Online access to nephrology journals: the FUTON bias

Amit Kumar Ghosh and Narayana S. Murali

Department of Internal Medicine Mayo Clinic Rochester USA Email: ghosh.amit{at}mayo.edu

Sir,

The editorial by Drueke et al. [1], on having NDT available online for developing countries, should receive the most enthusiastic support. It is widely appreciated that the presence of full-text articles on the Internet improves greatly the readers’ chances of accessing information in a timely fashion and has improved the visibility of the journal greatly.

A concern raised recently, however, is a bias of readers, especially younger medical residents and students, to rely heavily on articles which are available online for selective reading of the subject. Wentz [2] has reported this tendency as FUTON (Full Text On the Net) bias. While this bias may not affect the established researcher, already well versed in the techniques of detailed literature search and critical appraisal, it might affect the casual reader with limited experience. It remains critical, therefore, to be aware of this fact, and journal editors must strive for exacting standards of articles from contributing authors. Another possible danger is that journals which are available online might be perceived to have a higher standing by virtue of being more visible. It has been suggested that publishers of medical journals should feel encouraged to have their journals published online, lest they lose out in the competition [2].

We have recently concluded a study of 26 nephrology journals, and have found that 11 journals were available in full-text articles online [3]. The remaining 15 journals had abstracts only available in MEDLINE. It has been suggested that the long-term effect of the FUTON bias may be similar to publication bias or language bias in reporting literature. Therefore, we believe that having articles published online may reduce this effect. Editorials and Letters to the Editor should also be available online. In this respect, we believe that NDT is far ahead of the field.

Conflict of interest statement. None declared.

References

  1. Drueke T, Lameire N, Hill M. Online access to NDT for developing countries. Nephrol Dial Transplant 2003; 18: 453[Free Full Text]
  2. Wentz R. Visibility of research: FUTON bias. Lancet 2002; 360: 1256[ISI][Medline]
  3. Ghosh AK, Murali NS. Availability of Nephrology Journal articles online: the FUTON bias. Am J Kidney Dis 2003; 41: A19




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