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Many people hear about medical discoveries for the first time through popular media (newspapers, magazines, television, and the internet). Good medical journalism provides accurate, balanced reports and important contextual information, helps to set appropriate expectations on the part of consumers, informs the larger medical community, and thus arguably provides a vital public service. By the same token, poor medical journalism can exaggerate or oversimplify an issue, unnecessarily inflating expectations of patients and providers and putting increasing strain on the physician–patient relationship. A major and sustained improvement in reporting standards needs to start with improving the education of journalists and the public on what qualities to look for in news reports about new treatments. The article contains more critical suggestions and useful links. England C, Hodgkinson M, Stamber P. Not being clear about authorship is lying and damages the scientific record. National Medical Journal of India 2007(29)2:56–58. Sound advice to authors about authorship criteria and invites editors to create in-house policies regarding who can and should be listed as an author. Young authors should clarify authorship rights at the start of a project to avoid disappointment at the end, and seniors authors should show humility and accept other forms of acknowledgement when authorship is not really appropriate. © Copyright 2008 by European Association of Science Editors Top of Page |
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