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Reporting of Public Health Hazards or Major Advances
Revision of Uniform Requirements

Most medical journals do not wish to publish work that has already been released or published in print or electronic media.  The Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (1) (URM) of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) already indicate that such policies should not preclude consideration of a complete report following publication of an abstract or a presentation at a professional meeting, even if such presentations are covered in the media.   However, authors are sometimes concerned whether reporting a public health hazard or major therapeutic advance directly to public media or governmental agencies will jeopardize subsequent medical journal publication of an article or letter to the editor dealing with the same topic.

Since 1994, the JAMA "Instructions for Authors" have stated, "Authors submitting manuscripts or letters to the editor regarding adverse drug or medical device reactions, reportable diseases, and the like should also report such to the relevant government agency." (2)  At the request of the US Food and Drug Administration, this issue was also discussed at the last meeting of the ICMJE, and the following paragraph was recently approved as a substitute final paragraph of the section on Redundant or Duplicate Publication of the URM (1-p928):

Preliminary reporting to the public media, governmental agencies, or manufacturers, of scientific information described in a paper or a letter to the editor that has been accepted but not yet published violates the policies of many journals.  Such reporting may be warranted when the paper or letter describes major therapeutic advances or public health hazards such as serious adverse effects of drugs, vaccines, other biological products, or medical devices, or reportable diseases.  This reporting should not be jeopardize publication, but should be discussed with and agreed upon by the editor in advance.

The intent of this revision of the URM is to encourage timely reporting of urgent public health hazards or advances. Authors interested in publishing in a biomedical journal should discuss the possibility of such reporting with the editor in advance.

Richard M. Glass, MD

Dr. Glass is Deputy Editor, JAMA.

Reprints: Richard M. Glass, MD, JAMA, 515 N State St, Chicago, IL 60610 (email: richard_glass@ama-assn.org).


Members of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors include Frank Davidoff, Annals of Internal Medicine; Richard Smith British Medical Journal, Jane Smith, British Medical Journal; John Hoey, Canadian Medical Association Journal; George Lundberg, JAMA; Richard Glass, JAMA; Richard Horton, The Lancet, John Overbeke, Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneesjunde; Robert Utiger, New England Journal of Medicine; Jim Clayton, New Zealand Medical Journal; Magne Nylenna, Tidsskrift for den Norske Legeforening; Liselotte Hoejaard, Ugeskrift for Laeger; Lois Anne Colainni, US National Library of Medicine; Linda Hawes Clever, Western Journal of Medicine; and Pat Woolf, Princeton University.

  1. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals. JAMA. 1997;277:927-934.
  2. JAMA instructions for authors. JAMA. 1998;280:19-26.

JAMA, December 16, 1998 - Vol. 280, No. 23, p. 2035.  Copyright 1998, American Medical Association.

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