Medical journal of a different beat

KOCHI: The Kerala University of Health Sciences' (KUHS) initiative of launching an e-journal to encourage dialogue among public on health and various health systems may not be the first of its kind in India. But by being an open source journal and with a provision to accept contribution from any qualified person, the e-journal has reached a different level.
Launched on April 27, the journal - Health Sciences - has already become a hit among medical technologists, health administrators and educationists in the state and according to its editorial board the aim is to gain international viewership.
C C Kartha, editor-in-chief of Health Sciences, said that each issue of the quarterly journal would focus on specific health disciplines. The first issue was on infectious diseases.
"While most medical journals are started as part of an institute's effort to gain NAAC accreditation, we want to take this to a different level. Our aim is to make it a database of international standard by next year and for this we will host only quality articles, said Kartha.
All the articles on www.healthsciences.ac.in, which is divided into 10 sections, can be used and downloaded free of cost. There is no restriction to share it with others. People can send their articles to healthsciences@rgcb.res.in
"At the moment we are in touch with well-known professionals in the field of medicine, including the alumni of KUHS, for preparing articles. But within a year we are expecting better response from across the globe. These experts would be invited to join the editorial, which will ensure quality articles. The contributions to the first issue were more from youngsters who work in the level of associate professors and those with genuine interest in the initiative," added Kartha.
Kerala University of Health Sciences' (KUHS) initiative of launching an e-journal to encourage dialogue among public on health and various health systems may not be the first of its kind in India. But by being an open source journal and through provision to accept contribution from any qualified person, the e-journal is taking a different turn amongst others.
Launched on April 27, the journal titled Health Sciences has already become a hit among medical technologists, health administrators and educationists in the state and according to the editorial board the aim is to gain the journal international viewership.
C C Kartha, editor-in-chief of Health Sciences, said that each issue of the quarterly journal would focus on specific health disciplines and the first issue talked on Infectious diseases.
"While most medical journals are started as part of an institute's effort to gain NAAC accreditation, we want to take this to a different level. Our aim is to make it a database of international standard by next year and for this we host only quality articles. While any person who has a keen interest in health science can contribute, it is obvious that the material should maintain a professional standard, making Health Sciences, a step different from journals which claim to be professional," Kartha said.
All the articles in www.healthsciences.ac.in, which is divided into 10 sections can be used and downloaded free of cost by public. There is also no restriction to share it among others, the editorial head pointed out. People can send the articles to healthsciences@rgcb.res.in
"At the moment we are in touch with well-known professionals in the field of medicine, that include Alumni of KUHS for preparing articles for the journal but within one year we are expecting a greater response from across the globe. These experts would also be invited to join our editorial which will ensure quality for the articles provided. The contributions to the first issue were more from youngsters who work in the level of associate professors and genuinely interested in the initiative," Kartha added.