Transparency and trust: Clear definition of ghost writing would be helpful

doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7478.1345-b

BMJ 2004;329:1345-1346 (4 December), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7478.1345-b

Letter

Transparency and trust

Clear definition of ghost writing would be helpful

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

EDITOR—The requirement that all authors have the idea,do all the work, get the data, analyse the data, and write thepaper may be perfectly applicable to fundamental research, perhaps,or small clinical trials. In large studies it is not applicable:we are doing a 40 000 patient study of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatorydrugs and COX-2 inhibitors, requested by the regulatory authorities,financed by pharmaceutical companies, driven by an independentscientific committee. Fifty people, including half a dozen statisticians,work in this study, which will generate about a hundred millionbits of data. Papers will be written by medical writers underthe surveillance and final approval of the scientific committee.Is this ghost writing?

May I hire a professional writer to write papers students didnot or could not write, and I don't have the time to? Shouldthese data lie ignored? Should that writer, who was not involved. . . [Full text of this article]

Nicholas Moore, chef de service

Centre hospitalier et universitaire de Bordeaux, Université Victor Segalen-Bordeaux II, Département de Pharmacologie, 33076 Bordeaux Cedex, France nicholas.moore@pharmaco.u-bordeaux2.fr