Comments on “the corporate author”

Abstract

To the Editor:—Fugh-Berman1 described the unethical practice of soliciting an author for a review prepared by an undisclosed writer. We agree with Tierney and Gerrity's2 characterization of the problem as failure to disclose the original author(s) and pertinent financial relationships. We also applaud the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) for recommending that journal editors expand their Information for Authors to indicate that medical writers can be legitimate contributors to manuscripts and to encourage disclosure of their roles and affiliations.3 Put into practice, this recommendation empowers biomedical communicators to become part of the solution. We believe biomedical communicators are in an ideal position to help solve the problem. More than 5,000 biomedical communicators belong to the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA), an educational organization founded in 1940 to promote excellence in biomedical communication and to recommend principles of conduct for its members. The first principle in AMWA's Code of Ethics4 states, “Biomedical communicators should recognize and observe statutes and regulations pertaining to the materials they write, edit, or otherwise develop.” Principle 4 states, in part, “[Biomedical communicators] should refuse … assignments that require unethical or questionable practices.” AMWA's recently adopted position statement recommends acknowledgment of substantial contributions to scientific publications with disclosure of pertinent relationships.5 Biomedical communicators who contribute substantially to manuscripts should join the author-writer team at the inception of the project. Under these circumstances, biomedical communicators can encourage authors to adhere to ethical standards while following a logical process—beginning with identifying the main message to be conveyed, targeting the audience, and determining the most appropriate journal for conveying the message. One of us (C.W.H.) recently conducted a pilot survey to identify practices of biomedical communicators who contribute substantially to manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. Seventy-three of 221 eligible advertisers in AMWA's freelance directory (33%) participated. More than half indicated that they followed guidelines from AMWA4,5 (59%) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors6 (ICMJE) (56%) and encouraged authors and other contributors to follow guidelines from AMWA (56%) and the ICMJE (54%). We plan to expand this survey to assess the experience of more biomedical communicators, the frequency of practices such as those described by Fugh-Berman,1 and the impact of AMWA's ongoing educational campaign on that frequency. We encourage authors, editors, and writers to continue working together to eliminate unethical practices in the writing of scientific manuscripts. Sincerely