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Office of Genomics and Disease Prevention

Reviewer's Guide to Completing
a HuGENet™ e-journal club Review

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Overview

This guide is designed for reviewers who are submitting an e-Journal Club review for the first time or for those who may have specific questions about how one is completed.

  • E-Journal Club contains two parts: a one-page summary and an accompanying abstraction of the study under review. Completion of the abstraction template is optional, unless requested by HuGENet™ staff.
  • Although the completion of the abstraction template provides a critical framework for reviewing specific study issues, additional checklists for appraising the gene prevalence and gene-disease associations will be available when the following paper is published: Little J, Bradley L, Bray MS, et al. Reporting, appraising and integrating data on genotype prevalence and gene-disease associations. Am J Epidemiol. in press.
  • To view completed e -Journal Club reviews or to submit reviews over the Internet, go to the HuGENET™ web site at http://www.cdc.gov/genomics/hugenet/ejournal.htm
  • In the last section of this document, brief instructions and templates are provided for each part of the e -Journal Club. MS Word templates, without the instructions, are available online for downloading at http://www.cdc.gov/genomics/hugenet/ejournal/template.htm . In addition, the Office of Genomics and Disease Prevention is in the process of developing a more user-friendly application that reviewers can use to edit and complete a review. This application will help place information from the e -Journal Club summary and abstract into a database.

Comment on process: behind the scenes of an e-Journal Club
E-Journal Club strives to be a timely, informal review of current literature that is available through the HuGENet™ web site and the HuGENet™ listserv for members. However, the editorial and clearance processes that are required of all CDC documents, including those posted electronically, may sometimes prolong the time to publication. We ask for your patience as a reviewer and participant in e-Journal Club.

Clearance checklist for e-journal Club reviewers
The following is a checklist for reviewers. Find the clearance category that fits your circumstance.

  • Write up e-Journal Club using the template(s).
  • If applicable, make sure all fields in the abstraction template are complete.
  • Make any necessary edits, changes, or requested revisions.
  • Obtain the appropriate clearance for your e-Journal Club:
    • Category 1, "I don't work at the CDC:" Follow the clearance procedures, if any, at your own institution.
    • Category 2, "I work at CDC but not at NCEH:" Submit your draft for clearance through your CIO, marking the document is for "electronic distribution" and that "NCEH cross-clearance is needed."
    • Category 3, "I work in NCEH, CDC:" Submit your draft for clearance through NCEH, marking the document is for "electronic distribution".


Questions, comments, and who to call
The HuGENet™ Coordinator, Bruce K. Lin, is here to help you throughout the review process. He will be glad to answer any questions you may have. Contact him at 770-488-4062 or
bel9@cdc.gov


Part 1: Template with brief instructions for completing e-Journal Club summary.


[Reference for HuGENet™ e-Journal Club Review]

Reviewed by
[List name(s) of individual(s) who reviewed article for e-Journal Club]

Affiliated agency
[For each person listed above, indicate affiliation]

The Health Outcome
[Describe disease or health outcome, including information on public health significance (prevalence, morbidity, mortality). Include information about genes associated with the health outcome.]

The Findings
[Report the findings of the study. Include type of study, study participant information, a description of the genetic component to the study, major results, and the author's conclusion.]

Public Health Implications
[Describe how the information may or may not impact public health, prevention, or treatment of the disease. Identify gaps in knowledge, where additional research is needed.]

References
List references cited in the text in the following format:

[First Author Last Name] [First Name Initial], et al. [Title of Journal Article]. [Journal Title]. [Year] Month;volume(issue):pages.


Part 2: Abstraction template with instructions for e-Journal Club (optional).


 Key Variables & Description  Article

 Reference

 Complete the bibliographic  reference  for the article according  to American  Journal of Epidemiology format.


 [First Author Last Name] [First Name  Initial], et al.  [Title of Journal Article].  [Journal Title]. [Year]  Month;volume(issue): [pages]


 Category of HuGE information

 Specify the types of information  (from  the list below) available in  
  the article:

  1. Prevalence of gene variant
  2. Gene-disease association
  3. Gene-environment interaction
  4. Gene-gene interaction
  5. Genetic test evaluation/monitoring
 

 Study hypotheses or purpose

 The authors study hypotheses or
 main  purpose for conducting the  study
 

 Gene(s)

 Identification of the following:
  1. Gene name
  2. Chromosome location
  3. Gene product/function
  4. Alleles
  5. OMIM #


 Gene:
 Chromosome location: 
 Gene product/function:
 Alleles:
 OMIM #:

 #: Gene name: [Repeat for second gene,  if applicable] .


 Environmental factor(s)

 Identify of the major  environmental  factors studied  (infectious,chemical,  physical, nutritional, and behavioral)

 [List numerically]

 Health outcome(s)

 Identify of the major  health outcome(s)  studied

 [List numerically]

 Study design

 Specify the types of study designs  (from the list below) in the article
  1. Case-control
  2. Cohort 
  3. Cross-sectional
  4. Descriptive or case series
  5. Clinical trial
  6. Population screening

 [Insert all that apply]


 Case definition

 For study designs 1, 4, and 5, define
 the following if available:

  • Disease case definition
  • Exclusion criteria
  • Gender
  • Race/ethnicity
  • Age
  • Time period
  • Geographic location
  • Number of participants


 [Note: Depending on the study design  being  discussed, this cell may not apply]
 Disease case definition:
 Exclusion Criteria:
 Gender:
 Race/ethnicity:
 Age:
 Time period:
 Geographic location:
[if not specified,  insert 'not  specified']
 Number of participants:


 Control definition

 For study design 1, define the  following if available:

  • Control selection criteria
  • Matching variables
  • Exclusion criteria
  • Gender
  • Race/ethnicity
  • Age
  • Time period
  • Geographic location
  • Number of participants


 [Note: Depending on the study design  being  discussed, this cell may not apply]

 Control selection cirteria:
 Matching variables:
 Exclusion Criteria:
 Gender:
 Race/ethnicity:
[if not specified, insert  'not  specified']
 Age:
 Time period:
 Geographic location:
 Number of participants:


 Cohort definition

 For study designs 2, 3, and 6, define
 the following if available:

  • cohort selection criteria
  • exclusion criteria
  • gender
  • race/ethnicity
  • age
  • time period
  • geographic location
  • number of participants


 Note: Depending on the study design being  discussed (i.e., case control), this cell may not  apply]

 Cohort selection criteria:
 Exclusion criteria:
 Gender:
 Race/ethnicity:
[if not specified, insert 'not  specified']
 Age:
 Time period:
 Geographic location:
[if not specified, insert  'not  specified']
 Number of participants:


 Assessment of environment factors

 For studies that include gene-  environment interactions, define the  following, if available:
  • Environmental factor
  • Exposure assessment
  • Exposure definition
  • Number of participants with exposure data (% of total eligible)

 Environmental factor:
 Exposure assessment:
 Exposure definition:
 Number of Participants with exposure  data: N  (% of total eligible)


 Genotyping

 Specify the following:

  • Gene
  • DNA source
  • Methodology
  • Number of participants
    genotyped (% of total eligible) 

 Gene:
 DNA source:
 Methodology:
 Number of participants genotyped:

 Results

 Describe the major results under each
 of the following HuGE categories.
 Include tables when data are  provided:
  1. Prevalence of gene variant
  2. Gene-disease association
  3. Gene-environment interaction
  4. Gene-gene interaction
  5. Genetic test evaluation/monitoring

 


 Conclusion

 State the author's overall conclusions  from the study.

 


 Comments
 Provide additional insight, including  methodologic issues and/or concerns  about the study.

 

Last Updated October 12, 2004