Full-page Scientology Ad in July AJN (really!)

[Not_A_Hat_Person]

I got my July AJN 2 weeks ago. The ad inside the back cover was about the dangers of psychiatric drugs. It struck me as a bit alarmist (all drugs are trial-and error), then I noticed that it was sponsored by the Citizen's Commission on Human Rights. I remember them from Boston; they liked to distribute leaflets about the dangers of psychiatry. I checked them out online, and found out that they are part of the Church of Scientology!

Why is "one of the most influential health-care journals in medicine" (AJN Editorial, July 2009) publishing ads for the Church of Scientology? Was someone not paying attention? Has the journal been infiltrated? It's extremely embarrassing, and makes me wonder about their ad policy.

If you haven't see the ad, try here.

[rollyp80]

I think it is totally weird that they would publish such an ad in a medical magazine. They clearly take the words of psychiatric physicians and twist them around to sound bad. I mean it is true that many psychiatric drugs dont work on some....it is trial and error. Some psychiatric drugs have unknown ways of working, but anyone who doesn't have a medical background or pharmacy education, it just sounds horrible. Those who made that ad are taking advantage of consumers who lack the knowledge of how drugs work....it's horrible!!!!

[markuskristian]

Aside from the topic of the ad [drugs], why would any religious affiliation be allowed to advertise in a journal for nursing? Idk, I just don't think that's the right place for evangelizing.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

i have gone to the website and informed them that they have become a topic of conversation here at AN. and asked them why they accepted this ad.....however i am not a sub. so i could only use the "feedback" option, perhaps those of you who are sub. have better options? i think all of us should email them in whatever fashion we have available.....

[interleukin]

Guess they expected we nurses to be just good compliant consumers.

Guess they expected us to leave unquestioned that foolishness of nursing school teachers who'd admonish us for, "reading too much into a question."

Well, in the real world reading into questions makes us safe practitioners.

Guess AJN thinks we're still in school.

[leslie :-D]

i have gone to the website and informed them that they have become a topic of conversation here at AN. and asked them why they accepted this ad.....however i am not a sub. so i could only use the "feedback" option, perhaps those of you who are sub. have better options? i think all of us should email them in whatever fashion we have available.....

here we go...

ajn staff with contacts.

i emailed the editor-in-chief already.

will likely contact more.

http://journals.lww.com/ajnonline/Pages/JournalStaffContacts.aspx

leslie

[kanzi monkey]

Aside from the topic of the ad [drugs], why would any religious affiliation be allowed to advertise in a journal for nursing? Idk, I just don't think that's the right place for evangelizing.

Yes. Why would they? It's totally bizarre that this has happened. I hope it was either a scientology infiltration of AJN (which, if you get into 00-7 imagery is pretty funny), or a MAJOR accident of one employee.

Oh, and thanks to those who contacted AJN. They need to address this if they want to maintain a reputable clinical journal.

[leslie :-D]

i received an email from ajn, asking where i saw the ad.

i linked this thread in my response.

leslie

[tencat]

Sheesh. Someone didn't do his/her homework and find out where the ad came from.....or else the AJN is hard-up for money and didn't care where it came from. Either way, not a good deal. Or someone who puts all the pieces of the journal together isn't a nurse or medical person, and he/she didn't know that the ad might cause some issues.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

ajn's editor in chief, diana mason, recently left. see "parting thoughts from ajn's editor-in-chief" including comments regarding article selection. ana no longer owns the publication, totally under control of wolters kluwer health, inc. subsidiary lippincott williams & wilkins, publisher.

let's not say goodbye

mason, diana j. phd, rn, faan, ajn editor-in-chief

....this journal is a place to provoke thinking and debate. sometimes readers thought i went too far, like when we published the poem "learning the bones" (art of nursing, january 2004), which brought more than 200 letters of complaint, including some demanding my resignation and that of other editors involved in publishing it. i've heard from many readers, in both agreement and outrage. but i've learned that many nurses are so angry that they can't mount a reasoned, dispassionate argument. i think it's crucial for nurses to engage in debate without resorting to attack, especially as we discuss the health care issues confronting our profession and our nation....

....i often get credit for ajn's successes, but i can tell you that it has taken a village: editors, editorial board members and contributing editors, peer reviewers, a series of supportive publishers at lippincott williams and wilkins, and a journal oversight committee that has taken seriously its role as the journal's watchdog. ajn is the only nursing journal to have such a committee, although several leading medical journals have them. i hope other nursing journals will follow suit.

all across the country, i've met people who love ajn and others who don't subscribe because they get other publications for free. but there is no such thing as "free." free often means compromised by the influence of advertisers. my experience here has raised my awareness of how seriously compromised the nursing literature is. i recently had conversations with two authors whose works were discovered to have been plagiarized or written by a ghostwriter paid by a company whose product the article discussed. during editing we often find inaccurate referencing, inaccurate representation of sources, plagiarism, and bias. i urge all nurses to pay closer attention to the quality of what they're writing and publishing....

i've spoken to diana @ ana conventions, editor in chief does not always know advertising planned for issue. those with concerns, contacting publisher may be better recourse.

to send letters to the editor

ajn editor

lippincott williams & wilkins

333 seventh ave, 20th floor

new york, ny 10001

fax [phone]

[email protected]

publisher

jennifer brogan

215-521-8744

[email protected]

[leslie :-D]

i've spoken to diana @ ana conventions, editor in chief does not always know advertising planned for issue. those with concerns, contacting publisher may be better recourse.

to send letters to the editor

ajn editor

lippincott williams & wilkins

333 seventh ave, 20th floor

new york, ny 10001

fax [phone]

[email protected]

publisher

jennifer brogan

215-521-8744

[email protected]

ms. mason has assured me that my email (with link to this thread), has been forwarded to editorial director and publisher.

i guess we will have to wait and see, if anything results from our concerns/questions.

leslie

leslie

[leslie :-D]

i received a very gracious letter from the editorial director of ajn.

she was apologetic, sincere, and assured me it was a mistake that shouldn't have happened.

as i told her, i'm very relieved to learn it was indeed, an error.

leslie

[kanzi monkey]

i received a very gracious letter from the editorial director of ajn.

she was apologetic, sincere, and assured me it was a mistake that shouldn't have happened.

as i told her, i'm very relieved to learn it was indeed, an error.

leslie

Thanks for making that contact. It's good to know it was a mistake :)