Letters, libel, and the law.
Authors of scientific articles and journal editors are subject to antidefamation publication laws. We describe our experience with an accusation of libel. We define libel as it involves the medical literature and explain the ways in which threats of libel influence editorial decisionmaking and lead to negative publication bias by presenting examples drawn from the medical and legal literature.
O'Malley
Gerald F
GF
Department of Emergency Medicine, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA 19141, USA. omalleyg@einstein.edu
Chudnofsky
Carl R
CR
Jenkins
Terry L
TL
Sontag
David N
DN
D006801:Humans; D018156:Journalism, Medical; D016365:Liability, Legal; D017594:Publication Bias; D011643:Publishing / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014481:United States