2014

Should medical journals publish sponsored content?

Dissemination of medical knowledge is essential to wide groups of healthcare professionals, whether they are practising clinicians or researchers. The medical literature contributes in several ways, including editorials, clinical reviews, original papers, and letters to the editor. Introduction of more open access publishing has also improved global dissemination of clinical and research papers.In addition to original articles and reviews, some journals publish individual or collections of articles that have been sponsored by an agency other than the journal's publisher. The sponsorship is usually from the pharmaceutical industry but can also be from other organisations such as specialist societies, charities, or government agencies. The sponsorship usually covers the costs of producing and disseminating the publication, with some profit remaining for the journal. Without such sponsorship much of this material would not be widely published, and I therefore believe that it benefits medical knowledge.

http://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g352

Additional Info

  • Authors

    Wedzicha J.A.; Steinbrook R.; Kassirer J.P.
  • Issue

    BMJ / pages g352- / volume 348
  • Published Date

    2014