Thursday, October 22, 2009

Ethics, ethics, and more ethics

A major theme coursing through the sessions at this year's conference is the importance of ethics in medical communication. That's not a surprise, given that there has been considerable media attention in recent months to the issue of ghostwriting of biomedical research papers.

AMWA has long advocated that contributions of medical writers should be acknowledged in scientific publications. The organization is seeking to spread the word about best practices.

AMWA's position statement

The American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) recognizes the valuable contributions of medical communicators to the publication team. Medical communicators who contribute substantially to the writing or editing of a manuscript should be acknowledged with their permission and with disclosure of any pertinent professional or financial relationships. In all aspects of the publication process, medical communicators should adhere to the AMWA Code of Ethics.

More information is available at the AMWA web site. On the home page, follow the links under the Ethics and Medical Communication heading.


No comments:

Post a Comment