Sticking to principles and anticipating outcomes
Jefferson T.
The publication of Unanticipated outcomes, the personal story of Jerome P. Kassirer, former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, gives the opportunity to consider the ethical principles of biomedical and scientific publishing. Conflict of interests, reporting, and fraud affect the credibility of medical communication, which rests on the robustness and transparency of its processes. Not all is yet lost, but we must be guided by strong moral principles and to a consistent framework of values.