[ecrea] ESRC studentship - Communication ethics in medical journal publication

>University of Strathclyde/ British Medical Journal
>
>ESRC PhD Studentship (Sociology)
>
>The Department of Geography and Sociology at the University of Strathclyde
>has been awarded an ESRC Collaborative Doctoral Studentship in partnership
>with the British Medical Journal for the topic â¬ÜCommunication ethics in
>medical journal publicationâ¬". The PhD will be supervised by Prof David
>Miller and Dr William Dinan at Strathclyde and Dr Deb Cohen and Trevor
>Jackson at the BMJ and will start in October 2010.
>
>Candidates should have:
>
>A First Class or Upper Second Class Honours degree in an appropriate
>discipline;
>
>A masters degree in an appropriate discipline, preferably a masters with
>ESRC recognition  or equivalent. Applicants who do not hold a masters
>degree will be considered if they can demonstrate sustained and relevant
>experience and meet the criteria outlined in the ESRC guidelines;
>Candidates with additional life experience and/or experience of working in
>journalism or investigative research are especially invited to apply.
>
>Candidates must meet the ESRC's academic criteria and due to funding
>regulations, must be either a UK national, or be a non-UK national who
>satisfies ESRC eligibility criteria. Applicants are advised to consult the
>Studentship Handbook
>(http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/support/postgraduate_students/studentship_handbook/) 
>
>and other guidance on the ESRC website www.esrc.ac.uk, to establish
>whether or not they meet these requirements.
>
>To apply, you should send:
>
>A covering letter
>
>A current CV
>
>A transcript of your qualifications to date, and anticipated results if
>you are still studying.
>
>Two letters of reference to be included with the rest of your application.
>
>Applications should be sent to:
>
>Prof D Miller
>Department of Geography and Sociology
>Graham Hills Building
>50 Richmond Street
>Glasgow
>G1 1XN
>
>Deadline for Applications is Friday 25 June.  Candidates may be required
>to attend for interview in the week commencing 5 July.
>
>
>Further Details:
>
>Communication ethics in medical journal publication
>
>The issue of the ethics of scientific publication has become an important
>policy issue in medical and associated journals. A series of high profile
>lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies has revealed that the phenomenon
>of 'guest authorship' or 'ghost-writing' is (or was) widespread.(Ross et
>al 2008) Medical journals and industry trade associations have responded
>by tightening their guidelines.
>
>Both journals and industry trade associations have also been concerned
>about questions of disclosure and conflict of interest.  A debate has
>ensued in various medical journals about the relationship between
>corporate funding and research results.
>
>All these cases raise ethical questions and appear to be part of a wider
>set of concerns with transparency and conflict of interest in public
>life.  This project will investigate the extent and nature of these
>ethical challenges and examine how regulatory actors and scientific
>journals have responded to them.  It is anticipated that the research will
>lead to practical recommendations on how to handle the ethical questions
>raised.
>
>The project brings together the complementary expertise of Professors
>Miller (transparency, ethics and scientific communication), Dr Dinan
>(expert groups, knowledge production, and transparency), Dr Cohen
>(Assistant Editor at the British Medical Journal, in charge of
>investigations) and Trevor Jackson (Senior Editor at the BMJ).
>
>The project will need to approach the question of ethical conduct from a
>variety of perspectives, looking historically at the emergence of these
>issues as well as horizontally across the range of organisations involved
>- including most importantly medical journals, scientists, government
>regulators, patient groups, industry, industry trade associations and
>lobby groups and medical communication companies (which has been a
>significant and growing specialism in the field of public relations for
>the last decade).  There are a variety of studies of practices such as
>'ghost writing' or 'disease mongering' but there are very few studies
>which look comprehensively at the complex issues here in a holistic way.
>
>Goals
>This study aims to build on the foundations of the recent policy and
>knowledge exchange work undertaken by the academic and non academic
>partners.  Specifically this proposed study will:
>
>1.      Systematically map the genesis of concerns about communicative
>ethics in science publishing. This element of the research will document
>both ethical and unethical practice;
>2.      Examine the relations between journal editors, publishers,
>authors, professional / commercial service providers and research users in
>relation to questions of communicative ethics. Compare how different
>organisations manage such pressures and conflicts in publishing and
>analyse how the transmission of ideas and 'best practice' occurs within
>these networks;
>3.      To trace the influence of unethical practice on the medical
>literature, through the selection of a number of case studies.
>4.      To contribute to policy debates on transparency and science
>communication ethics with particular reference to continuities and
>differences between how different actors involved in medical research and
>publishing deal with problems associated with ethics and independence;
>
>The student will complete a doctoral thesis by 2013.
>
>
>The Studentship
>
>The Doctoral award includes the full payment of fees to the University
>plus a basic maintenance grant. The annual standard rates of maintenance
>paid by the ESRC will be in the region of £15,290. There is a Research
>Training Support Grant of £750. In addition the BMJ will provide financial
>and in kind support towards the costs of fieldwork and other activities.
>The award will run for three years from 2010-2013.  The student will be
>expected to be based in Glasgow, but to undertake three extended
>placements at the offices of the BMJ in London during the studentship.
>
>For further information on recognised Masters course see
>http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/How/For_Postgrad_Students/?data=%2fFrXHTl993p9WtoTGV4vVwwqXhAkIvW4S0BhocpD6E9P6n41a6AOx9BO0%2bQzuIUB5C8AtpgRoYQW5CNnM3x0msr8weoUk0DNE1hruJ8E97Y86tQvO%2bGKnI6gV%2bcego2SYvox%2fWhAoUj3z7H57j0WLkP6bs3%2b%2fugTykkku6SHx3eqkZyqXeeDV1tb7xl5pBDQLDdLg61LzukrOYVD%2bcF6Yw%3d%3d&xu=0&isAwardHolder=&isProfiled=&AwardHolderID=&Sector=
>
>For further information please contact Prof David Miller,
>(davidmiller /at/ strath.ac.uk) or 07786 927 551
>

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