More on ghostwriting in medical journals

A study that was reported this week at a conference of journal editors sheds some new light on the use of ghostwriters in medical journal articles. Ghostwriters are paid writers who do not appear on the list of academic authors, who may be paid by pharmaceutical or medical device companies. The concern is that the unattributed authors introduce bias into a source where physicians turn for the latest in scientific developments.

It appears that some of the discrepancies in the study may be due to different journal policies having different authorship disclosure requirements. But this remains an important issue. Transparency in medical research and reporting is absolutely necessary in order to evaluate the evidence and make the best treatment decisions for the patients. Failing to disclose all the authors and their affiliations withholds an important key to sound medical-decision making. I hope that this study will encourage more journals to evaluate their current policies and work to make their author reporting requirements more transparent, so we can all learn from and evaluate the latest in medical research.