Freedom and responsibility in medical publication: setting the balance right.

I WISH to discuss changes that we mightmakethatwould improvetheethical climate of the publication of research by making it both more open and more responsible. While none of the systems I briefly discuss have yet become common practice, they are all being tried in various ways, and they indicate the direction in which we ought to move. In the future, the following 4 systems will, I hope, be routine. First, authorship will be abolished in favor of contribution, and the work done by the contributors will be listed for the readers. Second, peer review will become open, and we will come to talk about anonymous review as a quaint anachronism. Third, scientists will take full responsibility for theaftercareof theirpapers,and, fourth, as a result, editors will enable and encourage readers to assume the responsibilities of reviewers. Changing our practice would in each case rectify the balance between rights and duties.