Curating an evidence base for health research and policy making: more crucial than ever

The end of the year is a good time to reflect on why a journal like the MJA does what it does, who supports the Journal's work, and the headwinds that journals are navigating.

The MJA publishes high quality research and commentary that aims to inform health policy and influence medical practice in Australia. Our process is largely one of curation of what is submitted to us, combined with commissioning on issues we identify as important. We prioritise for publication articles that report on or discuss conditions with a high burden of disease, that are likely to have an effect on policy or practice, support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing, and articles that report on uniquely Australian topics.

Articles go through a rigorous process that includes editorial assessment, peer review, author revision in response to peer review, and, after acceptance, expert structural editing. We hope that this process — essentially a collaboration between authors, editors and reviewers — will ensure that, by the time an article is published, it is the best representation of the authors’ work. In the 12 months to 31 October 2024, the MJA received 1598 articles, of which 196 were accepted; we publish around 10–12 in each issue. Each issue is a curated mix of content; some, such as the theme issues on surgery (https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2024/220/5), general practice (https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2024/220/9), women's health (https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2024/221/7), infectious diseases (https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2024/221/4), child and adolescent health (https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2024/221/10), and the special issue on Indigenous health (https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2024/221/1), have a specific focus.

This end of year issue has no specific theme; its diversity, however, collectively reflects the Journal's priorities. We hope these articles will interest you as readers and support you in your clinical practice or research as much as we were fascinated by them as editors. The research articles include an analysis of the cost of treating hypertension (https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.52522), participation in the national bowel screening program by people with severe mental illness (https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.52521), an analysis of out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrests (https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.52532), and an analysis of the Northern Territory health workforce (https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.52507). Perspectives include the need for targeted prevention and treatment of stroke in young women (https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.52516), and a review of the evidence of persistently replicating SARS‐CoV‐2 as a driver of long COVID (https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.52517). We are proud to also publish in this section a thoughtful article, “Decolonisation, Indigenous health research, and Indigenous authorship: sharing our teams’ principles and practices” (https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.52509), by a collective of Aboriginal and non‐Indigenous researchers, who work together in two Aboriginal‐led research teams.

In the decisions we make at the MJA, we are supported on a daily basis by many reviewers who give their time and expertise to help us provide what we think is an essential service: high quality evidence‐based research and commentary to support decision making in health care. In the past 12 months, they submitted between them 855 reviews. We provide below a list of the reviewers who have reviewed for us in the past 12 months and we are grateful to all of them for what they do to support the MJA. We are also very grateful to the members of our Editorial Advisory Group, who provide ongoing expert advice. This year we are especially grateful to the Guest Editors for the July special issue on Indigenous health that we published in association with the Lowitja Institute (https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2024/221/1). Their work in curating this special issue is one that we were very proud to support as part of the MJA's ongoing commitment to excellence and leadership in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander led health research.

In 2024, more than 100 countries, representing about half of the world's population, have had the chance to vote in regional, national or local elections. Perhaps, more than ever before, the evidence base for science and medicine have been on the ballot and it is not clear that it has been on the winning side in every case. In reflecting back on what we do, the role of peer‐reviewed journals such as the MJA will be even more crucial over the next few years in helping navigate the vast amount of medical information that exists. We are very grateful for everyone that supports the work that we do at the MJA, and who does work themselves in evidence‐based health research and policy making. Now, more than ever, this work is crucial to support a functioning and evidence‐informed society.

The MJA Editorial Advisory Group, November 2024

The MJA Editorial Advisory Group members are eminent clinicians and scholars who are valuable sources of ideas for the content of the Journal. They provide constructive criticism of the format and content of the Journal, and provide independent advice to the MJA Editorial Committee on appeals of editorial decisions, problematic articles, and complaints about the editorial process.

John Attia

Lilon G Bandler

Anthony Capon

Flavia M Cicuttini

Paul B Colditz

Brendan S Crabb

Jaya Dantas

Anne Duggan

David A Ellwood

Alex Farrell

Peter G Gibson

Marc Gladman

Charles Guest

Claire L Jackson

Cheryl A Jones

Zsuzsoka Kecskes

José Florencio Fabella Lapeña, Jr

Christopher Levi

C Raina MacIntyre

Jennifer Martin

Patrick D McGorry

Catriona McLean

Lucy Morgan

Peter L Munk

Debra Nestel

Ian N Olver

Wilfred Peh

Anna Ralph

Toby Richards

Christobel Saunders

Susan Sawyer

Jeong‐Wook Seo

Lambert W Schuwirth

Joseph Sung

Helena Teede

Philip G Truskett

Robyn Ward

Steve Wesselingh

Paul S Worley

Catherine Yelland

Neville D Yeomans

Jeffrey Zajac

MJA reviewers, 31 October 2023 – 1 November 2024

Jason Abbott

Lisa M Abbott

Karen Adams

Oyelola Adegboye

Barbara‐Ann Adelstein

Stephen Adelstein

Hossein Adibi

John Adie

Susannah Ahern

Chris Alderman

Sarah Ali

Nicole L Allard

Penny L Allen

Janaki Amin

David John Amor

Craig S Anderson

Robert Anderson

Catarina Ang

Nigel R Armfield

Amit Arora

Kingsley Asiedu

Deborah A Askew

Eugene Athan

John J Atherton

David N Atkinson

John R Attia

Oyekoya Taiwo Ayonrinde

Leon A Bach

Kathryn Backholer

Tony Badrick

Michael Baigent

Jannine Bailey

Suzanne Bain‐Donohue

Ross I Baker

Eileen Baldry

Zoe Baldwin

Lilon G Bandler

Bridget Barber

Ruth A Barker

Kristine Kay Barlow‐Stewart

Rahul D Barmanray

Amanda Barnard

Adrian G Barnett

Dylan Dominic Barth

Tarun Bastiampillai

Marijka Batterham

Malcolm W Battersby

Frank H Beard

Kenneth Beath

Lorri Beatty

Paul J Beggs

Justin Beilby

Katy JL Bell

Scott C Bell

Simon Bell

Derrick A Bennett

Julie Bennett

Jill Benson

Stephanie Best

Neera Bhatia

Laurent Billot

Justin Bilszta

Marie M Bismark

Habtamu Bizuayehu

Deborah A Black

J Andrew Black

Kirsten I Black

Christopher F Bladin

Tony Blakely

Paul Blaschke

Melissa Jane Bloomer

Peter Boan

Angie Bone

Michael A Bonning

Kade Booth

Jeffrey Boris

Jessica Botfield

Eric Bouffet

Mark Boughey

Lisa Bourke

Asha C Bowen

Simon D Bowler

Annette J Braunack‐Mayer

Ruanne Brell

Bruce J Brew

Fraser J Brims

Peter J Bristow

Julia M L Brotherton

Anthony James Brown

Katharine Brown

Claudia Bruno

Jamie Bryant

David J Buckley

Liz Buckley

Nicholas A Buckley

T Jared Bunch

Hayden Burch

Luke Burchill

Sally A Burrows

Jane A Buxton

Oyungerel Byambasuren

Gerard J Byrne

Dominique A Cadilhac

Rosemary Calder

Emily Joy Callander

Ian D Cameron

Peter A Cameron

Anna Campain

David G Campbell

Lewis Campbell

Ben J Canny

Karla J Canuto

Cheryl Carcel

Phillip J Carson

Judith Cashmore

Gillian E Caughey

Elena Cavazzoni

Blake S Cavve

Steven J Chadban

Leanne Chalmers

Sonia Chanchlani

Manju Chandrasegaram

Jenny Chang

Jack Chen

Bernard Man Yung Cheung

Derek P Chew

Angela L Chiew

HuiJun Chih

Philip MC Choi

Stephanie KY Choi

Clara K Chow

Eric P F Chow

Intifar Chowdhury

Kate Churruca

Tainya Clarke

David Coghill

Neale D Cohen

Paul B Colditz

Catherine Coleborne

Jacinta M Coleman

Samantha Colledge‐Frisby

Alex Collie

Peter J Collignon

Philippa Collin

Josielli Comachio

Robert James Commons

Luke B Connelly

Mark S Cooper

Matt Cooper

Michael D Coory

Vincent J Cornelisse

Colin Hilton Cortie

Christopher Coulter

Sean Cowlishaw

Stephen Cox

Terry J Coyne

Simon Craig

Susanna Cramb

Gregory Crawford

Julia L Crilly

Philip Crispin

Simon R Crouch

Andrew Crowden

Mark Crowther

Alana R Cuthbert

Mark Daglish

Eleonora Dal Grande

Kathryn Daley

Carlton D Dampier

Benjamin Daniels

Jaya A R Dantas

Jai N Darvall

Mike Daube

A James M Daveson

Stephanie J Davies

Ian D Davis

Joshua S Davis

Stephanie Davis

Susan R Davis

Angela Dawson

Carolyn A Day

John F de Campo

Caroline M de Costa

Barbara de Graaff

Bouke de Jong

Anthony Dear

Katrine Del Villar

Anthony Delaney

Clare Delany

Sarah M Dennis

Jane Desborough

John A Devereux

Haryana M Dhillon

Terrence H Diamond

Hugh G Dickson

Christianna Digenis

Joanna Dipnall

George Disney

Loc Giang Do

Annette J Dobson

Jodie M Dodd

Xenia Dolja‐Gore

Susan M Donath

Katina D'Onise

Paul J Douglas

Jenny A Doust

James Dowty

Andrea Driscoll

Olaf H Drummer

Stephen J Duckett

Johan A Duflou

Pascal Duijf

Gregory J Duncombe

Karen Maree Dwyer

John R Dyer

Diana Egerton‐Warburton

John W Eikelboom

Robert H Eikelboom

Paul Eleftheriou

David H Ellis

Pete M Ellis

David A Ellwood

Elissa Elvidge

Jon D Emery

Guy D Eslick

David Espinoza

Mohamed Estai

Claudia Estcourt

Sue M Evans

Christopher K Fairley

Kristy Fakes

Michael O Falster

Jonathon P Fanning

Jillann F Farmer

Michael Farrell

Daniel M Fatovich

Stuart Faulkner

Jane Christine Fazio

Deirdre Fetherstonhaugh

David W Firman

Matt Fisher

Robert A Fitridge

Gerard J FitzGerald

John L Fitzgerald

Arthas Flabouris

Stephen C Flecknoe‐Brown

John I Fleming

Darran Foo

Malcolm Forbes

Kevin D Forsyth

David Fraile Navarro

Peter Franklin

John K French

Frank A Frizelle

Lara Fuller

Clara Gaff

Nicholas Gall

Seana Gall

Edward J Gane

Lydia Garside

Coral E Gartner

Gail Garvey

Madlen Gazarian

Alison Gibberd

Nathan J Gibbs

Peter G Gibson

Peter R Gibson

Gerard Francis Gill

Stephen Dean Gill

Lynn H Gillam

Allan R Glanville

Rebecca Glauert

Stacy K Goergen

Day Way Goh

Lisa Gold

Rimma Goldberg

Matthew R Golden

David E Goldsbury

Judith Gomersall

Phillip D Good

Belinda Goodwin

Alexandra S Gorelik

Rebekah Grace

Patricia Graves

Melissa J Green

Suetonia Green

Tim J Green

Jerry R Greenfield

Trisha Greenhalgh

Jennene Greenhill

Jessica A Grieger

Sonia R Grover

Luke E Grzeskowiak

Eric Guazzo

Pascale Guitera

Hasantha Gunasekera

Monisha Gupta

Lyle C Gurrin

Thi Ninh Ha

Dandara Haag

Bronwyn B Haasdyk

Mohsen Habibian

Penny Hagen

Sally Hall Dykgraaf

Christian R Hamilton‐Craig

Mark J Hanly

Isabel Hanson

Damian Harding

Stephen Harfield

David Harley

Benjamin Harrap

Ian A Harris

Katie Harris

Mark F Harris

Jo Harrison

Simon J Harrison

Stephanie Harrison

Roger J Hart

Gunter F Hartel

Mary Anne Hartley

Lara Harvey

Rubayyat Hashmi

Alys Havard

Andrew Hayen

Christopher Hayes

Richard B Hays

Christopher H Heath

Geoffrey S Hebbard

Michael A Henderson

Martin Hensher

Subash Shanthakumar Heraganahally

Ana Herceg

Helen E Herrman

Charlotte Mary Hespe

Martha Hickey

Peter Higgs

Joanna Hikaka

Andrew G Hill

David R Hillman

Kenneth M Hillman

Sarah N Hilmer

Dana A Hince

Pravin Hissaria

Danielle Hitch

Peter G Hobbins

Alberta Hoi

Michael J Hollands

Caroline SE Homer

Preben Homoe

Thai Phuoc Hong

Gary Hooper

John Hopper

John D Horowitz

Robert L Horvath

Elizabeth D Hotham

Paul Hotton

Nehmat Houssami

Jessica Howell

Martin Howell

Wendy Hu

Catherine E Huggins

Jaquelyne Hughes

Lisa Hui

Rod W Hunt

Roger W Hunt

Arnagretta Hunter

Jennifer Hunter

Peter C Hunter

Elizabeth Hurrion

Sarah J Hyde

Zoë Hyde

Jonathan A Hyett

Susan Ieraci

Maria C Inacio

Warrick J Inder

Joan Ingram

Geoffrey K Isbister

Katherine Z Isoardi

Rowena G Ivers

Christopher Jackson

Claire L Jackson

Melinda Jackson

Theresa Jacques

Farzana Jahan

Sharon James

Stacey K Jankelowitz

Edward D Janus

Edward Jegasothy

Charles G Jenkinson

Awachana Jiamsakul

Liza Johannesson

Sarah Johnson

Brian D Johnston

Alexandra Jones

Michael P Jones

Scott Jones

Michelle Jongenelis

Robert N Jorissen

Matthew D Jose

Joanne Joseph

Preeti Avinash Joshi

Manjul Joshipura

Craig Phillip Juergens

Nadarajah Kangaharan

Jonathan Karnon

Judith M Katzenellenbogen

Margaret P Kay

Karuna Keat

Damien Kee

June Keeling

Michelle Kehoe

Nicholas A Keks

Justin Kenardy

Debra S Kennedy

Emma Kennedy

Michelle Kennedy

Suzanne Kennewell

Danelle Kenny

Katherine Kenny

Dev A S Kevat

Ehsan Khan

Karen Kiang

Ganessan Kichenadasse

Hansoo Kim

Joosup Kim

Michael G Kimlin

Lara Anne Kimmel

Jeffrey Klausner

Christopher S Kneebone

Taryn Knox

Jonathan Koea

Pamela Konecny

Kelvin M Kong

Viola Korczak

Zeff Koutsogiannis

Leonard Kritharides

Estie Kruger

Eeva‐Katri Kumpula

Ronald Labonte

Luise Patricia Lago

Vinay Lakra

Stephen B Lambert

Riki Lane

Aleksandra Lange

Alexander Larcombe

Michael Larkin

Sarah L Larkins

Anne‐Marie Laslett

Zohra Lassi

Dennis Lau

Namson Shon Chung Lau

Kate Laver

David M Lawrence

Minh Le Cong

Bernard Arnaud Leckning

Karin Leder

Adriene Lee

James C Lee

Stephen R Leeder

Amy Legg

James W Leitch

Christopher N Lemoh

Peter J Lewindon

Xia Li

Xue (Snow) Li

Winston Spencer Liauw

Michael Libman

Leanne Liddle

Susan Liew

Vidya S Limaye

Ivan Lin

Anthea Lindquist

Daniel Lindsay

Damien Linnane

Clare Littleton

Dan Liu

Andrew R Lloyd

Serigne Lo

David Long

Derrick Lopez

Susan M Lord

Paula Lorgelly

Jeanne Louw

Michaela Lucas

Guy L Ludbrook

Sanja Lujic

Ronald Ma

Gustavo Machado

Andrew I MacIsaac

Heather G Mack

John S Mackenzie

Rona Macniven

Richard Cawley Madden

Guy J Maddern

Parker John Magin

Farah Magrabi

Karen Magraith

Robert Mahar

Colin J Mahoney

David Majewski

Ashanya Malalasekera

Allison Malcolm

Arunima Malik

James Leslie Mallows

Linda Mann

Jo‐Anne Elizabeth Manski‐Nankervis

Danielle Manton

Victoria J Mar

Ben J Marais

Tania P Markovic

Susan Marks

Nathaniel S Marshall

Jennifer H Martin

Kaka Martina

Marianne Martinello

Thomas H Marwick

Lester Mascarenhas

Siobhán Masterson

Heather Mattner

Richard Matzopoulos

Danielle Mazza

Scott McAlister

Sally M McCarthy

Peter McCluskey

Stephen P McDonald

Alison McEwen

Forbes McGain

Julie McGaughran

Richard G McGee

Peter McGeorge

Steven McGloughlin

Matthew Richard McGrail

Iain McGregor

Peter B McIntyre

Andrea McKivett

Donald McLeod

Brendan McMullan

Danielle McMullen

Kathleen McNamee

Ryan Mead‐Hunter

Graham N Meadows

Niamh Meagher

Jacqueline K Mein

Tracy Lee Merlin

William J Milford

Jeremy L Millar

Robert Miller

Llew Mills

Rachel Milte

Alyssa Milton

Gita D Mishra

David James Mitchell

Geoffrey K Mitchell

Francis Mitrou

Michael Montalto

Julia K Moore

Michael J Moore

Robyn Moore

Philip Morgan

Susan J Morgan

Peter Morley

Jedidiah Morton

Robert G Moses

Robert F W Moulds

David Mountain

Alison M Mudge

James Muir

Zachary Munn

Cammi Murrup‐Stewart

Danielle Muscat

Vasi Naganathan

Balakrishnan (Kichu) R Nair

Sanjay Nandurkar

Alison J Nankervis

Natasha Nassar

Merrilee Needham

Amanda Louise Neil

Mark R Nelson

David A Newby

Evan D Newnham

John Newnham

Yee Ching Ng

Sam Ngan

Son H Nghiem

Danielle Ni Chroinin

Gary Nicholls

Suzanne Nielsen

Rosemary L Nixon

Antony Nocera

Alicia Norman

Robert Norton

Vicki O'Donnell

Patrick Oakley

Jeremy J N Oats

James O'beirne

Carly Oboudiyat

Penny O'Brien

Anne O'Connor

Daniel Bogale Odo

Nicholas J Osborne

Joshua Osowicki

Jessica Pace

Ellie Paige

Andrew John Palmer

Adriana Parrella

Carmen Parter

Nalini Pati

Sue Pavord

Christopher Pearce

Odette Pearson

Roxanna Pebdani

Carmelle Peisah

Yang Peng

Jonathan Penm

Charana Perera

Gregory M Peterson

Naomi Pfitzner

Richard K S Phoon

Robert W Pickles

S Praga Pillay

Dino Pisaniello

Sabrina W Pit

Michael Pollanen

James Pollard

C Dimity Pond

Phillippa J Poole

Michelle Porter

Christopher John Poulos

Jeffrey Presneill

Karen Price

Jenny Proimos

Susanna Margaret Proudman

Mark Putland

Rennie Qin

Helen E Quinn

Steve Quinn

Miia Rahja

Eamon P Raith

Satish Raj

Anna P Ralph

Geetha Ranmuthugala

Jonas Ranstam

Melissa Raven

Jennifer S Reath

Helen K Reddel

Stephen Reddel

Susan J Rees

Christopher Reid

Ian R Reid

Joel Rhee

Alice M Richardson

Drew B Richardson

Damien Riggs

Malcolm D Riley

Ian T Ring

Marco Rizzi

Vijay Roach

Fiona Robards

Kathryn Victoria Roberts

Chris Robertson

Iain K Robertson

Paul G Robertson

Jo Robinson

Kerry Robinson

Jenny M Robson

Leigh Roeger

Benjmain Rogers

Margaret J Rogers

Loreto Vanessa Tevah Rose

Jacqueline Roseleur

Sebastian P Rosenberg

Andrew Ross

Bronwen Ross

Glynis P Ross

Stacey L Rowe

Bosco Rowland

Amanda Roxburgh

Darren B Russell

Fiona Russell

Courtney Ryder

Bandana Saini

Jonathan M Samet

Mina Sarofim

Sarah Sasson

Christobel M Saunders

John Saunders

Rebecca B Saunderson

Feby Savira

Andrea L Schaffer

Chris Schilling

Markus Schlaich

Violeta Schubert

Tim Schultz

Kate Scoles

James G Scott

Paul A Scuffham

Holly Seale

Deshan F Sebaratnam

Paul J Secombe

Rhiann Sue See

Marie‐Claire Seeley

Leonie Segal

Tarun Sen Gupta

Sanjaya N Senanayake

Stefan Serban

Hannah Seymour

Anthony Shakeshaft

Shokoofeh Shamsi

Rashmi Sharma

Md Shajedur Rahman Shawon

Dinberu Shebeshi

Daisy Shepherd

Heather Shepherd

Kirsty Short

Alexis Leah Shub

William Sievert

Kyra Sim

David Simmons

Andrew H Singer

Leda Sivak

Dana Rose Marie Louise Slape

Janet K Sluggett

David P Smith

Jane Smith

Hayley Smithers‐Sheedy

Jennifer Smith‐Merry

Thomas L Snelling

Hayden A Snow

Jessamine Soderstrom

Tania C Sorrell

Denis Spelman

Alicia J Spittle

Geoffrey K Spurling

Preeyaporn Srasuebkul

Ingrid Stacey

Andrew Staib

Julia Steinberg

Alexandre S Stephens

Michele Sterling

Mark Stevenson

Adam Stewart

Rob Stirling

Martin R Stockler

Nigel P Stocks

Simone I Strasser

Edward Strivens

Bronwyn Gwenneth Ann Stuckey

Elizabeth Ann Sturgiss

Wei‐May Su

Takemi Sugiyama

Ahna Ballonoff Suleiman

Clair Sullivan

Anastasia S Suraev

Tatiana Surzhina

Georgina Sutherland

Tom Sutherland

Aaron L Sverdlov

Arianne Sweeting

Prue Talbot

Nicholas J Talley

Natassia Pinpin Tan

Patrick Tansley

Avelina Tarrago

Amanda Taylor

Adam G Testro

Hiran Thabrew

Mark AB Thomas

Alexander Thompson

Kelly Thompson

Tilda Nell Thomson

Karen Thorpe

Matthew Tieu

Kaylie Toll

Shidan Tosif

Stephen Craig Trumble

Haitham Tuffafa

Thomas Turnbull

Stuart Turville

Bep Uink

Patricia C Valery

Kees van Gool

Leesa Van Niekerk

Alicia Veasey

Mark George Knox Veitch

Rebecca Louise Venchiarutti

Bala Venkatesh

Deborah Verran

Karin Verspoor

Elmer V Villanueva

Renuka Visvanathan

Beverley Vollenhoven

Amy Von Huben

Kylie Vuong

Zoe Wainer

Dennis Walker

Robert J Walker

Richard Walton

Michael B Ward

Peter A B Wark

David D Warrell

Chelsea J Watego

David I Watson

Jared Watts

Cora Weber‐Pillwax

Peter Wein

Barbara Weinstein

Heidi Welberry

Cameron Wells

Aliza Werner‐Seidler

Robb Wesselingh

Juanita L Westbury

Seth Westhead

Melissa Anne Wheeler

Sara Whitburn

Cassandra White

Christopher P White

Jenni White

Julian White

Kate White

David C Whiteman

Alan John Wigg

Kay A Wilhelm

Garry J Wilkes

Chris S Wilkinson

Dominic J C Wilkinson

Louise Wilkinson

Carmel Williams

Craig Williams

Crystal Williams

Megan Williams

Robyn Williams

Andrew Wilson

Leon Winata

Ingrid Winship

Sarah Wise

Gary A Wittert

Vincent Wing Ming Wong

Anna Wood

Michael C Woodward AM

Paul Worley

Melina Gattellari Worthington

Michael Wright

Ian Wronski

Rosemary Wyber

Elizabeth J Wylie

Jessica Yang

Mark W Yates

Margaret R Zacharin

Ehud Zamir

Christopher Zeitz

Yuejen Zhao

Nicholas A Zwar