See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/13607748 Press releases of science journal articles and subsequent newspaper stories on the same topic Article in JAMA The Journal of the American Medical Association · August 1998 Source: PubMed CITATIONS READS 62 91 3 authors: Vladimir de Semir Cristina Ribas 82 PUBLICATIONS 170 CITATIONS 12 PUBLICATIONS 75 CITATIONS University Pompeu Fabra SEE PROFILE University Pompeu Fabra SEE PROFILE Gema Revuelta University Pompeu Fabra 49 PUBLICATIONS 251 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE All content following this page was uploaded by Gema Revuelta on 01 January 2017. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. All in-text references underlined in blue are added to the original document and are linked to publications on ResearchGate, letting you access and read them immediately. lic health implication should be promptly submitted to peer-reviewed journals, without delays because of political or economic considerations. Such delay in submission apparently occurred in the v-CJD article.11 Second, scientific journals should expedite the peer review and publication process as much as possible in these cases, for example, by providing a fast track for articles with relevant public health implications.12 Improved coordination between news release by public health authorities and scientific publication by peer-reviewed journals should also be pursued. Third, peer-reviewed journal editors should consider placing articles with po- tential public health implications in Web sites. In an era in which information on health matters is disseminated rapidly by the media, circulation of information within the scientific community should be at least as fast, while preserving the quality and reliability of scientific journals. This work was performed as a part of Ricerca Corrente degli Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, 1997. References 1. Wilkie T. Sources in science: who can we trust? Lancet. 1996;347:1308-1311. 2. Hound F, Bober MA, Huerta EE, Hursting SD, Lemon S, Weed DL. The association between alcohol and breast cancer: popular press coverage of research. Am J Public Health. 1995;85:1082-1086. 3. Altman LK. The Ingelfinger rule, embargoes, and journal peer review, I. Lancet. 1996;347:1382-1386. 4. Collee JG. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Lancet. 1990;336:1300-1303. 5. Dealler SF, Lacey RW. Transmissable spongiform encephalopathies: the threat of BSE to man. Food Microbiol. 1990;7:253-279. 6. Will RG, Ironside JW, Zeidler M, et al. A new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in UK. Lancet. 1996;347:921-925. 7. Il secondo aggiornamento Ads del ‘95 conferma il mercato resta depresso [editorial]. Prima. 1996;250: 160. 8. Colle JG, Bradley R. BSE: a decade on, II. Lancet. 1997;349:715-721. 9. Kassirer JP, Angell M. Prepublication release of Journal articles. N Engl J Med. 1997;337:1762-1763. 10.Turney J. Public understanding of science. Lancet. 1996;347:1087-1090. 11. Less beef, more brain [editorial]. Lancet. 1996; 347:915. 12. Fast-tracking epidemic information [editorial]. Lancet. 1996;348:1599. Press Releases of Science Journal Articles and Subsequent Newspaper Stories on the Same Topic Vladimir de Semir; Cristina Ribas, BSc; Gemma Revuelta, MB Context.—Scientific journals issue press releases to disseminate scientific news about articles they publish. Objective.—To assess whether press releases about journal articles were associated with publication of subsequent newspaper stories. Design.—Retrospective content analysis of newspaper stories, journal press releases, and journal tables of contents. From December 1, 1996, to February 28, 1997, press releases and tables of contents were collected from BMJ, Nature, Science, and The Lancet, along with newspaper stories on scientific research published in The New York Times (United States), Le Figaro and Le Monde (France), El Paı́s and La Vanguardia (Spain), La Repubblica (Italy), and the International Herald Tribune. Main Outcome Measurements.—Number of newspaper stories that contained reference to articles appearing in the 4 scientific journals, number of newspaper stories that referred to journal articles described in press releases, and the order in which journal articles were mentioned in press releases. Results.—Of the 1060 newspaper stories analyzed, 142 referred to journal articles; of these, 119 (84%) referred to articles mentioned in press releases and 23 (16%) referred to journal articles not mentioned in press releases (comparison of proportions, P = .03). Articles described first or second were referenced in more newspapers than articles described later in the press release (P = .01 by x2 analysis). Conclusions.—Journal articles described in press releases, in particular those described first or second in the press release, are associated with the subsequent publication of newspaper stories on the same topic. JAMA. 1998;280:294-295 294 JAMA, July 15, 1998—Vol 280, No. 3 MANY SCIENTIFIC journals now produce press releases to encourage journalists working for the news media to bring the material they contain to wider audiences. A study by Entwistle1 revealed that 81% of journal articles mentioned in the British press were included in journal press releases. In a previous study of the Dutch press, Van Trigt et al2,3 concluded that press releases were used by journalists as a source of ideas rather than as a source of information. Do press releases set the agenda for science journalists publishing in the general press? This study was conducted to examine, on the international level, the possible association between the appearance of science journal articles in press From the Observatori de la Comunicació Cientı́fica, Pompeu Fabra University, and Quark, Ciencia, Medicina, Comunicación y Cultura, Barcelona, Spain. Presented as a poster at the Third International Congress on Peer Review in Biomedical Publication, Prague, Czech Republic, September 17-21, 1997. Corresponding author: Mr Vladimir de Semir, Observatori de la Comunicació Cientı́fica, Pompeu Fabra University, La Rambla 30-32, E-08002 Barcelona, Spain (e-mail: vladimir.semir@peca.upf.es). Press Releases of Science Journal Articles—de Semir et al ©1998 American Medical Association. All rights reserved. Downloaded From: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/ by a Universitat Pompeu Fabra User on 03/20/2013 Association Between Article Order and Newspaper Story Reference* Newspaper Story References, No. of Articles Order of Articles in Press Releases First or second (n = 98) Third or fourth (n = 93) Fifth or sixth (n = 65) Seventh or lower (n = 137) $6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 7 2 0 0 24 11 5 6 58 80 59 131 *P ,.05 by x2 analysis. releases and publication of subsequent newspaper stories on the same topic. METHODS All newspaper stories on scientific research appearing between December 1, 1996, and February 28, 1997, were collected from 7 major general newspapers from European countries and the United States: The New York Times (United States), Le Figaro and Le Monde (France), La Repubblica (Italy), El Paı́s and La Vanguardia (Spain), and the International Herald Tribune (a European edition published by The New York Times and The Washington Post). Simultaneously, tables of contents and press releases were gathered from 4 scientific journals: BMJ, Nature, Science, and The Lancet. These journals were selected because they have been described by journalists as being commonly consulted for scientific information.2,4 For data analysis, the following variables related to newspaper stories were collected: publication (did the story refer to a scientific publication?), sample (was the source scientific journal 1 of the 4 sample journals?), press release (did the newspaper story refer to a journal article included in a press release?), and source article (name of the journal that published the source article and date of journal publication). We considered only JAMA, July 15, 1998—Vol 280, No. 3 those newspaper stories that contained an explicit reference to the source (ie, the journal in which the article was published). The following press release variables were collected: number of press releases, article order (in what order did the source article appear in the press release?), and newspaper story references (how many newspaper stories mentioned a scientific journal article that appeared in a press release?). RESULTS Between December 1996 and February 1997, the 7 newspapers in this sample contained 1060 stories on scientific research. During this time, 393 journal source articles were included in press releases. A statistical test was used to compare the proportion of newspaper stories that referred to journal articles that did vs did not appear in press releases. Of the 1060 newspaper stories collected, 142 referred to journal articles that appeared in 1 of the 4 journals during the sample period. Of these, 119 (84%) referred to articles that appeared in press releases and 23 (16%) referred to articles that did not appear in press releases (P = .03). Thus, journal articles that appeared in press releases were better represented in the general press. A similar analysis performed for each newspaper also found significant differences, except for The New York Times (no significant difference) and La Repubblica (the number of newspaper stories that referred to journal articles was too small to yield any conclusion). Was there an association between the order in which an item appeared in a press release and coverage of the topic in the general press? Of the 393 articles that appeared in press releases, 65 were mentioned at least once in the sample newspaper stories. The remaining 328 articles received no mention. We found an association between article order and newspaper story references. The higher priority a journal article was given in a press release, the more it was referred to in the general press (Table). COMMENT This study demonstrates an association between appearance of a journal article in the journal’s press release and subsequent publication of a story on the same topic in a national newspaper. The order in which a journal article appeared in the press release was also associated with the number of newspaper stories published on the same topic. We thank Karina Gibert, DS, for the statistical analysis and Marta Pulido, MB, for editorial assistance. References 1. Entwistle V. Reporting research in medical journals and newspapers. BMJ. 1995;310:920-923. 2. Van Trigt AM, de Jong–van den Berg LT, Haaijer-Ruskamp FM, Willems J, Tromp TF. Journalists and their sources of ideas and information on medicines. Soc Sci Med. 1994;38:637-643. 3. Van Trigt AM, de Jong–van den Berg LT, Voogt LM, Willems J, Tromp TF, Haaijer-Ruskamp FM. Setting the agenda: does the medical literature set the agenda for articles about medicines in the newspapers? So Sci Med. 1995;41:893-899. 4. Wilkie T. Sources in science: who can we trust? Lancet. 1996;347:1308-1311. Press Releases of Science Journal Articles—de Semir et al ©1998 American Medical Association. All rights reserved. publicationhttp://jama.jamanetwork.com/ stats DownloadedViewFrom: by a Universitat Pompeu Fabra User on 03/20/2013 295