The Medical Journal of Australia
Abbreviated title (ISO 4) | Med. J. Aust. |
|---|---|
| Discipline | Medicine |
| Language | English |
| Edited by | Professor Nicholas Talley |
| Publication details | |
| Publisher |
Australasian Medical Publishing Company (Australia) |
Publication history | 1914-present |
| 4.089 | |
| Indexing | |
| ISSN |
0025-729X (print) 1326-5377 (web) |
| Links | |
The Medical Journal of Australia is a peer-reviewed medical journal. It is the official journal of the Australian Medical Association, published by the Australasian Medical Publishing Company. One of its early owners was editor Isaac Aaron.[1]
The journal publishes editorials, original articles, case reports, and letters. The full text of every issue since January 2002 is available on the journal's internet site.[2]
Abstracting and indexing
According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2014 impact factor of 4.089.[3]
Elsevier
Professor Stephen Leeder, formerly the journal's editor-in-chief, was suddenly removed after criticizing the decision to outsource production of the journal to the global publishing giant Elsevier.[4] All but one of the AMJ's editorial advisory committee resigned following the decision to sack Leeder, and wrote to AMA president Brian Owler asking him to review the decision.[5][6]
At a 2009 court case in Australia where Merck & Co. was being sued by a user of Vioxx, the plaintiff alleged that Merck had paid Elsevier to publish the Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine, which had the appearance of being a peer-reviewed academic journal but in fact contained only articles favourable to Merck drugs.[7][8][9][10] Merck has described the journal as a "complimentary publication", denied claims that articles within it were ghost written by Merck, and stated that the articles were all reprinted from peer-reviewed medical journals.[11] In May 2009, Elsevier Health Sciences CEO Hansen released a statement regarding Australia-based sponsored journals, conceding that these were "sponsored article compilation publications, on behalf of pharmaceutical clients, that were made to look like journals and lacked the proper disclosures." The statement acknowledged that this "was an unacceptable practice."[12]
See also
References
- ↑ "Aaron, Isaac (1804–1877)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. I. 1996.
- ↑ "Information about the Medical journal of Australia". Australasian Medical Publishing Company. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
- ↑ "The Medical Journal of Australia". 2014 Journal Citation Reports. Web of Science (Science ed.). Thomson Reuters. 2015.
- ↑ "Backlash over decision by Australia's top medical journal to outsource to company with history of 'unethical' behaviour". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 1 May 2015.
- ↑ "Medical journal editor sacked and editorial committee resigns". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 May 2015.
- ↑ "Medical Journal of Australia will be shunned by researchers after editor sacked, academic says". The Guardian. 4 May 2015.
- ↑ Rout, Milanda (9 April 2009). "Doctors signed Merck's Vioxx studies". The Australian. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
- ↑ Grant, Bob (30 April 2009). "Merck published fake journal". The Scientist. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
- ↑ Hagan, Kate (23 April 2009). "Merck accused of 'ghost writing' medical article". The Age. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
- ↑ Ben Goldacre, "The danger of drugs … and data", The Guardian, 9 May 2009
- ↑ "Merck Responds to Questions about the Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine Journal" (PDF) (Press release). Merck & Co. 30 April 2009.
- ↑ "Statement from Michael Hansen, CEO Of Elsevier's Health Sciences Division, regarding Australia based sponsored journal practices between 2000 and 2005" (Press release). Elsevier.