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JNCI TO GO PRIVATE;
SEEKS ADS FROM BIG DRUG COMPANIES
From The Cancer Chronicles #30
© Dec. 1995 by Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.
One of the few laudable things about the National Cancer
Institute has been its journal. Readers may have noticed
how many of our own stories over the years have been
inspired or supported by articles in JNCI, including those
on modified citrus pectin....
For years, all science journalists who requested it have
received complementary copies of this excellent
bimonthly publication, one of the best non-commercial
sources of professional education in the cancer field.
That is why it is particularly disturbing that NCI
announced earlier this year that, in order to save some
money, it would no longer distribute JNCI as a courtesy to
science writers. This presents no hardship to larger news
organizations, but the burden will fall disproportionately
on smaller, independent publications.
Then on November 8, NCI announced that it was looking
for a private publisher to take over production of the
journal. Over a period of five years, NCI intends to
"slowly transition to a private publisher," with NCI
maintaining the selection of editor-in-chief.
The reason for these changes is, in the words of NCI, that
"government ownership prohibits accepting paid
advertising and other methods of building revenue." The
Journal costs $1.7 million to print and distribute, of which
subscribers pay $1 million. But no alternative proposals
have been put forward to make the JNCI more accessible
to the main audience for cancer information, the patients,
by, say, featuring sympathetic information on currently
available alternative approaches.Accepting paid advertising is a very bad idea. But it
happens to be one of the ways that pharmaceutical
companies influence the editorial content of the journals
they advertise in. All you have to do is look at
mainstream cancer publications. They are filled with
glossy four-color ads for the very drugs being discussed,
almost always favorably, in that journal's articles.
It's outrageous that an eminent government publication
like JNCI will soon become the open mouthpiece for big
drug companies.
Coordinator Anne Beattie
@ 144 St. John's Place,
Brooklyn, NY 11217;
Phone 718-636-4433
Fax 718-636-0186