Corporate Buying of Peer-Reviewed Journal

This was shared by Shawn Kennedy, Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Nursing in an INANE Listserve message:

• Juul, the electronic cigarette manufacturer, paid to take over the entire May/June issue of the American Journal of Health Behavior so that it could publish studies (funded by the company) that allegedly show its products help smokers quit, the New York Times reported. The company paid $51,000 for control of the medical journal—including “an extra $6,500 fee to have the subscription journal open access to everyone,” according to the Times, which also notes that three members of the journal’s editorial board resigned over the arrangement.

Here’s a follow up to this story published by the BMJ: https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n1247/rr