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Tuesday, February 10, 2004

Knowledge, Policy, and Marketing with a Dash of Oops

Business, Science Clash at Medical Journal (washingtonpost.com)

This article discusses a situation in which an editorial whose questions were valid and timely was rejected due to marketing concerns, not scholarship. Apparently there was a concern that in publishing it, the journal would offend a major drug company/advertiser.

Knowledge is power, but unfortunately, so is money.

A followup appears in the news extra of this week's BMJ. Apparently the journal, Dialysis & Transplantation, reversed its original stance, but the author has declined to resubmit it for consideration.

Kudos to the author for blowing the whistle on this by publicising the rejection e-mail. :) One good thing about the Internet is that it helps keep accountability by allowing nearly-instant fallout.

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