Acting CMAJ editor appointed | March 28, 2006 | CMAJ

"Dr. Noni MacDonald was appointed acting editor-in-chief Mar. 7 by the journal's owners, Canadian Medical Association Holdings (CMAH) and the CMA. Her appointment comes two weeks after CMAJ's editor-in-chief and senior deputy editor were asked to leave the journal.

Dr. John Hoey, CMAJ's editor-in-chief for nearly 10 years, and Anne Marie Todkill, an editor for 11 years, left the journal Feb. 20. In a statement on Feb. 24, the president of CMA Media Inc., Graham Morris, stated that „it was time for a fresh approach.” CMAJ employees cannot publicly comment because they had to sign statements of nondisclosure as a condition of employment.

Deputy Editor Dr. Stephen Choi served less than a week as acting editor-in-chief before resigning Feb. 28. „Following the dismissal of [Hoey] and [Todkill] it became apparent to me that for professional and personal reasons it was impossible for me to continue working at the journal,” he said. Editorial fellow Dr. Sally Murray also resigned that day, and Associate Editor, Dr. Anita Palepu resigned Mar. 7.

On Mar. 7 it was announced that MacDonald, a current member of the CMAJ Journal Oversight Committee, the former dean of medicine at Dalhousie University and founding editor of Paediatrics & Child Health, would be acting editor-in-chief. Assisting her will be Editor Emeritus Dr. Bruce Squires, who was CMAJ's editor-in-chief for the 9 years preceding Hoey. „We are very pleased that we've been able to find 2 highly respected editors to move the journal forward over the next few months until we find an editor,” said CMA President Dr. Ruth Collins-Nakai.

Also on Mar. 7, CMA and CMAH announced that the Rt. Honourable Antonio Lamer, a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, will head a Governance Review Panel that will study the relationship between CMAJ and CMA and develop principles to govern that relationship. The journal's Ombudsman-Ethicist, Dr. John Dossetor, will be vice-chair of the panel, which will report back within 90 days of its first meeting. With the announcements, CMA and CMAH also released a 9-point interim governance plan for the journal.

The CMAJ Editorial Board has protested some of these changes. „As an editorial board we are concerned about the scientific integrity of the journal, and we are worried that the 6 changes announced yesterday to the governance principles are all contrary to editorial independence,” said CMAJ board member Dr. Donald Redelmeier. Collins-Nakai said the panel process will be „transparent and fair.” She added: „We've asked for input from the editorial board and CMAJ staff on the make-up of the panel and even the governing principles.”"