Healthy Skepticism Library item: 3830
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Publication type: media release
Petition on editorial autonomy at the CMAJ
2006 Feb 24
http://www.chaps.ucalgary.ca/cmaj.htm
Notes:
Ralph Faggotter’s Comments:
Those who were unsettled, disappointed, shocked, upset or outraged by the sacking of the CMAJ editor and his assistant, have an opportunity to express their unhappiness with the decision by signing the petition at-
http://www.questionpro.com/akira/TakeSurvey?id=370917
Full text:
PETITION ON EDITORIAL AUTONOMY AT THE CMAJ
We the undersigned Editorial Board Members of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) were shocked, dismayed, and saddened to learn that the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) had fired Dr. John Hoey, the Editor, and Anne Marie Todkill, the Senior Deputy Editor, of the CMAJ. As a result of this development we are organizing a petition, which we hope you will endorse, to apply pressure to the CMA leadership to reverse their decisions on this matter. If you want to sign on to this petition please go to (http://www.questionpro.com/akira/TakeSurvey?id=370917).
The editorial board members are concerned that the firings relate to the CMA’s violation of the principle of editorial autonomy that guarantees both scientific integrity and freedom of expression. The reputation of scientific journals depends significantly on adherence to the spirit and proper application of this principle. The CMAJ is the CMA’s one indisputable reputational asset. By its actions the CMA has not only unjustly dismissed genuinely world class editors; it has compromised the public interest, its own interests, and the value of its core asset.
Under the leadership of Hoey and Todkill the CMAJ has risen throughout the last decade from a journal of modest reputation and impact to a leading international journal for medical research and opinion. The CMAJ’s impact factor – a measure of the scientific importance of articles published in a journal – has more than tripled over the last decade. The CMAJ now has the 5th highest impact factor among the world’s general medical journals. This is an outstanding achievement and is testimony to the exemplary leadership of Hoey and Todkill.
The CMAJ is the leading medical journal in Canada. Physicians, other health care professionals, journalists, and the public regard the CMAJ as a source for high quality research articles, editorials, commentaries, and news. The CMAJ was one of the first medical journals to offer free open access to its articles, was one of the first mandating researchers to register clinical trials, and was at the forefront of including multimedia content to complement traditional text-based articles. All of this has occurred under the editorial direction of Hoey and Todkill, who have been responsible for developing a world class editorial team.
Mr. Graham Morris is President of the CMA Media and the individual who fired Hoey and Todkill. He refused to provide a reason for the firings when contacted by one of the CMAJ editorial board members. However, in a column published on February 22, 2006 in the New York Times Mr. Morris was quoted as saying the firings occurred because he “felt it was time for a fresher approach.” We find Mr. Morris’ statement implausible for the following reasons: the CMAJ is experiencing unprecedented success and growth, the suddenness of the firing without a clear plan of succession, and the lack of an explanation at the time of the firings.
Given this, we can only assume the firings are the result of ongoing tensions between the CMA leadership and the CMAJ editors over matters of editorial independence. We believe there is a need for editorial autonomy to ensure physicians, other health care providers, society, and researchers that the CMAJ is an impartial source of rigorous health information. The journal should not censor information as a means to support the political and strategic objectives of CMA leadership. Freedom from interference in editorial decision making is fundamental to ensure the reputation and credibility of a medical journal.
All credible medical journals with true editorial autonomy are bound to publish articles that are sometimes discordant with the strategic, ideological, or commercial interests of the owners. Owners should not respond to such situations by firing the editors, rather they should evaluate editorial decision making over the long term. If a clear pattern of incompetence or unethical behaviour is identified then an owner is justified in firing an editor.
A committee consisting of Dr. Jerome Kassirer (committee chair and editor-in-chief emeritus NEJM), Dr. Frank Davidoff (editor emeritus Annals of Internal Medicine), Kathryn O’Hara (CTV chair in science broadcast journalism), Donald Redelmeier (clinician researcher), and Peter Tugwell (clinician researcher) recently evaluated the editorial autonomy of the CMAJ. We have had the opportunity to review this committee’s draft report and it found, “an ongoing attempt of the CMA to pressure the CMAJ’s editors and thwart the independence of the Journal.” Considering this committee’s finding and the body of editorial decision making undertaken by Dr. Hoey and Ms. Todkill we believe their editorial work has been nothing short of exceptional. We see no justification for their dismissal.
We hope you will join us in signing the petition in which we urge the CMA leadership to reinstate Dr. Hoey and Ms. Todkill to their previous editorial positions at the CMAJ. We further exhort the CMA leadership to protect the editorial freedom and independence of the CMAJ.
If you agree with the objectives of this petition and you are willing to have your name and email address included in this petition, which we will present to the CMA, please go to (http://www.questionpro.com/akira/TakeSurvey?id=370917) and proceed to the petition window and answer YES to the petition.
Sincerely,
P.J. Devereaux Paul Armstrong William Ghali
Alex Jadad Prabhat Jha Jerry Kassirer
Steven Lewis Finlay McAlister Allison McGeer
David Moher Donald Redelmeier Jean-Luc Urbain
Sander Van Zanten John Willinsky James Wright
Salim Yusuf
This petition is created using QuestionPro: www.questionpro.com
