BMJ  2003;326:1262-1264 (7 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7401.1262

Education and debate

Pitfalls of editorial miscommunication

¹ Compositor Ruiz Aznar 12, 2-A, 18008 Granada, Spain kashashok@wanadoo.es

When Human Immunology retracted an article from a special issue, it blamed the guest editor, who was also one of the authors. But journals should not hand responsibility to someone unfamiliar with that journal's editorial procedures without written guidance or oversight

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

In October 2001, the publishers of Human Immunology retracted an immunogenetics paper that some readers felt contained inappropriate political content. They also deleted it from the online edition of the journal and asked librarians to physically remove the pages the article was printed on. The first author of the controversial article was also guest editor of the special issue the paper appeared in. The case triggered much debate in editorial organisations and internet discussion groups, and the guest editor, editor in chief, sponsoring society, and publisher were all criticised for their roles in the affair. This article examines the claims and counterclaims.

Human Immunology, a journal published by Elsevier Science and sponsored by the American Society of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, produced a special issue on anthropology and genetic markers in September 2001. The guest editor was Dr Antonio Arnaiz-Villena, head of the immunology department at a large public hospital . . . [Full text of this article]

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Editorial misconduct

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• (2004). When to retract?. BMJ 328: 384-384 [Full text]  
• Smith, R. (2003). Editorial misconduct. BMJ 326: 1224-1225 [Full text]  

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