Editor-in-chief of The BMJ, Fiona Godlee, MD, has taken a controversial approach over the past decade to leading one of the U.K.'s top medical journals.
According to her profile in STAT, critics say Dr. Godlee's approach could ultimately take down The BMJ, reducing it to a popular publication seeking high ratings, rather than a prestigious scientific journal. They say The BMJ can be only scientific and carefully researched, or popular and political, according to the report.
Dr. Godlee believes the journal can be both scientific, readable and provoke change.
She has led the journal to a broad circulation of 122,000, its website to 3.6 million hits per month and its headlines into mainstream media, according to the report. The BMJ has crusaded against U.S. dietary guidelines, the efficacy of the Tamiflu medication and the public availability of its clinical trials, and the safety of depression medication paroxetine, or Paxil, in adolescents, according to the report.
Though some of the facts have been contested in articles published by The BMJ, such as some findings on saturated fats in its article blasting U.S. dietary guidelines, Dr. Godlee does not see retractions as a setback — whether from The BMJ or from clinical trials data.
"Retraction shouldn't be seen as a terrible thing," she told STAT. "It's part of correcting the scientific record."
Read her full profile here.
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