A letter was received from an author referring to an article before publication, it was
regarding references made to the Holy Quran. A misunderstanding arose between the author and
the desktop publisher over some translation from the Holy Quran to English.
40 Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
Action: This matter was satisfactorily resolved through continuous communications with the author
by the editor.
3. A ms was accepted with 2 authors. On publication of the ms, the corresponding author
(the 2nd author) was listed as the first author. The original first author submitted a complaint.
Action: (i) The editor contacted the author by telephone and sent a strong apology letter to the first
author, and an erratum was published. (ii) The editing checklist was updated to state that the
corresponding author is not always the first author.
4. A letter was received from the authors requesting withdrawal of his ms after it had been
accepted and the Assignment of Copyright had been signed. Action: This request was discussed and
deliberated at length by the editorial office and the decision was to grant withdrawal although the
policy of the Journal is that upon acceptance of an article and submission of the completed
Assignment of Copyright, the ms becomes the property of the Journal. The authors were informed
that this may affect future publications, especially if all, or part of the article subsequently appeared
in another journal.
5. A letter was received from authors of an accepted ms requesting alteration of the order of
author's names and omission of one author. Action: (i) Initially, a letter was sent from the Editorial
Office denying this request as it is the Journal policy that once a ms is accepted no addition,
omission or changing of the order of authors is permitted. (ii) The editorial office requested a letter
from the omitted author stating that he approved the change, there are no ongoing conflicts between
himself and the other authors, and a clear explanation of why he wishes to be omitted. A new
Assignment of Copyright with all authors' signature was requested. Final action: All the authors
complied with the demands of the journal, and it was accepted, after making clear to the omitted
author that none of this ms should be published without the written permission of Saudi Medical
Journal.
6. A letter was received from an author complaining of the changes made to the figures and
layout of his article which, resulted in a difference in the sequence of references, the same figure
being published twice within the article, one figure being omitted, and another figure being only
partially published. The author asked for republication of his ms. Action: An evidence-based letter
was sent to the author indicating that (i) there is no need to republish the article as any ms is subject
to editorial changes up to the time of publication; (ii) there is no need for an erratum notice
regarding the references, because they correspond
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview 41
to the appropriate text although they are different in sequence; (iii) an erratum notice will be issued
regarding the correction of the figures. (iv) The policy regarding sequencing of references was
amended to indicate that when references are mentioned only in tables but not in the text, the first
reference number used in the table should follow on numerically from the last reference number in
the main text of the article.
7. The Editor referred one published article to the QCO because he noticed an additional
name on publication. Action: (i) A full investigation was undertaken and it was found that this was
added after proofreading and was entirely an editorial mistake by the Copy Editor and was
overlooked at blueprint.
The Editor immediately wrote to the first author of the ms, and
simultaneously to the additional author. Due to the seriousness of this error, 3 consecutive errata
notices will be published. (ii) This was corrected abruptly in the website and the electronic
publication in Pubmed.
8. A complaint letter was received from an author stating that his name was omitted in the
Arabic abstract, although it was included in the article published in English. Action: This happened
during Arabic editing and was overlooked by the Arabic Editor. A letter of apology was promptly
sent to the author indicating that an erratum notice will be published in Arabic in an upcoming
issue.
Editing Staff. 1. The copy editor noted that an author made major changes to the text of the
ms at the proofreading stage. Action: As the policy of the journal is that once a ms has reached the
proofreading stage, the author may only make minor corrections to his ms in the context of spelling,
and to answer any specific queries or correct any editing errors, the ms was returned to the
Processing Department and the author was asked to resubmit the revised ms for reconsideration and
review. The ms was eventually accepted after correction, but this resulted in a 4-month delay in
publication of the ms. 2. The copy editing section noted a few ms were submitted without
mentioning where the study was carried out. These were returned to the author for clarification and
in one instance, the author asked to withdraw the ms. Action: The Institute and Department of
where the study was carried out have been added to the processing and editing checklist and the
Instructions to Authors. 3. Proofing. There is considerable delay in receiving the proofed ms
resulting in delay of publication. This is not always due to authors delinquency but also due to
wrong address, telephone number or e-mail, especially from countries with poor communication
systems.
42 Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
Action: It was decided that in these countries the author should respond to the acknowledgment
letter confirming that the communication method (i.e. fax or e-mail) is correct and working before
processing a ms.
PROCESSING. 1. Plagiarism. The Editorial Assistant noted during ms processing, a single
author submitted a ms that was very similar in content to a previously accepted multi authored ms
from the same institute. Action: The ms has been returned to the author indicating the possibility
of plagiarism in this case and stating that the journal has the right to take further action in the
future.
2. Rejected manuscripts. An author requested reconsideration of his rejected ms. Action:
The editor's reply was that once the ms is rejected we do not renegotiate, not because they do not
merit publication, but because there are many journals to which a ms may be submitted. The
author accepted the editor's comments, and the ms was not published.
3. Secondary publication. On 3 occasions the reviewer, or the editor discovered ms submitted
where the text was fully or partly published in other journals, without referring to the published
material in the reference section. Action: A letter from the Editor was sent asking the author for an
explanation, also indicating that this is a non acceptable practice which may lead to further action,
not only by the journal, but also by the journals in which the ms was initially published.
4. Noncommunication. We received 2 letters complaining about noncommunication, where
the wrong letter or e-mail went to the wrong recipient. Action: Expedited apology and correction
was carried out by the Editorial Manager. All parties were satisfied.
POST PUBLICATION ERRORS. The editorial staff conducted a regular monthly meeting to
review the published journal which, resulted in 21 errata. Most of these were due to•mistakes in
tables and figures or missing data. A few errors were also noted in the Arabic abstracts, which did
not merit an erratum, except once in which the author’s name was mistakenly omitted.
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview 43
READERS COMPLAINTS. We received a letter of complaint from the Head of a Department
regarding a previous junior member of his staff publishing Brief
Communication or Correspondence stating that he is still a member of that department. Action: It
was decided for that any future publication where the author(s) are all junior staff members, a senior
staff member should be acknowledged or head of department who should submit a written
endorsement of the ms.
MARKETING. 1. Off prints. There was one letter received from an author complaining that he
did not receive any offprint. Action: After referral to the Marketing Department, it was found that
the author did order offprints, but he did not submit any payment by mail or credit card, so his
order was not processed. The author then requested to send payment and receive offprints of his
article. We indicated that after the journal is published it would be very difficult to order backdated offprints, so unfortunately, his request could not be fulfilled.
2. Subscription. Complaints from different subscribers who have been receiving more than
one copy of the journal. Action: This happened because the spellings of names, especially Arabic
names, have more than one version, or because some of the subscribers had left their post without
informing the journal. This lead to an of update the subscribers' database, resulting in a 10-15% cut
in the total number of subscribers.
In addition to the complaints and the queries, the QCO received many letters of
commendation and praise for the journal. We would like to present one comment from Dr. Suhad
M. Bahiri, Associate Prof. Of Clinical Biochemistry, King Abdul-Aziz University Hospital, Jeddah,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
"the journal provides us in the Kingdom with a window to reach the scientific world outside. In fact, I
have received inquiries and paper requests from various parts of the world ranging from Japan to
Argentina after my abstracts were seen on Medline. Keep up the good work"
We conclude that the Quality Control Section in its first year prompted the implementation
of several new policy changes, which will continue to improve the excellence of the Saudi Medical
Journal.
44 Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
45
SAUDI MEDICAL JOURNAL
List of Previous Staff
(1998 – 2002)
Editors
Abd El-Hameed El-Faraidi (1979-1999)
Editorial Board
Basil Al Shaikh (1994-1998)
Mohammed Abomelha (1999-2002)
Muhammad A M Ajabnoor (1995-1998)
Menwar Al Anazi (2000-2002)
Sameer O. Huraib (1995-1998)
George Araj (2000-2002)
Abdul-Latif Al Faraidy (1994-1998)
Talal M. Bakhsh (1999-2002)
Abdul-Rahman S. Al Frayh (1995-1998)
Hassan Bassiouny (2000-2002)
Abdulaziz N. Al Nasser (1995-1998)
Abdulbari Bener (1999-2002)
Nashat A. Ismaeel (1995-1998)
Joseph Dagher (1999-2002)
Hussein Al-Freihi (1999-2002)
Dirk Deleu (2000-2002)
Yagob Al-Mazrou (1999-2002)
Mohsen El-Hazmi (1999-2002)
Abdulaziz Al-Meshari (1999-2002)
Hatem El-Shanti (2000-2002)
Fahd Al-Muhanna (1999-2002)
Syed Haider (2000-2002)
Fahad Al-Rabiah (1999-2002)
Khalid N. Haque (1999-2002)
Nayef Al-Rodhan (1999-2002)
Ali Ibrahim (2000-2002)
Zain H. Al-Shareef (1999-2002)
Ahmed Kurdi (2000-2002)
Bahaa Abalkhail (2000-2002)
Tariq Noman (2000-2002)
46 Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
SAUDI MEDICAL JOURNAL
List of Previous Staff (Cont.)
Advisory Board
D. Stolke (1993-1998)
Donald Young (1993-1998)
Paul Sweny (1993-1998)
Muhammad Al-Mufti (2000-2002)
David Weatherall (1993-1998)
Mansour Al-Nozha (2000-2002)
Michael R. Wills (1994-1998)
George W. Bruyn (2000-2002)
Alastair A. Spence (1993-1998)
Khalid Tabbara (2000-2002)
Editorial Office
Katherina Dela Rosa -
Editorial Assistant (1997-1998)
Corazon Sayson
–
Desktop Publisher (1997-2000)
Gail Straub
-
Copy Editor (1997-2001)
Lesley Jordan
-
Editorial Manager (1997-2001)
Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview 47
S AUD I MED I CAL J OUR NAL
STAFF 2003
Patron: HRH Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz
Editorial Director: Ketab E. Al-Otaibi
Editors
Editorial Board
Saleh M. Al-Deeb
Basim A. Yaqub
Abdullah Abanmi
Hisham Akbar
Rabie Abdel-Halim
Saeed Al-Ghamdi
Maher Al-Hadidi, Jordan
Hindi Al-Hindi
Abdullah Al-Mobeireek
Abdullah Al-Rabeeah
Abdulrahman Al-Rajhi
Assia Al-Rawaf
Ammar C. Al-Rikabi, Qatar
Ali Al-Shehri
Shouki Bazarbashi
Youssef Comair, Lebanon
Ahmed Elzubier
Mohammed Fouda
Issam Hamadah
Ali Hajeer
Khalid Kalantan
Muhammad Majeed-Saidan
Ratib Mesleh
Adnan Mofti
Ashry Gad Mohammed
P.M.C. Nair, Oman
Sadek R. Pharaon, Syria
Khalid Qattan
Assem Rostom, UK
Mona Shahed
Ghazi Omar Tadmouri, Turkey
Advisory Board
Mohammed Abomelha
Hussein Al-Freihi
Yagob Al-Mazrou
Khalaf Al-Moutaery
Ahmed Kurdi
Nayef Al-Rodhan
Arabic Editor
Ghada Al Ahmed
Editorial Office
Susan E. Douglas, Assistant Editor
Joyce E. Elicerio, Editorial Manager
Jeannette P. Von Possel, Editorial Assistant
Claire L. Rivers, Desktop Publisher
Ligaya M. Legaspi, Desktop Publisher
Leila T. Medrano, Graphic Designer
Ismail M. Al-Smadi, Statistician
48 Saudi Medical Journal: A 5-Year Overview
SAUDI MEDICAL JOURNAL
SUBSCRIBERS
KSA
3289 (50%)
Arab Countries
1355 (21%)
North America
871 (13%)
Gulf
399 (6%)
Europe
350 (5%)
Asia
291 (4%)
Africa
26 (.3%)
Australia
15 (.2%)
TOTAL
6596 (100)
KSA
3289
Arab Countries
1297
North America
871
Gulf
399
350
Europe
291
Asia
Africa
26
Australia
15
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500