Stats #72: Manipulation of peer-review publications by pharmaceutical companies

Content: This training class will discuss allegations of commercial biases in the peer review process.

Teaching strategies: Didactic lectures and small group exercises.

Abstract: Recent scandals involving deceptive and sometimes even fraudulent publication practices by pharmaceutical companies have shaken the faith that many people have in the evidence produced in medical journals. This talk will review some of the recent scandals and some of the suggested changes in the peer-review process to address these scandals. Not all (or even most) industry funded research is biased, though, and there are assurances that you should look for that can help vouch for the credibility of a research study even when there are obvious conflicts of interest listed.

Objectives: In this seminar, you will learn how to:

• identify the subtle and not so subtle ways that research can be manipulated,
• explain the value of clinical trial registries, and
• describe safeguards during the peer-review process against fraud.

Notes: There are no pre-requisites for this seminar. This class does not qualify for IRB Education Credits (IRBECs). There is no handout for this class (other than this brief note). Instead, you will be asked to review and discuss a recent publication:

• R Smith. Medical journals are an extension of the marketing arm of pharmaceutical companies. PLoS Med 2005: 2(5); e138. [Medline] [Full text] [PDF].