Turning the Page at the CMAJ
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《新英格兰医药杂志》
Since the editor-in-chief and senior deputy editor of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) were fired in February 2006, there has been passionate public debate about editorial independence and the governance of the publication.1,2 In March, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) appointed a review panel. In July, the panel made its recommendations for change,3 and the association immediately accepted them.4 The report is silent on the underlying reasons for the firings, which may never be publicly clarified.
The CMAJ is the leading general health sciences journal in Canada and has been published continuously since 1911.3 Appearing biweekly, it is provided free on the Web (www.cmaj.ca) and does not require authors to pay charges or readers to register. The governance panel, chaired by Richard Pound, a prominent attorney in Montreal, recommended that the editor-in-chief of the CMAJ have an employment contract, with a term of five years, and that the contract include "a statement of the applicable principles of editorial independence." As an example of such principles, the report cited the policy statement of the World Association of Medical Editors.5 Editors-in-chief should have full authority over the editorial content of the journal, which "includes original research, opinion articles and news reports, both in print or electronic format, and regardless of how and when this information is published."5 Editors should also "be free to publish critical but responsible views about all aspects of medicine without fear of retribution, even if these views may conflict with the goals of the owner."5
The panel recommended that the direct ownership of the CMAJ revert to the CMA from a subsidiary holding company to which it was recently transferred and that the editor-in-chief should no longer report to the journal's publisher. Instead, the editor should report to the association's board of directors and an oversight committee for editorial matters and to a senior staff executive for business matters, and the oversight committee should be used to resolve disputes. The panel also recommended rules under which the board of directors could fire the editor-in-chief during his or her term. In situations involving "potentially controversial editorial content," the CMA "shall have no right to alter the content," but it should be given advance notice similar to that provided to the news media, and any response intended for publication should "go through the same process as all third party submissions."
The Pound report has detailed a path forward for the CMA and the CMAJ. It has provided a thoughtful analysis of organizational structures that is relevant to other medical journals, particularly those that are owned by associations. The panel's most important message, however, may be that "trust and good faith cannot be mandated."3 Although editorial independence can be specified, the willingness of a journal's owners to leave a very independent editor alone cannot. Conversely, the owners and editors of scientific journals, as in other organizations, have to be able "to work together in a spirit of mutual trust and collaboration."5 If they cannot, they will probably have to part ways.
According to Noni MacDonald, the acting editor-in-chief of the CMAJ and the former dean of medicine at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, "the reports of CMAJ's demise have been greatly and unfairly exaggerated. People who think the firing of an editor means the end of a major medical journal have not read history." With broad disruptions and turnover of staff, however, the CMAJ has absorbed major blows that no journal would seek to bring upon itself. It remains to be seen how it will fare in the months and years ahead. One challenge is that it may have to compete with a new open-access journal, Open Medicine (www.openmedicine.ca), which is being created by former CMAJ editors and editorial board members. Time will also tell the outcome of the search for an editor-in-chief, which is being led by Peter Tugwell, a professor of medicine at the University of Ottawa and the chair of the journal oversight committee, as well as the extent of the new editor's independence. The CMA is hoping to name a new editor-in-chief by early fall.
Source Information
Dr. Steinbrook (rsteinbrook@attglobal.net) is a national correspondent for the Journal.
References
Shuchman M, Redelmeier DA. Politics and independence -- the collapse of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. N Engl J Med 2006;354:1337-1339.
Hoey J. Editorial independence and the Canadian Medical Association Journal. N Engl J Med 2006;354:1982-1983.
CMAJ Governance Review Panel final report. July 14, 2006. (Accessed July 21, 2006, at http://www.cmaj.ca.)
CMA accepts CMAJ Governance Review Panel recommendations. News release of the Canadian Medical Association, Ottawa, July 14, 2006. (Accessed July 21, 2006, at http://www.cma.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/46638/la_id/1.htm.)
World Association of Medical Editors. The relationship between journal editors-in-chief and owners (formerly titled editorial independence): modified version posted May 15, 2006. (Accessed July 21, 2006, at http://wame.org/wamestmt.htm#independence.)(Robert Steinbrook, M.D.)
The CMAJ is the leading general health sciences journal in Canada and has been published continuously since 1911.3 Appearing biweekly, it is provided free on the Web (www.cmaj.ca) and does not require authors to pay charges or readers to register. The governance panel, chaired by Richard Pound, a prominent attorney in Montreal, recommended that the editor-in-chief of the CMAJ have an employment contract, with a term of five years, and that the contract include "a statement of the applicable principles of editorial independence." As an example of such principles, the report cited the policy statement of the World Association of Medical Editors.5 Editors-in-chief should have full authority over the editorial content of the journal, which "includes original research, opinion articles and news reports, both in print or electronic format, and regardless of how and when this information is published."5 Editors should also "be free to publish critical but responsible views about all aspects of medicine without fear of retribution, even if these views may conflict with the goals of the owner."5
The panel recommended that the direct ownership of the CMAJ revert to the CMA from a subsidiary holding company to which it was recently transferred and that the editor-in-chief should no longer report to the journal's publisher. Instead, the editor should report to the association's board of directors and an oversight committee for editorial matters and to a senior staff executive for business matters, and the oversight committee should be used to resolve disputes. The panel also recommended rules under which the board of directors could fire the editor-in-chief during his or her term. In situations involving "potentially controversial editorial content," the CMA "shall have no right to alter the content," but it should be given advance notice similar to that provided to the news media, and any response intended for publication should "go through the same process as all third party submissions."
The Pound report has detailed a path forward for the CMA and the CMAJ. It has provided a thoughtful analysis of organizational structures that is relevant to other medical journals, particularly those that are owned by associations. The panel's most important message, however, may be that "trust and good faith cannot be mandated."3 Although editorial independence can be specified, the willingness of a journal's owners to leave a very independent editor alone cannot. Conversely, the owners and editors of scientific journals, as in other organizations, have to be able "to work together in a spirit of mutual trust and collaboration."5 If they cannot, they will probably have to part ways.
According to Noni MacDonald, the acting editor-in-chief of the CMAJ and the former dean of medicine at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, "the reports of CMAJ's demise have been greatly and unfairly exaggerated. People who think the firing of an editor means the end of a major medical journal have not read history." With broad disruptions and turnover of staff, however, the CMAJ has absorbed major blows that no journal would seek to bring upon itself. It remains to be seen how it will fare in the months and years ahead. One challenge is that it may have to compete with a new open-access journal, Open Medicine (www.openmedicine.ca), which is being created by former CMAJ editors and editorial board members. Time will also tell the outcome of the search for an editor-in-chief, which is being led by Peter Tugwell, a professor of medicine at the University of Ottawa and the chair of the journal oversight committee, as well as the extent of the new editor's independence. The CMA is hoping to name a new editor-in-chief by early fall.
Source Information
Dr. Steinbrook (rsteinbrook@attglobal.net) is a national correspondent for the Journal.
References
Shuchman M, Redelmeier DA. Politics and independence -- the collapse of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. N Engl J Med 2006;354:1337-1339.
Hoey J. Editorial independence and the Canadian Medical Association Journal. N Engl J Med 2006;354:1982-1983.
CMAJ Governance Review Panel final report. July 14, 2006. (Accessed July 21, 2006, at http://www.cmaj.ca.)
CMA accepts CMAJ Governance Review Panel recommendations. News release of the Canadian Medical Association, Ottawa, July 14, 2006. (Accessed July 21, 2006, at http://www.cma.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/46638/la_id/1.htm.)
World Association of Medical Editors. The relationship between journal editors-in-chief and owners (formerly titled editorial independence): modified version posted May 15, 2006. (Accessed July 21, 2006, at http://wame.org/wamestmt.htm#independence.)(Robert Steinbrook, M.D.)