Have the potential to disseminate best practice more widely

Participants can join more than one journal club (JC), for example, a digital, specialty-specific JC

Can spark national or international connections and collaborations

Provides opportunities to invite international experts to participate32

Potential participants who are geographically isolated can join an online community of practice at a place of their choosing

Allows flexible engagement outside of a strict schedule that may promote attendance among busy, for example, shift working, learners11

Provides an opportunity for JC engagement for those not usually involved in academic medicine

May favour those who are more comfortable with digital technology, for example, potentially lead to less oversight from more expert senior member (unchecked inaccurate posts)

Limited (eg, 280-character Tweets) may not be enough to express critical viewpoint21

Real-time journal clubs may be too ‘rapid fire’ and difficult to follow

Asynchronous discussion may lose momentum or pose a logistic problem (eg, participation across time zones)

Joining an online community as a newcomer may prove daunting for some

Hierarchical boundaries may still exist, for example, senior clinicians may still contribute disproportionately to discussions29

Potentially susceptible to undisclosed conflicts of interest or commercial influences