Editorial independence at the BMJ: Oversight committee may be crucial step forward...

doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7461.350-b

BMJ 2004;329:350 (7 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7461.350-b

Letter

Editorial independence at the BMJ

Oversight committee may be crucial step forward...

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

EDITOR—With reference to Smith's Editor's choice on editorialindependence at the BMJ,¹ we have witnessed the gutting of theNew England Journal of Medicine and JAMA when their parent medicalassociations succumbed to their profound conflicts of interest.These associations' pursuit of revenue, coupled with their willingnessto suppress papers that they or their advertisers didn't like,violated the editorial freedom of these journals' editors anddiminished the prestige, credibility, and influence that thesejournals formerly enjoyed.

I believe that the current reorganisation of the BMJ and BMJPublishing Group risks the same fate for the BMJ. This wouldbe all the more tragic in light of substantial recent growthin the credibility and influence of the journal, not just inthe United Kingdom but worldwide. The risk to the BMJ wouldbe reduced by the creation of an oversight committee, constitutedso that its membership . . . [Full text of this article]

David L Sackett, director

Trout Research and Education Center at Irish Lake, RR 1, Markdale, ON, Canada, N0C 1H0 sackett@bmts.com

CiteULike

Complore

Connotea

Del.icio.us Add to Digg

Digg

Technorati What's this?

Relevant Articles

Editorial independence at the BMJ: NEJM editor says facts in letter are wrong and accusations reckless...: Jeffrey M Drazen
BMJ 2004 329: 624. [Extract] [Full Text]

Editorial independence at the BMJ: ...JAMA editor expresses disappointment at letter's smear...: Catherine DeAngelis
BMJ 2004 329: 624. [Extract] [Full Text]

Editorial independence at the BMJ: Richard Smith
BMJ 2004 329: 0. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

Drazen, J. M (2004). Editorial independence at the BMJ: NEJM editor says facts in letter are wrong and accusations reckless.... BMJ 329: 624-624 [Full text]
DeAngelis, C. (2004). Editorial independence at the BMJ: ...JAMA editor expresses disappointment at letter's smear.... BMJ 329: 624-624 [Full text]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Responsible Independant Journalism: Bill D. Misner
bmj.com, 7 Aug 2004 [Full text]
Facts Wrong, Accusations Reckless in Sackett Letter: Jeffrey M. Drazen
bmj.com, 26 Aug 2004 [Full text]
Deep Disappointment: Catherine DeAngelis
bmj.com, 26 Aug 2004 [Full text]
A response from Irish Lake: David L. Sackett
bmj.com, 31 Aug 2004 [Full text]
Apology: David L. Sackett
bmj.com, 1 Sep 2004 [Full text]