• publication
• research
• methods

Many scientific journals these days have taken to designating a particularly intriguing, important or extremely well done paper that appears in that month’s issue. At the EMJ, we actually have several such papers, and I was thinking that perhaps our readers would like to know how I pick the EMJ’s Editor’s Choice, the Reader’s Choice and the Global Abstract.

First, EMJ has set a high bar for our research reports. We currently accept only 10% of the original articles submitted, some immediately without review and some after reviews, and even, regrettably, after revision. For the reader, this means essentially that every article is an Editor’s Choice as they are all of a high standard with regard to research question, methods, reporting of results and discussion of implications.

So what makes me pick something as an Editor’s Choice? Well, to be honest, it varies. Sometimes, the Editor’s Choice (for those who like a quicker read, I will make "EC" from now on) is a ‘seal of approval’ noting a study that uses a methodology that is higher on the evidence pyramid—prospective data collection, comparative (preferably randomised) …