The Royal Medical Society has now published all the back issues of their journal, Res Medica, on the library-supported open access journal hosting platform.

Res Medica started in 1957 and published regularly until the mid-seventies. A total of 42 issues have been scanned and made available online by the Library.

Content from some of the earlier issues is fascinating, not only because of the large number of Guinness adverts, but also because of the occasional complete lack of political correctness that will make readers squirm.

This is one of my favourite quotes, “the exclusion of ladies from membership has never been an actual law of the society—the society seems merely to have neglected the existance [sic] of the opposite sex”. The full account of the landmark decision to admit women is available in the Spring 1974 issue.

Winter 2014 issue
A new (more enlightened) editorial team has taken on Res Medica, publishing one issue per year. The second issue, published on 30th November, is now available. In this issue, alongside the regular intake of student and junior doctor led clinical articles, there are three commissioned articles by experts in global health, written with medical students and young doctors in mind.

Current and past issues of Res Medica are available here: http://journals.ed.ac.uk/resmedica

Angela Laurins, Library Learning Services