{"id":619,"date":"2013-10-15T23:30:50","date_gmt":"2013-10-15T23:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmjopen\/?p=619"},"modified":"2013-10-14T15:21:58","modified_gmt":"2013-10-14T15:21:58","slug":"journal-policy-on-research-funded-by-the-tobacco-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmjopen\/2013\/10\/15\/journal-policy-on-research-funded-by-the-tobacco-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Journal policy on research funded by the tobacco industry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>This article is being copublished as an editorial in the BMJ, Heart, and\u00a0Thorax and as a blog in BMJ Open.\u00a0Full references, competing interests, provenance and citation details can be read\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bmj.com\/cgi\/doi\/10.1136\/bmj.f5193\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Fiona Godlee editor in chief [1], Ruth Malone editor,\u00a0<em>Tobacco Control<\/em>\u00a0[2], Adam Timmis current\/outgoing\u00a0editor,\u00a0<em>Heart<\/em>\u00a0[2], Catherine Otto incoming editor,\u00a0<em>Heart<\/em>\u00a0[2], Andy Bush coeditor,\u00a0<em>Thorax<\/em>\u00a0[2], Ian Pavord\u00a0coeditor,\u00a0<em>Thorax<\/em>\u00a0[2], Trish Groves editor in chief,\u00a0<em>BMJ Open<\/em>\u00a0[2]<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>[1]BMJ, London WC1H 9JR, UK; [2]BMJ Journals, London WC1H 9JR, UK<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As editors of the <em>BMJ<\/em>, <em>Heart<\/em>, <em>Thorax<\/em>, and <em>BMJ Open<\/em> we have\u00a0decided that the journals will no longer consider for publication\u00a0any study that is partly or wholly funded by the tobacco industry.\u00a0Our new policy is consistent with those of other journals\u00a0including <em>PLoS Medicine<\/em>, <em>PLoS One<\/em>, <em>PLoS Biology<\/em>[1]; <em>Journal\u00a0of Health Psychology<\/em>[2]; journals published by the American\u00a0Thoracic Society[3]; and BMJ\u2019s own <em>Tobacco Control<\/em>.[4]<\/p>\n<p>Critics may argue\u2014as many did when journals stopped\u00a0publishing cigarette adverts\u2014that publishing such research does\u00a0not constitute endorsing its findings and that, as long as funding\u00a0sources are fully disclosed, readers can consider that information\u00a0and make up their own minds about the quality of the work.\u00a0Peer review should prevail, goes this line of thinking: it\u2019s not\u00a0the editor\u2019s job to make these kinds of judgments. However,\u00a0this view ignores the growing body of evidence that biases and\u00a0research misconduct are often impossible to detect,[5] and that\u00a0the source of funding can influence the outcomes of studies in\u00a0invisible ways.[6, 7]<\/p>\n<p>Underlying all the activity of peer review, editing, and\u00a0publishing is the assumption that medical journals exist for the\u00a0purpose of advancing knowledge that can be used to promote\u00a0health and reduce disease. But the deputy editor of JAMA,\u00a0Drummond Rennie, who has perhaps studied the process of\u00a0scientific publishing longer than anyone, has written about what\u00a0he calls \u201clittle murders.\u201d These are deceptive publication\u00a0practices that are \u201cdestructive of the delicate web of trust\u00a0between colleagues that keeps the whole enterprise functioning\u00a0and afloat.\u201d[8] The editor\u2019s job, observes Rennie, is to \u201ctry to\u00a0separate the insufferable behaviors of mere jerks from the illegal\u00a0actions of bona fide crooks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The tobacco industry, far from advancing knowledge, has used\u00a0research to deliberately produce ignorance and to advance its\u00a0ultimate goal of selling its deadly products while shoring up its\u00a0damaged legitimacy.[9] We now know, from extensive research\u00a0drawing on the tobacco industry\u2019s own internal documents, that\u00a0for decades the industry sought to create both scientific and\u00a0popular ignorance or \u201cdoubt.\u201d At first this doubt related to the\u00a0fact that smoking caused lung cancer; later, it related to the\u00a0harmful effects of secondhand smoke on non-smokers and the\u00a0true effects of using so called light or reduced tar cigarettes on\u00a0smokers\u2019 health.[9-12] Journals unwittingly played a role in\u00a0producing and sustaining this ignorance.9<\/p>\n<p>Some who work within public health and who buy the notion\u00a0of \u201charm reduction\u201d argue that the companies that now produce\u00a0modified cigarette products and non-cigarette tobacco products,\u00a0including electronic nicotine delivery devices (e-cigarettes), are\u00a0different from the tobacco industry of old, or that the tobacco\u00a0industry has changed. For \u201chardened\u201d cigarette smokers who\u00a0can\u2019t or won\u2019t quit cigarettes,[13] the argument goes, new tobacco\u00a0products could represent potential public health gains, and\u00a0company sponsored research may be the first to identify those\u00a0gains.<\/p>\n<p>But one fact remains unassailably true: the same few\u00a0multinational tobacco companies continue to dominate the\u00a0market globally and, as smaller companies develop promising\u00a0products, they are quickly acquired by the larger ones. However\u00a0promising any other products might be, tobacco companies are\u00a0still in the business of marketing cigarettes. As US federal court\u00a0judge Gladys Kessler pointed out in her judgment in the case\u00a0of US Department of Justice versus Philip Morris et al, the\u00a0egregious behaviour of these companies is continuing and is\u00a0likely to continue into the future.[14] And just this summer\u00a0documents leaked from one company showed a concerted\u00a0campaign to \u201censure that PP [plain packaging of tobacco\u00a0products, bearing health warnings but only minimal branding]\u00a0is not adopted in the UK.\u201d[15] The tobacco industry has not\u00a0changed in any fundamental way, and the cigarette\u2014the single\u00a0most deadly consumer product ever made\u2014remains widely\u00a0available and aggressively marketed.<\/p>\n<p>Editors of BMJ journals are committed to integrity in scientific\u00a0publishing and to ensuring that\u2014as far as possible\u2014their\u00a0journals publish honest work that advances knowledge about\u00a0health and disease. Back in 2003, the editor of the BMJ defended\u00a0publication of a study with tobacco industry funding saying\u00a0\u201cThe BMJ is passionately antitobacco, but we are also\u00a0passionately prodebate and proscience. A ban would be\u00a0antiscience.\u201d[16] But it is time to cease supporting the now\u00a0discredited notion that tobacco industry funded research is just\u00a0like any other research. Refusing to publish research funded by\u00a0the tobacco industry affirms our fundamental commitment not\u00a0to allow our journals to be used in the service of an industry\u00a0that continues to perpetuate the most deadly disease epidemic\u00a0of our times.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<!--TrendMD v2.4.8--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; This article is being copublished as an editorial in the BMJ, Heart, and\u00a0Thorax and as a blog in BMJ Open.\u00a0Full references, competing interests, provenance and citation details can be read\u00a0here. Fiona Godlee editor in chief [1], Ruth Malone editor,\u00a0Tobacco Control\u00a0[2], Adam Timmis current\/outgoing\u00a0editor,\u00a0Heart\u00a0[2], Catherine Otto incoming editor,\u00a0Heart\u00a0[2], Andy Bush coeditor,\u00a0Thorax\u00a0[2], Ian Pavord\u00a0coeditor,\u00a0Thorax\u00a0[2], Trish Groves [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmjopen\/2013\/10\/15\/journal-policy-on-research-funded-by-the-tobacco-industry\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1750],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-about-the-journal"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Journal policy on research funded by the tobacco industry - BMJ Open<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmjopen\/2013\/10\/15\/journal-policy-on-research-funded-by-the-tobacco-industry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Journal policy on research funded by the tobacco industry - BMJ Open\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; This article is being copublished as an editorial in the BMJ, Heart, and\u00a0Thorax and as a blog in BMJ Open.\u00a0Full references, competing interests, provenance and citation details can be read\u00a0here. Fiona Godlee editor in chief [1], Ruth Malone editor,\u00a0Tobacco Control\u00a0[2], Adam Timmis current\/outgoing\u00a0editor,\u00a0Heart\u00a0[2], Catherine Otto incoming editor,\u00a0Heart\u00a0[2], Andy Bush coeditor,\u00a0Thorax\u00a0[2], Ian Pavord\u00a0coeditor,\u00a0Thorax\u00a0[2], Trish Groves [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmjopen\/2013\/10\/15\/journal-policy-on-research-funded-by-the-tobacco-industry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BMJ Open\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-10-15T23:30:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmjopen\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/15\\\/journal-policy-on-research-funded-by-the-tobacco-industry\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmjopen\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/15\\\/journal-policy-on-research-funded-by-the-tobacco-industry\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Journal policy on research funded by the tobacco industry\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-15T23:30:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmjopen\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/15\\\/journal-policy-on-research-funded-by-the-tobacco-industry\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":856,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmjopen\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"About the journal\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmjopen\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/15\\\/journal-policy-on-research-funded-by-the-tobacco-industry\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmjopen\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/15\\\/journal-policy-on-research-funded-by-the-tobacco-industry\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmjopen\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/15\\\/journal-policy-on-research-funded-by-the-tobacco-industry\\\/\",\"name\":\"Journal policy on research funded by the tobacco industry - BMJ Open\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmjopen\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-15T23:30:50+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmjopen\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/15\\\/journal-policy-on-research-funded-by-the-tobacco-industry\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmjopen\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/15\\\/journal-policy-on-research-funded-by-the-tobacco-industry\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmjopen\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/15\\\/journal-policy-on-research-funded-by-the-tobacco-industry\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmjopen\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Journal policy on research funded by the tobacco industry\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmjopen\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmjopen\\\/\",\"name\":\"BMJ Open\",\"description\":\"The official blog BMJ Open; 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