The Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS), representing over 30 member organisations, has recently adopted a Code for Interaction with Companies. CMSS has issued the voluntary code to help ensure that medical society interactions with industry meet the highest ethical standards as they relate to transparency and independence.
Many of the principles covered in the Code define the manner in which societies should ensure independent control of educational and scientific programmes and advocacy positions. The Code further defines the need for societies to prohibit submission of 'ghostwritten' manuscripts prepared for or on behalf of industry companies.
The International Society for Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP), an independent, non-profit organisation that seeks to support medical publishing via open exchange and debate of relevant issues, endorses transparent writing collaboration in scientific publications and medical society guideline prohibiting ghostwriting. The society supports full potential conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and all efforts to discourage ghostwriting, while acknowledging the appropriate role of professional medical writers.
Medical organisations such as the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) have also previously clearly distinguished ghostwriting from transparent professional writing collaboration in scientific publications. AAMC defined ghostwriting as the provision of written material that is officially credited to someone other than the writer(s) of the material. Transparent writing collaboration with attribution between academic and industry investigators, medical writers, and/or technical experts is not ghostwriting. AAMC further notes that unacknowledged, undisclosed provision of content should not be permitted under any circumstances.
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