PEDIATRICS Vol. 62 No. 2 August 1978, pp. 204
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SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATION

A. S. Relman

Dr. Kan of Ciba-Geigy [was quoted] as saying that the Anturane Research Team used The New England Journal of Medicine as a "court of last resort" in deciding whether to continue their clinical study of the drug after initial results appeared to be so favorable.... This seems to me to reflect a serious misunderstanding of the role of a scientific publication like The New England Journal of Medicine.... We make no claim to editorial omniscience, nor do we guarantee that everything we publish will stand the test of time. Indeed, we know that ideas are being continuously reshaped in the crucible of ongoing research and clinical experience.

Good journals try to facilitate this process by identifying noteworthy contributions from among the great mass of material that now overloads our scientific communications system. Everyone should understand, however, that this evaluative function is not quite the same thing as endorsement.