Canadian Medical Association Journal loses two more editors

The replacement for the fired editor of the Canadian Medical Association Journal has resigned, leaving the journal without any full-time editorial staff and raising questions about the future of the publication.

Last week, long-time editor-in-chief John Hoey and deputy editor Anne Marie Todkill were fired after disputes over stories and editorials in the journal, and Hoey's demands for editorial autonomy.

John Hoey (file photo)

• FROM FEB. 21, 2006: Canadian Medical Association Journal fires 2 editors

Stephen Choi and an editorial fellow, Sally Murray, walked out on Tuesday.

Several other sources said the latest vacancy in the medical journal's top editorial spot resulted from the publisher's refusal to commit to a policy of editorial independence.

"Stephen Choi had put forward a governance plan to the CMA," said Dr. P.J. Devereaux, an editorial director of the CMAJ. "Stephen Choi had given them a certain amount of time. Stephen Choi now has resigned. You know, it's not too difficult to figure out what happened."

Dr. Donald Redelmeier, an editorial board member at the CMAJ, said he doesn't know why the association won't agree to a policy on editorial independence.

"They've not been able to explain their position in a manner that is clear and broad and quick," said Redelmeier, who was also on a committee Hoey appointed before his firing to look at the issue of editorial freedom.

Seeking editorial autonomy

The committee's report, published online on Tuesday, said the journal's editors suppressed politically sensitive stories.

Without editorial autonomy, the respected journal will come to be seen as simply a mouthpiece for the Canadian Medical Association, which represents doctors across the country, the committee said.

Editors of other prominent medical journals in the U.S. and Britain are among the voices criticizing the CMA for suppressing or ordering changes to stories and editorials.

"This latest attack on editorial independence is a blatant example of the misuse of power," Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, a British medical journal, and president of the International Council of Science Editors, said in a statement on the firings last week.

An online petition to have Hoey and Todkill reinstated now has more than 2,500 signatures.

CMA Media Publisher Graham Morris said the journal's oversight committee will have a panel look at the concern. "I believe they'll come up with the right solution and we'll hopefully move on from there," Morris said.

Hoey and Choi said they can't talk about their reasons for leaving because of a confidentiality agreement, but Hoey did praise Choi's performance at the journal.

Morris said he plans to name a new editor for the journal in the next few days.

Redelmeier said the journal may not have copy going out in April, which would be unfortunate because it is the only medical journal for research that is distinctly Canadian.