BMJ  2006;332 (4 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7540.0-f

Editor's choice

A big mistake

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

The world of medical journals was shaken last week by the sacking of another high profile editor. John Hoey, editor of the CMAJ, was summarily dismissed in the final act of a long running dispute with the journal's owner, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), about interference in editorial decisions. I say "another editor" because it seems no time at all since the former editors of the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA were sacked (BMJ 1999;319: 272[Free Full Text]). Amidst the ensuing outcry about infringements of editorial freedom, some hard and important lessons were learnt but not, we now know, by the CMA.

What happened has emerged only gradually over the past week because those directly involved are banned from speaking publicly. The story and reactions to it are described in this week's news (p 503). In brief, the CMA objected to articles . . . [Full text of this article]

Fiona Godlee, editor

(fgodlee@bmj.com)


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