Editorial

Lead editorial: The need for greater perspective and innovation in epidemiology

Carl V Phillips^1,2 , Karen J Goodman¹ and Charles Poole³ for the editors of Epidemiologic Perspectives & Innovations

¹  University of Texas Health Science Center Houston 1200 Herman Pressler Dr., Houston, Texas 77030 USA

²  Center for Philosophy, Health, and Policy Sciences, Inc., Houston, USA

³  Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

author email corresponding author email

Epidemiologic Perspectives & Innovations 2004, 1:1doi:10.1186/1742-5573-1-1

Published:	3 September 2004

Abstract

This editorial introduces the new online, open-access, peer-reviewed journal, Epidemiologic Perspectives & Innovations. Epidemiology (which we define broadly, to include clinical research and various approaches to studying the health of populations) is a critically important field in informing decisions about the health of individuals and populations. But the desire for new information means that the health science literature is overwhelmingly devoted to reporting new findings, leaving little opportunity to improve the quality of the science. By creating a journal dedicated to all topics of and about epidemiology, except standard research reports, we hope to encourage authors to write more on the neglected aspects of the field. The journal will publish articles that analyze policy implications of health research, present new research methods and better communicate existing methods, reassess previous results and dogma, and provide other innovations in and perspectives on the field. Online publishing will permit articles of whatever length is required for the work, speed the time to publication and allow free access to the full content.