The editorial autonomy of the CMAJ, the journal of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), “is to an important degree illusory,” says a highly critical commentary published last week. The commentary was produced by an ad hoc committee of the journal's editorial board following the firing of the journal's editor and deputy editor (BMJ 2006;332: 503, 4 Mar). Soon after the commentary was published the acting editor resigned after the association refused to accept a plan he drafted that was aimed …