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External quality assurance in Malaysia

Nawawi H, Lim HH, Zakiah I

Southeast Asian J. Trop. Med. Public Health, 1999;30 Suppl 3:39-45.
PMID: 10926257

An activity supportive of the MOH QA Programme, the National EQAS for clinical chemistry monitors for analytical performance in core routine biochemical testing by the pathology laboratories, with unsatisfactory performance scores serving to alert against deficiencies or problems and the scores in subsequent challenges providing the feedback of effectiveness of remedial actions taken. While unacceptable individual analyte performance score (variance index score, VIS) indicated problems in instruments, reagent and calibrators, or the use of inherently poorer methods, repeated occurrence of unsatisfactory OMRVIS was traceable to generally poor laboratory management of usually inadequately-equipment small laboratories. The outcome has been one of slow but gradual improvement in the overall performance of participating laboratories, with a move towards methods upgrading and standardization to achieve greater concordance of results. Presently, the programme is limited to 61 government and 4 private hospital laboratories in the country for 12 commonly assayed clinical biochemistry analytes. It is hoped that the NEQAS could be extended to the other private laboratories and that of academic institutions. However, this is dependent to a large extent on the manpower and financial support obtainable by the organizing body of the programme in the future. Belk and Sunderman, 1947 demonstrated that laboratories participating in an quality assessment scheme could rapidly and dramatically improve their analytical performance. In some countries, participation has become mandatory, and acceptable performance is a requirement in laboratory accreditation. The need and value of the NEQAP is, therefore, evident. While there may be limitations in the national programme. efforts are being made at improving the programme within the means and resources of the organising body. The goals of the NEQAP are not just to monitor performance but also to educate. On this, matters related to and supportive of these goals have also been pursued. The annual workshop/forum on quality controls had allowed exchange of information between representatives of participating laboratories and the organising body. Recently in the 1997 MOH Quality Improvement evaluation, Quality Control has been evaluated together with the other 17 such activities. The study on knowledge, attitude and practice has provided the necessary feedback and will be used for future planning in making efforts at increasing the effectiveness and benefits of the all QC activities including this NEQAP for clinical chemistry. In addition, there is a need to look into areas such as selection of methods and test systems, and improvement of continuing education, training as well as research in quality improvement as suggested by the Quality Improvement evaluation.

Matched MeSH terms: Peer Review/methods*
Proceedings in a disciplinary action at the Malaysian Medical Council

Mahmud MN

Med J Malaysia, 2005 Aug;60 Suppl D:32-4.
PMID: 16315621

Members of the medical profession are expected to be well aware and abide by the revised code of ethics adopted by the Malaysian Medical Council on 9th December 1986. Under the Act Council may, in the exercise of its disciplinary jurisdiction, impose punishments related to misconduct or malpractices. When a complaint or information is made against any practitioner, the President shall forward such complaint to the Chairman of the Preliminary Investigation Committee. The procedure of the disciplinary inquiry is not exactly like those in the court of law but the same principle of justice is adhered to and all evidence used to make a decision must only be those that are admissible in accordance with the rule of evidence.

Matched MeSH terms: Peer Review, Health Care/methods
Fulltext Exploring new frontiers of electronic publishing in biomedical science

Ng KH

Singapore Med J, 2009 Mar;50(3):230-4.
PMID: 19352562

Publishing is a hallmark of good scientific research. The aim of publishing is to disseminate new research knowledge and findings as widely as possible in a timely and efficient manner. Scientific publishing has evolved over the years with the advent of new technologies and demands. This paper presents a brief discussion on the history and status of electronic publishing. The Open Access Initiative was created with the aim of overcoming various limitations faced by traditional publishing access models. Innovations have opened up possibilities for electronic publishing to increase the accessibility, visibility, interactivity and usability of research. A glimpse of the future publishing landscape has revealed that scientific communication and research will not remain the same. The internet and advances in information technology will have an impact on the research landscape, scholarly publishing, research policy and funding, dissemination of knowledge, and the progress of science as a whole.

Matched MeSH terms: Peer Review, Research
Fulltext Knowledge On Writing A Good Scientific Paper

Low, W.Y.

Malaysian Journal of Psychiatry, 2009;18(2):1-5.
MyJurnal

Research publication is an essential part of scientific research process. Writing is a means of communication of scientific work, a means to disseminate the research findings to the public and also to their peers. A scientific paper is a written and published report describing original research results. Getting a paper published in a well-respected peer-reviewed journal is an important goal for any researcher. It is an indication of research success. There are many reasons why people write and this ranged from pure altruism to pleasure to intellectual pursuits to contribute to the scientific knowledge, to improve patient care and to benefit the community and mankind. Reasons to write vary from one individual to another individual. Writing can be difficult and it is seen as a chore, such as, fulfilling a minimum requirement of an organization to get a job, a job confirmation or a promotion, and career development.

Matched MeSH terms: Peer Review
Fulltext MJMS at the Dawn of Its Electronic Era

Dewiputri WI, Mohamad I

Malays J Med Sci, 2011 Jan;18(1):1-5.
PMID: 22135566 MyJurnal

This special editorial assessed the recent developments in Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences (MJMS) and examined the characteristics of the submission, peer review, and publication processes for MJMS. This retrospective analysis used information about the manuscripts submitted to MJMS during the one-year period (from 1 June 2010 to 31 May 2010) since the start of current online submission and review system (ScholarOne(™) Manuscripts, Thomson Reuters). In addition, we also discussed the future directions of MJMS. Finally, we would like to recommend an annual internal audit for MJMS, which is very useful to monitor the growth of this journal progressively.

Matched MeSH terms: Peer Review
Reflections on a decade of research by ASEAN dental faculties: analysis of publications from ISI-WOS databases from 2000 to 2009

Sirisinha S, Koontongkaew S, Phantumvanit P, Wittayawuttikul R

J Investig Clin Dent, 2011 May;2(2):72-80.
PMID: 25426599 DOI: 10.1111/j.2041-1626.2011.00048.x

This communication analyzed research publications in dentistry in the Institute of Scientific Information Web of Science databases of 10 dental faculties in the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) from 2000 to 2009. The term used for the "all-document types" search was "Faculty of Dentistry/College of Dentistry." Abstracts presented at regional meetings were also included in the analysis. The Times Higher Education System QS World University Rankings showed that universities in the region fare poorly in world university rankings. Only the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University appeared in the top 100 in 2009; 19 universities in the region, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, appeared in the top 500. Data from the databases showed that research publications by dental institutes in the region fall short of their Asian counterparts. Singapore and Thailand are the most active in dental research of the ASEAN countries.

Matched MeSH terms: Peer Review, Research
Fulltext The h-index in Elsevier’s Scopus as an indicator of research achievement for young Malaysian scientists

Yap, C.K.

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2012;20(2):197-203.
MyJurnal

If we were given a questionnaire of “How do we measure a researcher as a true scientist? with optional answers like (a) Having a good number of publications, (b) having attending numerous conferences, (c) with a high popularity as always appeared in mass media, and (d) good international networking and good public relations. Options (c) and (d) always come later after option (a) has been achieved, while option (b) can be simply achieved or abstract be accepted for presentation in any conference. Hitherto, publishing in any peer-reviewed journals carry a certain quality since they are highly subjected to peer review evaluation before the paper can be accepted for publication in a journal. Needless to say, those constructive comments given by the reviewers are very crucial in shaping our scientific understanding in our subject area rather than rejection experience (Yap, 2009). Having said so, option (a) will definitely be the best answer. The fact is that option (a) should not be argued whatsoever as the best answer [since publications speaks louder than anything else] and options (a), (b) and (c) are supplementary criteria to option (a) but they are not as vital as option (a). When we are asked ‘What is your scientific research performance or research output?’, the answer could always be ‘Having a good number of publications.’ Then, the next question forwarded is that ‘What is the quality and impact of your published papers to the scientific community?’ Of course, good and high impact factor journals always accept papers with high novelty in the subject area. Therefore, papers published in good journals are always highly cited and subsequently resulting in high impact (or citations) of the research done to the scientific community. However, the last question is sometimes very subjective and difficult to answer until h-index is introduced and discussed among the researchers. This paper aimed to discuss the h-index based on Elsevier’s Scopus database as an indicator of research achievement for young Malaysian scientists.

Matched MeSH terms: Peer Review
Fulltext Methodologies for measuring sustainability of product/process: a review

Pezhman Ghadimi, Noordin Mohd Yusof, Muhamad Zameri Mat Saman, Mahmood Asadi

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2013;21(2):303-326.
MyJurnal

Academic and corporate interest in sustainable product and process development has risen considerably
in recent years. This can be seen by the number of papers published and in particular by special issued of journals. This paper reports the results of a review of published peer-reviewed literature from 1987 to 2012 to provide an up-to-date picture of sustainability and sustainable assessment. A structured methodology is followed to narrow down the search from around 3500 papers to 111. A variety of different sustainability assessment methodologies are reviewed in two classified research areas: product sustainability assessment and process sustainability assessment. In presenting a detailed taxonomy of product and process sustainability assessment methods, the paper also outlines the advantages and weaknesses of the sustainability assessment methods. The review sheds light on the weak points of current research in this area. The paper also highlights several key issues which have to be taken into account in attempting to develop a product or process sustainability assessment research paradigm for future applications in manufacturing systems.

Matched MeSH terms: Peer Review
Fulltext Neuroscience and Brain Science Special Issue begins in the Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences

Abdullah JM

Malays J Med Sci, 2014 Dec;21(Spec Issue):1-5.
PMID: 25941457

The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences and the Orient Neuron Nexus have amalgated to publish a yearly special issue based on neuro- and brain sciences. This will hopefully improve the quality of peer-reviewed manuscripts in the field of fundamental, applied, and clinical neuroscience and brain science from Asian countries. One focus of the Universiti Sains Malaysia is to strengthen neuroscience and brain science, especially in the field of neuroinformatics.

Matched MeSH terms: Peer Review
Fulltext Conflicts of interest in orthopaedic surgery: The intertwining of orthopaedic surgery, peer review publications and corporate sponsorship

Dhillon KS

Malays Orthop J, 2015;9(1):47-59.
MyJurnal

Conflicts of interest in medicine has created deep concerns about the integrity of medicine and raised doubts about the trustworthiness of the medical professional. New stories of conflict of interest in medicine have become a commonplace. The interactions between the medical professional and the biomedical device as well as the pharmaceutical industry has become so pervasive that the primary interest of the medical professional in protecting and promoting the welfare of the patient has been compromised. The professional judgement and actions have been influenced by secondary interests, the major fungible and quantifiable being financial interest. The industry influence not only affects the way we practice orthopaedics but also affects medical education and peer review publications. Peer review publications have been shown to exaggerate benefits of the industry products while at the same time downplaying the risks. These conflicts of interest in orthopaedic surgery are particularly common in spinal and joint replacement surgery where joint replacement has been described as a ‘fashion trade’. The introduction of new products appears to be an uncontrolled experiment which has been hijacked by large corporations. This article explores the unhealthy pervasive interaction between the orthopaedic surgeon and the medical devices as well as the pharmaceutical industry. It highlights how the biomedical and the pharmaceutical industry dominate all aspects of the healthcare system. With its wealth and political clout, its influence is present everywhere, from the use of devices and drugs, research, publications, trials, education and even formulation of CGPs.

Matched MeSH terms: Peer Review, Research
Fulltext Spinal fusion for chronic low back pain: A 'magic bullet' or wishful thinking?

Dhillon KS

Malays Orthop J, 2016 Mar;10(1):61-68.
PMID: 28435551

Chronic low back pain is a common, disabling and costly health problem. The treatment of chronic low back is difficult and is often ineffective. For treatment to be effective the cause of the pain has to be established but unfortunately in 80% to 95% of the patients the cause cannot be determined despite the existence of modern imaging techniques. A pathoanatomical diagnosis which fits into a classical disease model where successful treatment can be carried out, can only be made in 5% to 7% of the patients. The back pain in the rest of the patients where no pathoanatomical diagnosis can be made is often labelled, unscientifically, as chronic low back pain. Despite the existence of sophisticated imaging techniques and a plethora of diagnostic test the source of pain in patients with nonspecific back pain cannot be established. There exist no causal relationship between imaging findings of degenerated disc, lumbar facet arthritis, spondylosis, spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis, to the pain in these patients. Surgical treatment of non-specific back pain where no pathoanatomical diagnosis has been established is bound to fail. Therefore the outcome of spinal fusion in these patients can be no better than nonsurgical treatment. Spinal fusion is a major surgery which can be associated with significant morbidity and occasionally with mortality. Yet there is rapid rise in the rates of spinal fusion. There is a growing tension between ethics and conflicts of interest for surgeons. The spine, unfortunately, has been labelled as a profit centre and there are allegations of conflicts of interest in the relationship of doctors with the multi-billion dollar spinal devices industry. The devices industry has a significant influence on not only research publications in peer review journals but also on decisions made by doctors which can have a detrimental effect on the welfare of the patient.

Matched MeSH terms: Peer Review
Fulltext Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences' Publishing Report (2014-2015)

Zulkapli NA, Sobi S, Mohd Zubaidi NA, Abdullah JM

Malays J Med Sci, 2016 Jul;23(4):1-4.
PMID: 27660539 DOI: 10.21315/mjms2016.23.4.1

The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences (MJMS) has conducted a simple analysis of its scholarly publication, based on the auto-generated data compiled from ScholarOne Manuscripts(™), an innovative, web-based, submission and peer-review workflow solution for scholarly publishers. The performance of the MJMS from 2014-2015 is reported on in this editorial, with a focus on the pattern of manuscript submission, geographical contributors and the acceptance-rejection rate. The total number of manuscript submissions has increased from 264 in 2014, to 272 in 2015. Malaysians are the main contributors to the MJMS. The total number of manuscript rejections following the review process was 79 (29.9%) in 2014, increasing to 92 (33.8%) the following year, in accordance with the exacting quality control criteria applied by the journal's editor to the submitted manuscripts.

Matched MeSH terms: Peer Review
Publish or Perish: A Mandate With Negative Collateral Consequences

Hasan SS, Ahmadi K

Acad Med, 2017 02;92(2):140.
PMID: 28118247 DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000001517
Matched MeSH terms: Peer Review, Research/standards*
Fulltext Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences' Performance Status in 2016

Zulkapli NA, Abdullah JM

Malays J Med Sci, 2017 Dec;24(6):1-4.
PMID: 29379381 DOI: 10.21315/mjms2017.24.6.1

This editorial aims to report on the performance of the Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences (MJMS) in the year 2016. The performance report is based on an analysis of the auto-generated data compiled from the ScholarOne Manuscripts™. It will specifically focus on the pattern of manuscript submission, geographical distribution of contributors, manuscript submission by month and the acceptance-rejection rate of post-review manuscripts. It will also discuss the effects of the decision to raise the article acceptance standards. The MJMS would also like to share the news of its receipt of the 2016 Current Research in Malaysia (CREAM) award. This honour was bestowed upon us by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) of Malaysia, on November 1, 2016.

Matched MeSH terms: Peer Review, Research
Fulltext Peer review and publication delay

Fernandez-Llimos F, Pharmacy Practice 2018 peer reviewers

Pharm Pract (Granada), 2019 03 21;17(1):1502.
PMID: 31015883 DOI: 10.18549/PharmPract.2019.1.1502

Selecting peer reviewers is a crucial stage of the editorial process that ensures the quality of scholarly publications. An alternative to selecting peer reviewers from data bases created with expressions of interest of volunteers consists in systematically searching PubMed for similar articles and inviting their authors to act as peer reviewers. Although this process might identify more appropriate peers, it also can increase the time of the editorial process. In 2018, Pharmacy Practice had to invite 4.70 (SE=0.33) potential reviewers per one accepting. The time from the first reviewer invitation to the last reviewer report received was 61 days (SE=2.1). These figures confirm the existence of a peer review crisis which is significantly increasing the publication delay.

Matched MeSH terms: Peer Review
Palliative Care Research in the Asia Pacific Region: A Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis of Peer-Reviewed Publications

Cheong WL, Mohan D, Warren N, Reidpath DD

J Palliat Med, 2019 May;22(5):545-552.
PMID: 30570416 DOI: 10.1089/jpm.2018.0447

Background:
The state of palliative care research is closely linked to the development of palliative care services in a country or region.
Objective:
To systematically review the current state of palliative care research in the Asia Pacific region and analyze its relationship with the performance of each country in the region on the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2015 Quality of Death Index.
Design:
Systematic review and bibliographic analysis in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Protocol 2015 (PRISMA-P).
Data Sources:
The PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCOPUS, CINAHL, and PsychiNFO databases were searched on February 4, 2018.
Results:
One thousand six hundred sixty-seven articles were reviewed. Eighteen out of 32 countries in the region published research. Around 74.15% (1236) of the articles were produced by high-income countries. Research output (articles per 1 m population) was closely linked to country performance on the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2015 Quality of Death Index (adjusted R2= 0.85). Palliative care research in the region is overwhelmingly focused on cancer (80.13% of articles reviewed). The most common themes of research were "palliative care service (24.45%)" and "clinical" (15.38%).
Conclusions:
Palliative care research in the region is growing but remains largely centered on the high-income countries, with many low- and middle-income countries having little published research output. Much work is required to drive research in these countries to generate the evidence required for the development of palliative care services. The emphasis on cancer in research also indicates that the needs of patients suffering from noncancer-related diseases may be neglected.

Matched MeSH terms: Peer Review, Research*
Perspectives on double-blind peer review from collectivist cultural contexts

Lapeña JFF, Munk PL, Saw A, Peh WC

Med J Aust, 2019 05;210(8):347-348.e1.
PMID: 30945753 DOI: 10.5694/mja2.50131
Matched MeSH terms: Peer Review*
Fulltext Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences' Performance Status in 2018

Zulkapli NA, Abdullah JM

Malays J Med Sci, 2019 Jul;26(4):1-4.
PMID: 31496888 DOI: 10.21315/mjms2019.26.4.1

The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences (MJMS) would like to present a brief report of its progress in 2018 with a purpose to provide a clear picture of how it has performed so far. This report may considered as a helpful information, especially, to future authors who wish to submit their articles to MJMS. This report summarised the information of the total of original manuscripts received based on manuscript type, authors' country of origin and total of original manuscripts received by month. It also reveals the statistics of the final decisions made based on manuscript type, the accept-reject ratio by the editor and the time taken from submission to decision for all manuscripts submitted throughout 2018.

Matched MeSH terms: Peer Review, Research
Fulltext Impact of pharmacist educational intervention on disease knowledge, rehabilitation and medication adherence, treatment-induced direct cost, health-related quality of life and satisfaction in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Naqvi AA, Hassali MA, Naqvi SBS, Aftab MT

Trials, 2019 Aug 09;20(1):488.
PMID: 31399128 DOI: 10.1186/s13063-019-3540-z

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of pharmacist intervention in improving disease knowledge, adherence to treatment, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and direct cost of treatment. The study also documents patient satisfaction with pharmacist counselling as a quality control measure.
METHODS/DESIGN: This is a randomized, single-blind, two-arm, controlled trial in patients with rheumatoid arthritis visiting outpatient rheumatology clinics in Karachi, Pakistan. We will enroll patients with established diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis over 3 months. The patients would be randomized through a computer-generated list into the control group, i.e., usual care or into the intervention group, i.e., pharmaceutical care, in a ratio of 1:1, after providing signed written consent. The study will take place in two patient-visits over the course of 3 months. Patients in the intervention group would receive intervention from the pharmacist while those in the control group will receive usual care. Primary outcomes include change in mean score from baseline (week 0) and at follow up (week 12) in disease knowledge, adherence to medications and rehabilitation/physical therapy. The secondary outcomes include change in the mean direct cost of treatment, HRQoL and patient satisfaction with pharmacist counselling.
DISCUSSION: This is a novel study that evaluates the role of the pharmacist in improving treatment outcomes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The results of this trial could set the foundation for future delivery of care for this patient population in Pakistan. The results of this trial would be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03827148 . Registered on February 2019.

Matched MeSH terms: Peer Review
Preferred Reporting Items for study Designs in Endodontology (PRIDE): guiding authors to identify and correct reporting deficiencies in their manuscripts prior to peer review

Nagendrababu V, Kishen A, Chong BS, Priya E, Duncan HF, Rôças IN, et al.

Int Endod J, 2020 May;53(5):589-590.
PMID: 32277771 DOI: 10.1111/iej.13276
Matched MeSH terms: Peer Review*

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