Canadian publisher responds to mass resignations

Today, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) released an linkurl:Open Letter;http://www.cma.ca/multimedia/CMA/Content_Images/Inside_cma/Media_Release/pdf/2006/CMA_President_Editorial_Board.pdf to the majority of the Editorial board members of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) who resigned this week after ongoing disputes with the CMA over the journal?s editorial independence. In the letter, CMA president Ruth Collins-Nakai says she "takes great exception" to the former board members? characterization that the publisher is not doing enough to ensure the journal?s editorial independence. She points to the first editorial principle governing the CMAJ, which asserts that the CMA "accepts and respects the necessity of editorial independence of the Editor-in-Chief." She adds that the CMA has tried to meet the demands of the editorial board, including reconstituting the Journal Oversight Committee. The CMA "sought to strengthen the journal," she says, while the board members? linkurl:decision to resign;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/23234/ appears "aimed at undermining it." However, Collins-Nakai affirms that the journal will be governed by nine...