Editors, Publishers, Impact Factors, and Reprint Income
Editors would like to imagine they are simply gatekeepers who facilitate the interaction between authors who wish to impart information and people who want to read it. In fact, they are subject to a raft of external pressures that interfere with this core task. Coauthors are prone to disputes with each other and with reviewers; rejected authors may protest; readers may be dissatisfied; institutions may react inadequately to editors' concerns about probity; editorial freedom may be compromised by the demands of the learned society that owns the journal; and a commercial publisher might exert subtle�or unsubtle�pressure to increase profitability. All of these distractions increase the possibility of competing interests corrupting the editorial process.
Editors, Publishers, Impact Factors, and Reprint Income
1.
Lundh
A, Barbateskovic M, Hróbjartsson A, Gøtzsche PC. Conflicts of interest
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Conen
D, Torres J, Ridker PM. Differential citation rates of major
cardiovascular clinical trials according to source of funding: a survey
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Bhaudari
M, Busse J, Devereaux PJ, Montori VM, Swiatkowski M, et al. Factors
associated with citation rates in the orthopaedic literature. Can J Surg. 2007;50:119–123. [PMC free article] [PubMed]5.
Phillips
DP, Kanter EJ, Bednarczyk B, Tastad PL. Importance of the lay press in
the transmission of medical knowledge to the scientific community. N Eng J Med. 1991;325:1180–1183. [PubMed]6.
Chapman S, Nguyen TN, White C. Press-released papers are more downloaded and cited. Tob Control. 2006;16:71. [PMC free article] [PubMed]7.
Ross
J, Hill KP, Egilman DS, Krumholz H. Guest authorship and ghost writing
in publications related to Rofecoxib: a case study of industry documents
from Rofecoxib litigation. JAMA. 2008;299:1800–1812. [PubMed]8.
Lexchin
J, Bero LA, Djulbegovic B, Clark O. Pharmaceutical industry sponsorship
and research outcome and quality: a systematic review. BMJ. 2003;326:1167–1170. [PMC free article] [PubMed]9.
Fontanarosa
PB, Flanagin A, DeAngelis CD. Reporting conflicts of interest,
financial aspects of research, and role of sponsors in funded studies. JAMA. 2005;294:110–111. [PubMed]10.
Rothman
DJ, McDonald WJ, Berkowitz CD, Chimonas SC, DeAngelis CD, et al.
Professional medical associations and their relationships with industry:
a proposal for controlling conflict of interest. JAMA. 2009;301:1367–1372. [PubMed]