Dubai Latest medical research conducted by medical experts in the country will now become more accessible to medical professionals and to the public thanks to the newly launched Hamdan Medical Journal (HMJ).
Formerly called the Journal of Medical Science, HMJ was relaunched by the Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences and named after its patron on Sunday to avoid confusion and announce its new features for the reading public.
"There are several journals with this name, creating confusion for the reader. We did not want to repeat the same name. More importantly, it is an appreciation of our patron, HH Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum for all his contribution and support to the medical community," Prof. Najib Al Khaja, Secretary General of Hamdan Medical Award, said.
Hamdan Medical Award has so far funded and supported more than 70 researches in the country. Publication of these researches is another matter, something HMJ, a quarterly publication, will handle from now onwards.
"The Hamdan Medical Journal has always aimed to provide an effective vehicle to improve medical knowledge, and with this re-launch we believe we will provide both readers and authors with quality information and a quality service," Pippa Smart, Publishing Consultant of HMJ, said.
Smart said that hard copies of HMJ will be published for now but in time "it will be purely paperless".
"It is also worth noting that the journal is published open access - there is no restriction on accessing the articles and no subscription required," Smart said, adding, "We believe that this is vital if we are to promote medical research and ensure that the maximum number of people everywhere in the world have access to medical information."
Prof. Harald Rosen, HMJ editor-in-chief, said that the journal will serve "as a new platform to help health care professional to improve their standard of care."
The editorial board had three subjects in mind for its first three issues. HMJ's first issue focuses on breast cancer. The second issue will focus on diabetes and will be released in August 2012.
