Commentary

We welcome submissions for this section of JoPM. Commentary can be video, podcast or print essays and reviews of topics (e.g., innovation in peer review) and events (conferences, courses, lectures) relevant to the discussion of participatory medicine. If you are interested in submitting a commentary, you may do so here.

Commentary, Vol. 1, 2009

What Can Technology Reviews Contribute to Participatory Medicine?

Tom Merritt | October 21, 2009

Abstract Summary: Technology can be a great aid to participatory medicine when it works well, but when it fails, it results in great frustration and can adversely affect outcomes. So, how do patients and professionals know which tech tools to try and which ones to leave on the shelf? At CNET, we spend a lot [...]

Reviewing Health Tools: A Community Matter

Amy Tenderich | October 21, 2009

High-quality product reviews will be an important part of this new journal, with its focus on supporting and encouraging people to participate in their own health care. But how should we go about evaluating various interactive applications and devices that bill themselves as “health tools”? Health design advocate Amy Tenderich of DiabetesMine.com explores the definition of a “health tool,” and lays out parameters for a new kind of participatory product review process.

In Search Of an Optimal Peer Review System

Richard W. Smith | October 21, 2009

Abstract Summary: After 30 years of practicing peer review and 15 years of studying it experimentally, I’m unconvinced of its value. Its downside is much more obvious to me than its upside, and the evidence we have on peer review tends to support that jaundiced view. Yet peer review remains sacred, worshiped by scientists and [...]

Reputation Systems: A New Vision for Publishing and Peer Review

Peter Frishauf | October 21, 2009

Peer review as we know it today is broken. A better way may be to create an online reputation system to rate the quality of an author, editor, or reviewer’s online contributions on the Internet, and apply such a system to pre- and open post-publication peer review…