For Shame, Merck and Elsevier

For Shame, Merck and Elsevier Everyone makes mistakes—it's how you handle them that matters. By Richard Gallagher It was a stealth marketing campaign to Australian doctors under the guise of a regular journal. Merck and Elsevier, two life sciences giants, are taking different tacks in responding to a crisis that arose from an ill-judged publishing collaboration. Will

Written byRichard Gallagher

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By Richard Gallagher

Merck and Elsevier, two life sciences giants, are taking different tacks in responding to a crisis that arose from an ill-judged publishing collaboration. Will the company that keeps schtum get away scott free while the one that engages takes a substantial hit?

The background: My colleague Bob Grant recently wrote a news story¹ about a curious publication, The Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine. It sounds like a respectable journal, but it isn't. Published in the early 2000s, it contained a mix of local and international "news", reprinted articles from Elsevier journals, and unsigned Reviews.

Merck published fake journal

Elsevier published 6 fake journals

The problem was this: The publication was invented to support Merck drugs and the AJBJM was entirely paid for by Merck, yet nowhere was the relationship disclosed. It was a stealth marketing campaign to Australian doctors under the guise of a regular ...

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