Dear Neil
An added question: when we are informed by some internet service that one person has read our paper, does that mean just that they have opened it and read the title or half the abstract? Surely, no one can know.
A factor no doubt is that we have all been enjoined to write in a format and style which is profoundly boring.
Perhaps a mention of the Cochrane Collaboration, or suchlike compendia of trials and reviews elsewhere, would be in order.
Best wishes
Stewart
HIFA profile: Stewart Britten is advisor to the British NGO, HealthProm, on its project to reduce maternal and child deaths in Northern Afghanistan. He has worked for the reduction of institutionalisation of babies and small children in Russia by introduction of parent support programmes. stewart.britten AT zen.co.uk