MEDICAL HYPOTHESES

The purpose of Medical Hypotheses is to provide a forum for the presentation and criticism of ideas in medicine and the related biomedical sciences. Most biomedical journals will publish ideas only in papers which also report observations. As the best scientists have repeatedly emphasized, this gives a misleading impression of the process of discovery. The ideas usually come first and they determine what observations should and will be made. Although fully acknowledged in other sciences, this central role of ideas in scientific progress is only now beginning to be widely recognized in medicine. Ideas occur to many people not in a position to test them experimentally. Ideas frequently require much fuller exposition than is allowed in the discussion section of an experimental paper. Ideas should be open to comment by scientists who have not done experimental work in the field. Medical Hypotheses will publish ideas or criticisms of ideas from any person, irrespective of whether any experimental testing of the ideas has been performed by the writer. Medical Hypotheses will also publish letters which comment on articles in the journal. Medical Hypotheses is the only journal fully devoted to the publication of ideas in the biomedical sciences. The justification for its existence is discussed in the editorial printed at the beginning of the first issue (January-February, 1975). If you feel that the aims of Medical Hypotheses are important and worthwhile, please encourage your library to subscribe to it.

医学假说的目的是为医学和相关生物医学科学的观点提供一个展示和批评的论坛。大多数生物医学期刊只会在报告观察结果的论文中发表观点。正如最优秀的科学家一再强调的那样，这给人一种对发现过程的误解。通常先有想法，然后再决定应该和将要进行什么观察。尽管在其他科学领域得到充分承认，但在科学进步中思想的这一核心作用直到现在才开始在医学界得到广泛承认。很多人都有过这样的想法，但却无法通过实验来验证。思想经常需要比实验论文的讨论部分更全面的阐述。没有在该领域做过实验工作的科学家应该公开发表意见。医学假设将发表来自任何人的观点或观点的批评，不管作者是否对这些观点进行过实验测试。医学假说也会在期刊上发表评论文章的信件。《医学假说》是唯一一本完全致力于发表生物医学观点的杂志。第一期(1975年1月至2月)开始刊印的社论讨论了它存在的理由。如果你觉得医学假设的目的是重要和有价值的，请鼓励你的图书馆订阅它。