20 years ago: The British Homoeopathic Journal, January 1991

Metamorphosis

In this first issue of Volume 80, the editorial is entitled “A metamorphosis on our 80th birthday”.[ ¹ ] Peter Fisher spoke of the illustrious ancestry of the Journal in the plethora of journals published by the British Homoeopathic Society (which became the Faculty in 1950) in the 19th and early 20th century. He named them, from the British Journal of Homoeopathy, published from 1843 to 1885, until the Journal's immediate forbear, the Journal of the British Homoeopathic Society (1893–1910), originally edited by Richard Hughes. Fisher stated: “The large quantity which these journals published, in an age when the total volume of medical publishing was an order of magnitude less than it is today, reflects the strength of the homoeopathic movement compared to our own time”. The very first volume of the present journal is reviewed in this issue.

The metamorphosis referred to for the current issue had three aspects. A new cover carried the new Faculty logo, and had a cleaner and more modern layout. A far more important innovation was the introduction of the new supplement, Simile; the title a revival of the Faculty newsletter of the 1970s. This was in response to increasing demand for news, views and debate. An important aspect was the documentation of single case studies, in an attempt to counterbalance important elements of homeopathy which could be eliminated by increasing use of Information Technology (IT). In due course, these reports would be stored by the HOMINFORM Scientific Information Service of the Glasgow Homoeopathic Library, allowing on-line searching of the case report database. The third aspect is the acknowledgement of the importance of IT for homeopathy; “A technical revolution analogous to the discovery of printing”. The issue is devoted to this subject.

• References

• 1 Fisher P. Editorial: a metamorphosis on our 80th birthday. Br Homeopath J 1991; 80: 1-2.
• 2 Swayne J. The methodology of computerized medical case study: introduction. Br Homeopath J 1991; 80: 3-6.
• 3 Brittain R.D. The global knowledge revolution and medicine 1. Br Homeopath J 1991; 80: 7-13.
• 4 Read J. The Read clinical classification (Read codes): general description. Br Homeopath J 1991; 80: 14-20.
• 5 Neame R. Minimal effective data sets (MEDS): the case for standardization at the level of clinical protocols. Br Homeopath J 1991; 80: 21-25.
• 6 Wright A. Computer-aided case-following and diagnosis. Br Homeopath J 1991; 80: 26-33.
• 7 Fichefet J. Computer-aided homoeopathy. Br Homeopath J 1991; 80: 34-38.
• 8 Fisher P. Data collection at the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital. Br Homeopath J 1991; 80: 47-49.
• 9 van Haselen R.A. Datamatrix requirements for inductive analysis. Br Homeopath J 1991; 80: 50-51.
• 10 Davies P.R.T. Asking the right questions. Br Homeopath J 1991; 80: 42-46.
• 11 Rutten L. Hidden paradigms in homoeopathy. Br Homeopath J 1991; 80: 39-41.
• 12 Pratt N.J. Eighty years ago: The British Homoeopathic Journal. Br Homeopath J 1991; 80: 59-61.
• 13 Bodman F. Book review: insights into homoeopathy. Br Homeopath J 1991; 80: 64.