The BJGP tries to make the data as simple and comprehensible as possible, while still having enough for readers to judge the reliability of the results and interpretation being claimed by the a authors. When the dataset is large we do sometimes publish the full table in the electronic journal, and a simpler version (or none at all) in the hardcopy version. This paper did rely on large tables, but it was impossible to truncate them or confine them to the electronic journal, given the nature of the study. We can, perhaps, take some comfort that this is the first time in several years that this criticism has been made. We have every confidence in Dr Harnell's intellectual capacities as a reader.
- © British Journal of General Practice, 2005.