INSIDE WVSMA
Editor ’ s Letter
Accessing the Early Years for Strong Peer Review
Linda S . Nield , MD
Journal peer reviewers are instructed to follow standard processes to evaluate manuscript submissions . 1-4 One of the steps of strong peer review is completing a literature search to determine the uniqueness of a case report or a research idea . All the scientific articles that appear in the West Virginia Medical Journal ( WVMJ ) are peer reviewed by three or more doctors who volunteer their time and expertise repeatedly , as they also re-evaluate revised submissions . In this issue , Ray , Miller and Cottrell present their original findings about the use of telehealth in West Virginia ( WV ) to care for patients with feeding and swallowing disorders . 5 Chen , Bhandari and Fisher provide new insights into barriers to receiving the influenza vaccine at a university setting , 6 while Wendt and colleagues describe the unique diagnosis of penile variant of Mondor ’ s disease , which involved collaboration of providers across four states . 7
Diagnosing leprosy in WV is certainly a rare event , and Juskowich et al discuss their 64-year-old patient , a resident of WV since childhood , who presented with a progressively worsening maculopapular rash and peripheral neuropathy with the ultimate diagnosis of Hansen ’ s disease . 8 A literature review reveals that the inaugural issue of the WVMJ in 1906 published information about the first authentic case of an individual with leprosy in WV . 9 The title of the 1906 publication 9 would not be used today , as person-first language is most appropriate , in which the person is put before the diagnosis and persons are not referred to as their diagnoses in linguistic expression .
A major goal of scientific publications is to add novel information to the medical literature and build upon existing concepts . Often , the literature search during the peer review process may reveal the existence of relevant material from decades or even centuries ago , like the published case about leprosy in WV in the 1906 WVMJ . Accessing the early years of our journal is possible through the digitization project entitled “ Medicine at Ground Level : State Medical Societies , State Medical Journals , and the Development of American Medicine and Society ,” funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities , the Arcadia Fund and Harvard Library , and Harvard Medical School . The nearly complete run of the WVMJ from 1903-2000 can be accessed at guides . library . harvard . edu / c . php ? g = 947422 & p = 7849508 .
These early works are part of the online and freely accessible Medical Heritage Library , hosted on the internet archive . The website is www . medicalheritage . org / content / state-medicalsociety-journals . Readers are encouraged to peruse the issues from the early years of the journal to gather insight about our medical literary beginnings . Readers may also be curious about the medical happenings during the time of their birth . For example , the issue of the WVMJ from my birth month and year — August 1964 — was dedicated to events at the 97th annual meeting of the West Virginia State Medical Association . In August 2021 , we celebrated our 154th annual meeting . What was the medical literary focus in WV at the time of your birth ? Considering the past in our writings and reviews can provide a solid historic foundation to a strong literary work .
REFERENCES
1 . Allen LA , Ho PM . Peer review of a manuscript submission . A How-to guide for effective and efficient commentary . Circulation : Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes . 2017 ; 10 : e004446 .
2 . Del Mar C , Hoffmann TC . A Guide to performing a peer review of randomized controlled trials . BMC Medicine . 2015 ; 13:248 .
3 . Gregory AT , Denniss AR . Everything you need to know about peer review-The Good , the bad and the ugly . Heart , Lung and Circulation . 2019 ; 28:1148-1153 .
4 . Hill JA . How to review a manuscript . J Electrocardiol . 2016 ; 49 ( 2 ): 109-11 .
5 . Ray CM , Miller CC , Cottrell L . Speech language pathology perceptions in the time of COVID-19 : telehealth and dysphagia services in West Virginia . WVMJ . 2021 ; 117 ( 3 ): 34-39 .
6 . Chen Y , Bhandari R , Fisher M . Barriers to influenza vaccination at a university clinic . WVMJ . 2021 ; 117 ( 3 ): 28-32 .
7 . Wendt BJ , Franks AM , Dusing SLO et al . Penile variant of Mondor ’ s Disease : a challenging diagnosis requiring primary care and urologic collaboration . WVMJ . 2021 ; 117 ( 3 ): 40-43 .
8 . Juskowich JJ , Hall WL , Kiavash K , Sarwari AR . A Case of zoonotic leprosy in West Virginia . WVMJ . 2021 ; 117 ( 3 ): 22-24 .
9 . Irons JC . The West Virginia leper . WVMJ . 1906 ; 1 ( 1 ): 22 .
6 • www . wvsma . org