Using pictures in the BMJ

doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7497.916

BMJ 2005;330:916 (23 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7497.916

Editorial

Using pictures in the BMJ

We want lots of pictures, but have policies on using them ethically

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

We encourage authors to include pictures in submissions to theBMJ to add useful and relevant information. We also use picturesto help the journal to look good, to be well read, to entertainand stimulate readers, and sometimes to cast different perspectiveson familiar subjects. Surveys show that readers may lose interestwhen faced with slabs of unbroken print, so we include somepictures to make articles more engaging and to draw readersin.

But there are pitfalls in publishing pictures in a medical journal,and we receive a handful of complaints each year about ours.Readers have two main concerns—that publishing picturesof patients may compromise privacy and confidentiality and thatpictures may be altered and might thereby mislead.

The BMJ has strict policies on preserving privacy and confidentiality.We insist that authors obtain patients' written consent beforewe agree to publish pictures of real patients taken . . . [Full text of this article]

Trish Groves, senior assistant editor

BMJ (tgroves@bmj.com)

Jan Croot, picture editor

BMJ

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