Scientific medical journals of belarus: what are they?
Thirty three scientific medical journals issued in Belarus were estimated using questioning and citation research techniques. Detailed characteristics of each journal (circulation, number of issues per year, electronic form and site if available) are presented; leading journals were identified based on results of readers questioning and on frequency of citation in Russian index of scientific citation. 40.4% respondents, journals readers, agree to subscribe to paper version of the journal even if its electronic form is available online. Despite the fact that 32 new scientific journals appeared over the last twenty years in Belarus the number of readers and authors is decreasing in comparison to Soviet times. The number of journals still corresponds neither to the quality of the journals themselves (circulation, polygraphic performance, high-quality editing, etc) nor to the quality of publications (novelty, scientific and practical significance, representational statistics, use of evidence-based medicine principles in research work). The appearance of every new scientific journal somehow stimulates publishing activity of scientists but naturally it can not increase the number of new scientific ideas and results. Moreover the more scientific journals are published in the region (in excess of necessary minimum), the fewer scientific results are achieved. First of all it is necessary to improve the quality of journals, their status in international community, citation as well as to increase the number of readers and authors nationally and internationally.