British American Tobacco has said that it is surprised and disappointed by the BMJ group of journals’ recent decision not to consider for publication any scientific studies funded by the tobacco industry.
BAT has spent an enormous amount of money in recent years setting up state-of-the-art facilities in which to carry out research into reduced-risk products, and it has placed great importance on publishing its findings and having those findings peer-reviewed.
But editors at the BMJ, Heart, Thorax and BMJ Open have said that they will not consider the publication of studies that had been funded in part or wholly by the tobacco industry.
In BAT’s response, Chief Scientific Officer Christopher J. Proctor said the BMJ’s new policy of banning consideration of scientific studies based on their source of funding was particularly disappointing in the light of its historical policy of encouraging robust scientific discourse independent of ideology.
Proctor said it was ironic that the BMJ had revised its prior view given that there was a new commitment to transparency of funding and potential conflicts of interest throughout the scientific world.
There was also a renewed interest in tobacco science.
Proctor’s response and the responses of other people are at http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5193?tab=responses.