[Effects of articles published in the Dutch Journal of Medicine]

To inventory the effects of publishing in the NTvG.

Retrospective, descriptive.

The first authors of the articles of the sections Clinical lessons, Capita selecta, For practice, Original articles, Case reports and Side effects of drugs, from the issues 27-53 of Volume 138 (1994) of the NTvG were approached for a written enquiry about the effects of their articles. Reactions in the form of letters to the editor were assessed by screening the relevant section.

The results of the enquiry concerned 165 articles. The authors of 160 articles (97%) reported that they had been approached in person with reference to the publication, on average 15.7 times orally and 2.0 times in writing. The authors of 66 articles (40%) were invited to deliver a lecture, data from 62 articles (38%) were used by others and 54 articles (33%) resulted in (continuation) research. An approach by the media followed after 23 articles (14%). A positive effect on the number of relevant patient referrals was mentioned of 4 (44%) articles from section For practice and 7 (30%) articles from section Clinical lessons. Various other effects were reported of 48 articles (29%). Forty (20%) of the total of 197 articles involved in the study were followed by one or two letters to the editor, prompted mostly by Clinical lessons (33%).

Virtually all articles produced an effect. Many articles were followed by personal reactions and many articles elicited a response indicating influence on medical teaching, science or clinical activity.