CMAJ names editor-in-chief

The Canadian Medical Association Journal has named Paul Hébert, a critical care physician and vice-chair of research in the Department of Medicine at the University of Ottawa, as its new editor-in-chief. He takes over his editorial responsibilities on January 2, 2007."I think it is the job of a lifetime," Hébert, who has more than 180 publications to his credit, told The Scientist. But the journal is still reeling from a controversy that started last winter when former editor-in-chief John Hoey asserted that the editorial independence of the CMAJ had been compromised when the Canadian Medical Association pressured the editors to back off of a report criticizing the Canadian Pharmacists Association for advising pharmacists to collect personal information, including sexual histories, from women seeking Plan B emergency contraception. The journal eventually published the report in a form that was modified to be less critical of the association.In the midst...