Medical journals facing raft of ethical, transparency challenges

The New York Times, Connecticut Mirror and MedPage Today examine how prominent journals are handling questions about their independence or integrity.

The New York Times: A Sharp Rise In Retractions Prompts Calls For Reform
No one claims that science was ever free of misconduct or bad research. ... But critics like Dr. [Ferric] Fang and Dr. [Arturo] Casadevall argue that science has changed in some worrying ways in recent decades -; especially biomedical research, which consumes a larger and larger share of government science spending. In October 2011, for example, the journal Nature reported that published retractions had increased tenfold over the past decade, while the number of published papers had increased by just 44 percent (Zimmer, 4/16).

MedPage Today: Clinical Trial Data Should Be Open for Review
Original clinical study reports, which contain far more detail than published randomized trials, should be made available to independent researchers seeking to verify efficacy and safety claims, a group of Cochrane reviewers argued (Walsh, 4/16).

The Connecticut Mirror: At 200 Years, Fortress Of Medical Research Confronts The Information Age
[I]n recent years, in large part because of the Internet and the national debate over health care reform, cries for transparency in medicine and health care have been getting louder -- and the New England Journal has found itself increasingly on the defensive.Medical journals have been upbraided for what some say is a failure to be open about the increasingly close financial ties between medicine and industry (Satija, 4/17).