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Linda J Herman wrote: > > .... for pointing out the importance of evaluating sources of > information. For those interested, this is from a guide for evaluating > Medline (PubMed, GratefulMed) abstracts from the National Library of > Medicine (I substituted examples of abstracts on PD): > Guide to Medline Abstracts :Three Clues to look for: And thanks to you, Linda, for these very helpful hints. Here are a few more, personal and opinionated to be sure, but whatever works- 1. Prestige of Printed Medium: If authors think they have a really earth-shaking discovery, they will try to get into one of the important general-coverage publications such as the Wall Street Journal or New York Times. Next level, one of the two big-time science news weeklies: Science (US), or Nature (UK). Failing that, one of the medical weekly journals (more or less in order of priority); Lancet, British Medical Journal, New England Journal of Medicine, Western Journal of Medicine, JAMA. JAMA is big on social and political issues, not so much on pure science. After that, one of the big professional society journals such as Neurology or Annals of Neurology. After those come the myriad of very respectable but specialized journals: Movement Disorders, Clinical Neuro- pharmacology, etc. 2. Prestige of Author: If he's a well-known big shot, he may be the sole author. Not always true, but if there is a crowd of listed authors, thar sometimes suggests that the research was more or less of a class project, giving opportunity to "get something published", or to attend one of the big symposia in, say, Rio de Janeiro or Bermuda. 3. Cost of Research Resources: People early in their science careers may be assigned research based only upon already published statistical data. Then they may graduate to in vitro lab experiments; As success grows, they will be able to obtain grants for animal experiments, starting with mice. By the time a scientist is able to test his theories on human subjects, he has "arrived", and you may assume a corresponding increase in likelihood that he has something important to say. There now exists an actual rating scheme for authors, articles, and journals, based upon the number of times a given item is cited as a reference in articles subsequently published. Obviously, authors and journals depend on this for their own continued success. Cheers, Joe -- J. R. Bruman (818) 789-3694 3527 Cody Road Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-5013