Most of the writers are professional journalists but not all, and an event in your country that you think might have a wider interest can be brought to the attention of our news desk. You will be writing for an audience outside your own specialist area, so you will have to introduce the reader gently. Illustrations are very helpful. In reviews with a treatment focus you should explain what information retrieval sources were used and what your criteria were in selecting the papers referred to. For guidance on consensus statements, please contact an editor first.
Hypothesis implies speculation.
These papers should not be reviews and must not contain new data. Sharing a new idea takes courage. Requirements for all these are best judged by looking at published examples. Correspondence, in the form of comments on what has appeared in the journal earlier, is a very important part of The Lancet . Other letters of general interest are welcome too even though they are unlinked to earlier items in The Lancet .