Commercial influence and the content of medical journals

Abstract

Sources of bias Government organisations and societies of health professionals can also influence journal content. A former editor of JAMA was fired by the American Medical Association because of political sensitivity over an article on oral sex that he published at the time of President Clinton's impeachment.3 An article in CMAJ on the information requested by pharmacists before dispensing postcoital contraception was changed after complaints by the Canadian Pharmacists Association about whether the research was ethical.4 However, we think that the greatest potential for bias comes from commercial influences, hence the direction of our article.