227
Me dical Journals and the
Popular Me dia
International Committee of
Medical Journal Editors
The pub lic’s interest in news o f medical research has led the po pular media to co mpete vigo ro usly to get info rmatio n abo ut research as so o n as po ssible. Researchers and institutio ns so metimes enco urage the repo rting o f research in the po pular media befo re full publicatio n in a scientific jo urnal by ho lding a press co nference o r giving interviews.
The public is entitled to impo rtant medical info rmatio n witho ut unre aso nab le de lay, and edito rs have a respo nsibility to play their part in this pro cess. Do cto rs, ho wever, need to have repo rts available in full detail befo re they can advise their patients abo ut the repo rts’ co nclusio ns. In additio n, media repo rts o f scientific research befo re the wo rk has been peer reviewed and fully published may le ad to the d is s e m inatio n o f inac c urate o r premature co nclusio ns.
Edito rs may find the fo llo wing reco mmen-datio ns useful as they seek to establish po licies o n these issues.
1. Edito rs can fo ster the o rderly transmissio n o f medical info rmatio n fro m researchers, thro ugh peer-reviewed jo urnals, to the public. This can be acco mplished by an agreement with autho rs that they will no t publicize their wo rk while their manuscript is under co nsideratio n o r awaiting publicatio n and an agreement with the media that they will no t
release sto ries befo re publicatio n in the jo urnal, in return fo r which the jo urnal will co o perate with them in preparing accurate sto ries (see belo w).
2. Very little medical research has such clear and urgently impo rtant clinical implicatio ns fo r the public’s health that the news must be released b e fo re full p ub lic atio n in a jo urnal. In suc h exceptio nal circumstances, ho wever, appro priate autho rities respo nsible fo r public health sho uld make the decisio n and sho uld be respo nsible fo r the advance disse m inatio n o f info rm atio n to physicians and the media. If the autho r and the appro priate autho rities wish to have a manuscript co nsidered by a particular jo urnal, the edito r sho uld be co nsulted befo re any public release. If edito rs accept the need fo r immediate release, they sho uld waive their po licies limiting prepublicatio n publicity. 3. Po licies designed to limit prepublicatio n publicity sho uld no t apply to acco unts in the media o f presentatio ns at scientific meetings o r to the abstracts fro m these meetings (see Redundant o r Duplicate Publicatio n). Researchers who present their wo rk at a scientific meeting sho uld feel free to discuss their presentatio ns with repo rters, but they sho uld be disco uraged fro m o ffering mo re detail abo ut their study than was presented in their talk. 4. When an article is so o n to be published, edito rs may wish to help the media prepare accurate repo rts by pro viding news releases, answering questio ns, supplying advance co pies o f the jo urnal, o r referring repo rters to the appro priate experts. This assistance sho uld be co ntingent o n the media’s co o peratio n in timing their release o f sto ries to co incide with the publicatio n o f the article.
N otes for Authors- I CM J E
The no tes in this statement are excerpts fro m: Internatio nal Co mmittee o f Medical Jo urnal Edito rs. Unifo rm Requirements fo r Manuscripts Submitted to Bio medical Jo rnals. Ann Intern Med 1 9 9 7 Jan 1 ;1 2 6 (1 ):3 6 -4 7 . Available o n website: http:/ / www.acpo nline.o rg / jo urnals/ 0 1 jan9 7 / unifreg r.htm. This article includes: issues to co nsider befo re submitting a manuscript, requirements fo r submissio n o f manuscripts, sending the manuscript to the jo urnal, and separate declaratio ns.
Inquires and comments should be sent to The Editor at the São Paulo M edical Journal ( Revista Paulista de M edicina) secretariat office,
Associação Paulista de M edicina, Rua Brigadeiro Luís Antônio, 278, 7th floor. 01318- 901 Phone: + 55 11 232 3141, extension 210; fax:+ 55 11 3107 7979;e- mail: revistas@ apm.org.br
