Healthy Skepticism Library item: 17771

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Jakobsen AK, Christensen R, Persson R, Bartels EM, Kristensen LE
And now, e-publication bias
BMJ 2010 Apr 28; 340:
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/340/apr28_2/c2243

Abstract:

In open access publishing scholarly communication is made available free of charge on the internet. In biomedical research, authors or sponsors often pay a fee to a publisher to enable immediate free online access.1 2 A few journals operate entirely under this model, whereas others use a hybrid model allowing authors to choose between subscription access and author-paid open access.

We investigated the association between funding of biomedical research by industry and author-paid open access publishing in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, a journal in the BMJ Group. We included extended reports published during October 2007 to September 2008, defining primary exposure as study funding from an industrial source with commercial interests in the area studied, and secondary exposure as other author-industry affiliations. Access (the outcome measure) was defined as locked (subscription access) or unlocked (open access).

Of 216 extended reports, 71 had received funding from an industrial sponsor. . . .