Tessera

MJA Editor-in-Chief

@editor.mja.com.au

Ginny Barbour, Editor-in-Chief, Medical Journal of Australia. Haematologist originally, Open Science advocate, editor. See @mja.com.au for MJA & InSight+ posts https://www.mja.com.au/ https://insightplus.mja.com.au/

78 Posts889 Follower 1016 Folgt

The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 3d ago

AI in health care: what Australian GPs should know before they adopt 👉 buff.ly/w7G2vei

MJA Editor-in-Chief @editor.mja.com.au · 3d ago

Australian Senate's inquiry into Gambling Reform is so important, not least for its effect on #publichealth. This 2024 article in @mja.com.au discusses #gambling disorder onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.5694/... and notes need to focus on commercial determinants & industry practices and advertising

The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 3w ago

The MJA website has a new look! Enjoy a more streamlined experience with improved accessibility, responsive design and clearer navigation. Explore the new site now! buff.ly/xWg2Gh8

The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 4w ago

The MJA’s 2026 NAIDOC Special Collection is here! Drawing Strength from Country: Enduring Indigenous Wellbeing, foregrounds the relationality between holistic health, spiritual resilience and connection to Country. Explore the collection here: buff.ly/F0tg1sB #NAIDOC2026 #NAIDOCWeek

The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 4w ago

The latest collection of Indigenous led and authored papers begins today in the Medical Journal of Australia. Read more:

The MJA’s Special Collection on Indigenous Health for NAIDOC Week 2026

The latest collection of Indigenous led and authored papers begins today in the Medical Journal of Australia .

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The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 3mo ago

🔔 NEW in the Medical Journal of Australia Primary Hyperparathyroidism in Adults: Recent Developments in Diagnosis and Management ✍️ Elizabeth Wootton, Sunita M. C. De Sousa, Richard L. Prince, Donald S. A. McLeod, David A. Pattison, Mathis Grossmann 👉 buff.ly/uROHoLC

The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 3mo ago

🔔 NEW in the Medical Journal of Australia The Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine in Australia: An Additional Tool for Influenza Prevention ✍️ Cyra Patel, Alexis Pillsbury, Tran Nguyen, Xia Wang, Helen E. Quinn, Clayton K. Chiu, Allen C. Cheng, Katie L. Flanagan, Zhicheng Wang 👉 buff.ly/IQdvyfD

The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 3mo ago

Before vaccines, diphtheria used to kill hundreds each year. Now it’s back in Australia Read more: buff.ly/aofrA1e

The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 3mo ago

In the April issue of the MJA, Quek at al provide structured recommendations regarding reducing medication burden in older adults, reflecting the increasing complexity of health care for our ageing population Read more: buff.ly/mpdgw6m

MJA Editor-in-Chief @editor.mja.com.au · 3mo ago

In case you missed it, InSight+ insightplus.mja.com.au has a great new look. Designed with medical practitioners in mind to be easy to navigate across all the content. Take a look, sign up for the newsletter and let us know any feedback! @mja.com.au #medicalnews

The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 3mo ago

🔔 NEW in the Medical Journal of Australia Australian Consensus Statement on the Prevention and Management of Frailty Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Modified Delphi Study 👉 buff.ly/77fku46

The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 3mo ago

InSight+ has a new look! Explore our new website - with faster, easier access to the news and information you need for your practice 👉 buff.ly/nYQmFRb

The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 3mo ago

This week in InSight+ For 25 years, Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) has championed a once under-recognised argument: protecting the environment is fundamental to protecting human health. Read more: buff.ly/SvcIN9B

Melissa Sweet @melissasweetdr.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Planning laws need reform to help put the brakes on fast-food juggernaut – Croakey Health Media www.croakey.org/planning-law... #CommercialDeterminants #PublicHealth #HiAP

The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 4mo ago

🔔 NEW in the Medical Journal of Australia Reflex Testing for Hepatitis D Infection: A Unique Opportunity to Reduce Hepatitis D-Related Chronic Liver Disease Deaths in Australia 👉 buff.ly/ZJmXY1s

The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 4mo ago

This week in InSight+ Delayed diagnosis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis remains a significant and preventable cause of harm for Australian children. Earlier recognition in primary care is critical to reducing long-term disability and improving outcomes. Read more: buff.ly/XzOBN5P

The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 4mo ago

🔔 NEW in the Medical Journal of Australia Cervical Cancer Elimination in Australia and the Asia Pacific: Progress and Barriers ✍️ Susan Yuill, Carol Naidu, Megan Smith, Deborah Bateson, Marion Saville, Boniface Damutalau, Karen Canfell 👉 buff.ly/0pCQIGX

The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 4mo ago

This week in InSight+ As we increasingly witness the predicted harms of the climate crisis manifest, it has become clear that clinicians who prioritise the health of their patients must prioritise the health of the planet. Read more: buff.ly/3qZ3uzh

The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 4mo ago

🔔 NEW in the Medical Journal of Australia Uptake and Costs of the 60-Day Dispensing Policy for Antihypertensive Medicines in Australia: A Mixed Methods Study 👉 buff.ly/tglQw8h

The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 5mo ago

The latest MJA issue is out now! Available online at buff.ly/hMYpyOy

MJA Editor-in-Chief @editor.mja.com.au · 7mo ago

Important report on Australia’s #humanrights record from a coalition of Australian NGOs. In 2025-26 the Australian Government undergoes scrutiny under the #UnitedNations Human Rights Council in Geneva for the Universal Periodic Review www.hrlc.org.au/projects/uni...

Australia's human rights record under scrutiny through 2025-26 UN Universal Periodic Review - Human Rights Law Centre

hrlc.org.au

The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 7mo ago

A legacy of excluding women from clinical trials means Australia’s medical system is fundamentally skewed, with women more likely to be misdiagnosed, experience adverse drug reactions and receive less effective treatment for common conditions. Read more: buff.ly/wviZKnh

The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 7mo ago

🔔 NEW in the Medical Journal of Australia How Can We Ensure Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Information for Adolescents in Light of Australia's Social Media Restrictions? ✍️ Olena Ivanova, Anisa R. Assifi, Danielle Mazza

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The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 7mo ago

The MJA is pleased to announce a call for papers for a Special Collection on Indigenous Health, which will have a publishing run from NAIDOC week 2026 until the end of 2026. The call for papers runs from now until 31 March 2026. For more information, click here: buff.ly/NIeVy94

Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · 9mo ago

We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing: a 🧵 1/n Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820 Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/... Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...

A table showing profit margins of major publishers. A snippet of text related to this table is below.

1. The four-fold drain
1.1 Money
Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for
whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who
created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis,
which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024
alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit
margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher
(Elsevier) always over 37%.
Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most
consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial
difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor &
Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American
researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The
Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3
billion in that year.

A figure detailing the drain on researcher time.

1. The four-fold drain

1.2 Time
The number of papers published each year is growing faster than the scientific workforce,
with the number of papers per researcher almost doubling between 1996 and 2022 (Figure
1A). This reflects the fact that publishers’ commercial desire to publish (sell) more material
has aligned well with the competitive prestige culture in which publications help secure jobs,
grants, promotions, and awards. To the extent that this growth is driven by a pressure for
profit, rather than scholarly imperatives, it distorts the way researchers spend their time.
The publishing system depends on unpaid reviewer labour, estimated to be over 130 million
unpaid hours annually in 2020 alone (9). Researchers have complained about the demands of
peer-review for decades, but the scale of the problem is now worse, with editors reporting
widespread difficulties recruiting reviewers. The growth in publications involves not only the
authors’ time, but that of academic editors and reviewers who are dealing with so many
review demands.
Even more seriously, the imperative to produce ever more articles reshapes the nature of
scientific inquiry. Evidence across multiple fields shows that more papers result in
‘ossification’, not new ideas (10). It may seem paradoxical that more papers can slow
progress until one considers how it affects researchers’ time. While rewards remain tied to
volume, prestige, and impact of publications, researchers will be nudged away from riskier,
local, interdisciplinary, and long-term work. The result is a treadmill of constant activity with
limited progress whereas core scholarly practices – such as reading, reflecting and engaging
with others’ contributions – is de-prioritized. What looks like productivity often masks
intellectual exhaustion built on a demoralizing, narrowing scientific vision.

A table of profit margins across industries. The section of text related to this table is below:

1. The four-fold drain
1.1 Money
Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for
whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who
created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis,
which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024
alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit
margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher
(Elsevier) always over 37%.
Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most
consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial
difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor &
Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American
researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The
Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3
billion in that year.

The costs of inaction are plain: wasted public funds, lost researcher time, compromised
scientific integrity and eroded public trust. Today, the system rewards commercial publishers
first, and science second. Without bold action from the funders we risk continuing to pour
resources into a system that prioritizes profit over the advancement of scientific knowledge.

MJA Editor-in-Chief @editor.mja.com.au · 9mo ago

Great discussion at launch today of 2030 Healthy Countdown Supplement, published in the MJA www.mja.com.au/journal/2025... Sharon Goldfeld, Kate Lycett, Pasi Sahlberb, Planning Saw & Prue Warrilow Very proud at @mja.com.au to publish from this important project www.aracy.org.au/future-healt...

The Medical Journal of Australia @mja.com.au · 10mo ago

Jayne McFadyen and colleagues' critique of a past report of inpatient psychiatric treatment for gender diverse children provides an essential element of evidence‐based medicine - the patient's voice Read the research: buff.ly/VYbd4yW ABC article: buff.ly/vUBCwA7 7:30 report:

Decades-old study influences modern trans youth healthcare debate

Sarah Ferguson presents Australia's premier daily current affairs program, delivering agenda-setting public affairs journalism and interviews that hold the powerful to account. Plus political…

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MJA Editor-in-Chief @editor.mja.com.au · 10mo ago

Last week, at a ceremony on the University of Wollongong campus on the beautiful lands of the Wandi Wandian and Dharawal Peoples @mja.com.au were honoured to receive a walking stick from Uncle Paul Scott who carved it for the 2025 Special Issue on Indigenous Health. www.mja.com.au/journal/2025...

EiC Ginny Barbour receiving the stick from Uncle Paul Scott

The story of the walking stick written by Uncle Paul Scott

The cover of the 2025 MJA Special issue on Indigenous Health

MJA Editor-in-Chief @editor.mja.com.au · 11mo ago

Key finding: "Extreme heat, floods, bushfires, poor air quality & communicable diseases will escalate health risks. Those with pre-existing health conditions, including mental ill-health, are most at risk. This includes the very young & our older populations... www.acs.gov.au/pages/nation...

Cover of Australia's first National Climate Risk Assessment

MJA Editor-in-Chief @editor.mja.com.au · 11mo ago

It's been a long road to an Australian CDC - and one of the first discussions of this was in a conference report published back in 1987 in @mja.com.au onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.5... www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Australia is about to get a centre for disease control. How will it tackle public health challenges? | Allen Cheng for the Conversation

Immediate issues for the agency will include bird flu, immunisation and misinformation, as well as the challenges of cancer, diabetes and heart disease. But there’s a lot we don’t know yet – and can w...

theguardian.com