A review of the biomedical journals in Japan containing the RCTs which may be useful for the Cochrane Collaboration

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Authors
Sakai H, Origasa H
Abstract
Introduction: The Japanese involvement in the Cochrane Collaboration has been recently more active in a certain medical field. We should really document the available databases and a list of useful biomedical journals to search for those RCTs (Randomized Controlled Trials) conducted in Japan.

Objective: We developed a thorough list of biomedical journals in Japan, with particular attention to cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and diabetes mellitus.

Methods: Since neither "random allocation" nor "RCTs" are available for Japanese biomedical databases, the keywords of either "comparative studies" or "clinical trials" were applied for searching for RCTs. Selected journals were classified according to each of the three medical fields.

Results: There were many journals which include the RCTs regardless of the medical field. These are Rinsho lyaku (Journal of Clinical Therapeutics & Medicines), Igaku no Ayumi (Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine), Progress in Medicine, Rinsho Yakuri (Japanese Journal of Clinical Pharmacology) and others. A few additional professional journals included the RCTs specific to a certain theme. However, the proportion of these journals was quite small among about 2,300 different Japanese biomedical journals.

Discussion: Regardless of the medical field, several Japanese journals include many RCTs, which should be regularly chased by each of the Cochrane review groups. A few journals on the specific theme could be supplemented for the periodical hand searches.