The Journal of the American College of Radiology is revising its guidelines around author disclosures following recent concerns tied to corporate influence in the noted imaging journal.
Editor-in-Chief Ruth Carlos, MD, recently spelled out some of the changes in the July issue of JACR, posted online Wednesday. She said its editorial team “prides itself” on following strict conflict-of-interest guidelines, and wanted to respond to recent reader submissions questioning articles written by others in the corporate radiology realm.
“The current debate in these letters to the editor over what constitutes adequate declaration prompts review of these guidelines and their adequacy to capture evolving practices,” wrote Carlos, with the University of Michigan Department of Radiology in Ann Arbor. “To promote transparency, we have added a requirement to declare the practice affiliation, employment model, and any leadership roles within that practice. This will apply to all authors, academic, private and everything in between. Although not previously required and not common practice with other journals, the JACR prefers to lead by example.”
Carlos’ editorial comes in response to a letter from rural radiologist Daniel Ortiz, MD, who also authored a research article in the same issue of JACR. In his July 1 letter, Ortiz expressed concern that members of imaging giant Radiology Partners also authored content in the publication, without what he believes to be 100% transparency. He noted, in particular, that Rad Partners writers “did not disclose that they are not only employees but possibly shareholders of Radiology Partners, a national practice with significant investments from external equity investors Starr Investment Holdings and New Enterprise Associates.”
“Their practice is emblematic of the trend in ‘corporatization’ as currently conceptualized in the radiology community. Perhaps the absence of disclosure was an oversight and would benefit from more transparency,” Ortiz wrote. “In sum, these failures to disclose conflicts of interest, real or perceived, should be addressed as ‘corporatized’ models proliferate,” he concluded later.
Meanwhile in a third opinion piece, members of the Rad Partners team, including their chief medical officer, defended their content and appearance in the journal. They said their writers “stated clearly for whom they work,” with no intent to deceive readers, and emphasized that JACR solicited the submissions. Those included a piece on understanding evolving rad practice models, and another exploring how Rad Partners uses its scale to pursue value.
“We should focus on supporting the principles of the College, promoting patient-centric care, and judging private groups and academic departments of all sizes on their individual merits. As a specialty, we have more in common than different,” Rad Partners CMO Jay Bronner, MD, and two co-authors concluded the July 1 response letter.
You can read all three opinion pieces and more in the July issue of JACR here.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.