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Nixon et al's idea of using colour to summarise data from economic
evaluations sounds great in theory, and I agree that it should certainly
help to make the results more easily understood. Unfortunately, there are
important practical difficulties. Many journals do not normally print in
colour, and if they do then they often pass on the not inconsiderable
extra costs to the authors. I wonder if Nixon et al have thought of doing
an economic evaluation of their method of summarising economic
evaluations.
In addition, not all articles are read in their original version:
many are photocopied or faxed, and so may not be read in colour even if
they are published that way.
Competing interests: I read Nixon et al's article after downloading
it from the BMJ website and printing it out on a monochrome printer.
Practical difficulties with colour
Nixon et al's idea of using colour to summarise data from economic
evaluations sounds great in theory, and I agree that it should certainly
help to make the results more easily understood. Unfortunately, there are
important practical difficulties. Many journals do not normally print in
colour, and if they do then they often pass on the not inconsiderable
extra costs to the authors. I wonder if Nixon et al have thought of doing
an economic evaluation of their method of summarising economic
evaluations.
In addition, not all articles are read in their original version:
many are photocopied or faxed, and so may not be read in colour even if
they are published that way.
Competing interests: I read Nixon et al's article after downloading
it from the BMJ website and printing it out on a monochrome printer.
Competing interests: No competing interests