GUIDELINES FOR
GRANT-SUPPORTED SUPPLEMENTS TO THE
CLEVELAND CLINIC JOURNAL OF MEDICINE

The Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine (CCJM) adheres to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors’ (ICMJE) 1994 guidelines, which include seven principles to ensure that supplements supported by outside funding sources do not reflect biases of funding sources in choice of topic, content, or point of view:

Supplements are collections of papers that deal with related issues or topics, are published as a separate issue of the journal or as a second part of a regular issue, and are usually funded by sources other than the journal publisher. Supplements can serve useful purposes: education, exchange of research information, ease of access to focused content, and improved cooperation between academic and corporate entities.¹

ICMJE GUIDELINES
1. The journal editor must take full responsibility for policies, practices, and content of supplements. The journal editor must approve the appointment of any supplement editor and retain the authority to reject papers.

2. The sources of funding for research, meetings, and publications should be clearly stated and prominently located in the supplement.

3. Advertising in supplements should follow the same policies as the rest of the journal. [The CCJM does not publish advertising in supplements.]

4. Editors should enable readers to distinguish readily between ordinary editorial pages and supplement pages.

5. Editing by the funding organization should not be permitted.

6. Journal editors and supplement editors may not accept personal favors or excessive compensation from sponsors of supplements.

7. Secondary publication in supplements must be clearly identified by citing the original paper. Redundant publication must be avoided.

ADDITIONAL CCJM GUIDELINES
"Industry-sponsored presentations by physician researchers can play an important part in informing and educating health care professionals...[provided they have]...independence, objectivity, balance, and scientific rigor."²

To ensure that these standards are met, the CCJM further requires the following:²

• To ensure independence, sponsors may have neither express nor implied control over the scientific content, topics, or author selection.
  
  
• To ensure objectivity, scientific content is peer-reviewed by the supplement editor.
  
  
• To ensure balance, experts are expected to represent a diversity of legitimate medical opinion.
  
  
• To ensure scientific rigor, the data presented must be reliable — ie, capable of forming an appropriate basis for medical decision-making.

GUIDELINES FOR PROPOSING SUPPLEMENTS TO THE CCJM
Most CCJM supplements originate conceptually from within the Cleveland Clinic, but the CCJM will consider publishing supplements developed by medical education companies, consistent with these guidelines and subject to our Guidelines for Proposing Supplements to the CCJM.

REFERENCES
1. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Advertising in medical journals. BMJ 1994; 308:1692.

2. Kessler DA. Drug promotion and scientific exchange: role of the clinical investigator. N Engl J Med 1991; 325:201-203.

Topics and editors for supplements to the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine are determined by the Journal’s editor-in-chief and staff. Supplement editors are chosen for their expertise in the topics discussed and are responsible for the scientific quality of supplements, including the review process. The Journal ensures that supplement editors and authors fully disclose any relationships with sponsors.