差不多五年前,两个外人接近了一个编辑,表明来自特定研究员的一大编论文,包括一些在高调的期刊上发表的部分,可能是欺诈性的。联系编辑的人认为,研究中描述的患者可能根本从未存在过。圆形大约同时,这位作者的几篇论文是在期刊的同行评审系统中传播。编辑要求外界顾问流行病学家和统计顾问审查我们系统中的公布文件和论文。流行病学家迅速制作了一份报告,表明许多研究可能是欺诈性的。统计学家开始了他的工作,并经过一段时间,提交人被要求生产他的原始数据。这些数据需要很长时间才能到达,他们最终到达了一个大盒子,用铅笔写。这些数据输入了计算机,但这证明了非常耗时和昂贵的过程。统计学家有许多其他需要考虑的人被陷入困境。最终几个月后,统计学家在一份关于特定论文中制作了一份报告,非常强烈地争论数据可能是欺诈性的。 The author resides abroad and seems to be the head of the institution in which he works. Because there was no formally appointed head of institution the editor wrote to him asking for a response and said that if none was provided, he would write to the national body. If this body cannot produce a response, then the editor will consider publishing a piece explaining the doubts about the 30 or so studies, most of which have appeared in prestigious journals on both sides of the Atlantic. The editor feels that he has been desperately slow, but is this what he should now be doing?
一位编辑偶然看到一封来自他杂志主编给一位审稿人的信,信中声称他建议接受一篇手稿。事实上,他在口头和书面上都提出了相反的建议。这篇论文是一个比较常见的疾病的治疗选择指南。作者声称他们的结论和治疗建议是“基于证据的”,并推荐一种新的、昂贵的药物作为一线治疗。对手稿的评论褒贬不一。一位评论员只作了几点评论,并建议出版。第二位评审员对明显的偏见表示关注,并怀疑在撰写论文时有制药公司参与。在科学编辑的例会上对稿件进行评审时,编辑建议拒绝稿件,并将此记录在稿件“日志”中。主编决定要求第三次评审,这次是由指导方针专家进行评审。与此同时,主要作者与总编辑谈了很长时间。尽管专家审稿人对稿件表示担忧,但总编还是选择了接受稿件出版。根据期刊政策,审稿人被告知稿件已被接受,这促使第二位审稿人再次对偏倚表示担忧。总编辑回答说,编辑建议出版。在前任主编的领导下,与《华尔街日报》相关的专业机构有着正式的政策,概述了《华尔街日报》的编辑自由。但在他离开后,情况开始改变。该协会发来了一份备忘录,规定该协会在期刊上发表的任何编辑材料,即使是工作人员或科学委员会的研究人员撰写的,也应有一名当选官员作为作者是的。是的编辑质疑这一政策的依据是,它与作者的定义不一致国际医学期刊编辑委员会(ICMJE)。主编忽视了这些问题。此后不久,协会的首席执行官宣布,不应在协会的期刊上发表批评协会政策的信件。总编最初向《华尔街日报》的工作人员表示,他不同意这一点,并要求将任何此类信件发给他。他向员工保证,如果他认为这些信件值得发表,他会与首席执行官讨论。从那以后,没有发表过批评协会政策的信件。当一位科学编辑向自己的期刊提交一篇文章时,政策是由另一位科学编辑来处理手稿;同样,手稿的命运也将以保密的方式告知作者/编辑。这位编辑与另一位研究人员合著了一篇手稿,并将其提交给该杂志审议。几个月后,在一次编辑和出版人员讨论接受稿件放置问题的会议上,主编宣布,审稿人建议拒绝。他事先没有通知编辑。事实上,没有一个最初的审稿人建议拒绝这篇论文。未被接受的手稿通常不会在这些会议上讨论,这种行为违反了ICMJE的建议。总编说他将在作出最后决定之前征求另一种意见。当论文的合著者写信询问何时作出最终决定时,主编指责编辑违反了保密规定,但写信给合著者,向他保证稿件将得到公平和及时的处理。编辑近两年没有把稿子寄出去征求另一种意见几周。什么时候他做到了,他在附信中指bob官方app出“他将选择拒绝原稿”,但征求了审稿人的意见。然而,两天前,他曾致信一位原版评论员,要求他就同一主题写一篇“一篇或几篇论文”。大约两周后,主编拒绝了我们的稿件,对耽搁表示歉意,并指出“我们很难找到一个人对评论发表编辑意见。”在另一个例子中,主编被要求为《华尔街日报》审阅一份据称是循证指南的稿件。其他审稿人包括杂志的前任编辑和一名外部审稿人。编辑指出了几个问题,并就如何加强手稿提出了建议;前一位编辑给出了非常相似的反馈。第三位评论员只有一些肤浅的评论,比如标题的改变。然而,主编要求一位循证医学专家进行额外的审查,但接受了手稿的小修改,包括the title change, before receiving these comments. Later, the additional review came in, seriously questioning the evidence base of the manuscript, but it was never sent to the author. The manuscript was published with minor revisions. The editor was sacked. The staff were told only that confidentiality precluded giving an explanation; unofficially it was intimated that he had simply been too difficult to get along with. The journal is still publishing, and the relationship between the Association and the Journal is increasingly intimate. There appears to have been a Faustian bargain made between the CEO of the Association and the editor-in-chief of the Journal whereby, in exchange for compromising editorial freedom in sensitive areas for the Association, he could publish what he wanted without feeling constrained by the usual editorial standards. _ If feedback from peer review is ignored, who will know? Most journal editors work in relative isolation and there is virtually no quality control. _ Who polices the relationship between a science-based association and its journal, a relationship that has its own particular set of challenges, involving both scientific and political elements. _ What can be done to stop/prevent corruption within the editorial office of a scientific publication, an issue that has virtually escaped discussion and consideration within the scientific community? _ What will it take to create the political will to ensure the integrity of scientific editors? _ There is often no way to formally investigate and address alleged abuses of editorial power, especially if these abuses are in the interests of the publisher or parent organisation.