Promoting global health: The world association of medical editors’ position on editors’ responsibility

How should an editor meet this social responsibility? He or she must, whenever possible, publish research that furthers health worldwide (especially addressing the greatest global health concerns3 that meets the journal’s standards for research quality, regardless of where the research was conducted and irrespective of the gender, race and ethnicity of the authors. Papers that describe and analyze the global health concerns in terms of disease burden, determinants, patterns, impacts and the like are important, but editors need to also encourage publications that are innovative and solution-focussed, including research with negative results. Editors need to be mindful that lowand middle-income countries (LMIC) often have the greatest health burdens, and therefore encourage research from authors in those geographic areas. Editors should not change their quality criteria, but they should recognize that some authors for whom English is not the primary language may need assistance in polishing manuscripts for publication and provide constructive feedback and assistance if possible.