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The introduction of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) in the 1940s constitutes one of the most important experimental advances in modern medicine.1 Through the examination of the efficacy-or otherwise-of drugs and other interventions, RCTs have become the essential scientific arbiter through which treatments are translated from the laboratory to the clinic.

A scientific paper today is inspired by more disciplines than ever before, shows a new analysis marking the journal’s 150th anniversary. A scientific paper today is inspired by more disciplines than ever before, shows a new analysis marking the journal’s 150th anniversary.

Open Access (OA) is a model for publishing scholarly peer reviewed journals, made possible by the Internet. The full text of OA journals and articles can be freely read, as the publishing is funded through means other than subscriptions. Empirical research concerning the quantitative development of OA publishing has so far consisted of scattered individual studies providing brief snapshots, using varying methods and data sources. This study adopts a systematic method for studying the development of OA journals from their beginnings in the early 1990s until 2009. Because no comprehensive index of OA articles exists, systematic manual data collection from journal web sites was conducted based on journal-level data extracted from the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Due to the high number of journals registered in the DOAJ, almost 5000 at the time of the study, stratified random sampling was used. A separate sample of verified early pioneer OA journals was also studied. The results show a very rapid growth of OA publishing during the period 1993-2009. During the last year an estimated 191 000 articles were published in 4769 journals. Since the year 2000, the average annual growth rate has been 18% for the number of journals and 30% for the number of articles. This can be contrasted to the reported 3,5% yearly volume increase in journal publishing in general. In 2009 the share of articles in OA journals, of all peer reviewed journal articles, reached 7,7%. Overall, the results document a rapid growth in OA journal publishing over the last fifteen years. Based on the sampling results and qualitative data a division into three distinct periods is suggested: The Pioneering years (1993-1999), the Innovation years (2000-2004), and the Consolidation years (2005-2009).

Disease has changed since 1812. People have different diseases, doctors hold different ideas about those diseases, and diseases carry different meanings in society. To understand the transformations of disease over the past 200 years, one must explore its social nature. At first glance, the inaugural 1812 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery, and the Collateral Branches of Science seems reassuringly familiar: a review of angina pectoris, articles on infant diarrhea and burns. The apparent similarity to today's Journal, however, obscures a fundamental discontinuity (1812a, b, c; see box). Disease has changed since 1812. People have different diseases, doctors hold different ideas about those diseases, and diseases carry different meanings in society. To understand the material and conceptual transformations of disease over the past 200 years, one must explore the incontrovertibly social nature of disease. Disease is . . .

The African Journal of Reproductive Health (AJRH) is proud to mark its 30th anniversary with the release of its second January 2026 issue. Since its inception in 19971, in response to the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, Egypt, the AJRH has remained committed to its mission of documenting and disseminating high-quality research on reproductive health in Africa and beyond. It was phenomenal that world renowned experts in the fields of public health and reproductive health such as the legendary Professors Allan Rosenfield2, and Kelsey Harrison3, contributed to the first issue of the journal, which was immediately indexed in PubMed (Medline).

Building a Community of Medical LearningFor 100 years, the Journal’s publication of the Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital has helped to guide medical practice and build a global community of clinicians.

Sentimental, outgoing, and honest