A clear response

The credibility of a medical journal does not depend on how incomprehensible the articles are that are included (letter from Remco P Rietveld defending his research on treating conjunctivitis with fusidic acid).1 If authors responses are to be published they should at least make sense to your readers! When teaching critical appraisal of journals to GP registrars I always tell them to read the response letters some weeks later as often they are very interesting for feedback purposes. Rietveld's response was amusing and confusing but certainly not illuminating!

• © British Journal of General Practice, 2006.