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Correcting Error in Academic Publishing: An Ethical Responsibility

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Abstract

The 1988 publication of the report of the Cartwright Inquiry and acceptance of its recommendations by the New Zealand Government initiated comprehensive and internationally important reform of bioethics and patients’ rights. However, recent writing about the legacy of the inquiry has challenged the legitimacy of the inquiry and contributed to a climate questioning the value of the ethical reforms initiated by it. This article describes unsuccessful attempts to correct factual errors in one publication criticizing the inquiry. These attempts at correction raise ethical issues about the dissemination of the products of medical research—in particular, about the place of research subjects in post-publication ethical deliberations and the responsibility of universities and publishers in decision-making, especially in relation to the correction of error in academic publications.

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Notes

  1. The correspondence between Bunkle, Coney, and the University of Auckland has been used to illustrate a forthcoming article in New Zealand Sociology, which makes related but substantially different points to those discussed in this article.

  2. The official transcripts of the Cartwright Inquiry are publicly available at the National Archives Auckland and the Archives Room, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Many other sources used in this article, including the Coney and Bunkle Metro article and the Cartwright Report, can be accessed in full at the website of Women’s Health Action (www.womens-health.org.nz/cartwright.html) and at www.CartwrightInquiry.com.

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  1. King’s College, London, London, UK

    Phillida Bunkle

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  1. Phillida Bunkle
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Correspondence to Phillida Bunkle.

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Bunkle, P. Correcting Error in Academic Publishing: An Ethical Responsibility. Bioethical Inquiry 12, 665–673 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-015-9644-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-015-9644-6

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