Dr. I. Douglas-Wilson (Editor, The Lancet) described the function and purposes of a general medical journal. He stated that the medical profession was drawing back from its threatened split into separate groups. Doctors were now developing interdisciplinary work patterns and were more involved in the organization and evaluation of the health care system . . . . The general journal had the breadth to help the reader fulfill his potential under these circumstances. He described the editorial practice in The Lancet. He was opposed to peer review and sent few papers for expert opinion, believing that that was conservative, elitist and even bigoted. . . . .The heart of the matter was the selection made by the editor and the freedom of the reader, who could turn elsewhere. Dr. Douglas-Wilson thought that a doctor who tired of his specialist journal was tired of his work. A doctor who tired of general journals was weary of life itself.
A Sat, study studied this question.