ClinPage recently caught up with Miriam Shuchman, author of the New England Journal of Medicine’s recent analysis of the contract research organization (CRO) industry. Instead of rehashing the NEJM article from October, which still has the industry wincing, we asked Shuchman about the mood in academia. She spoke from her office at the University of Toronto, where she’s an associate professor of psychiatry. Shuchman discussed peer-reviewed medical journals and “journalology.” The term was coined by science writer Jim Giles, writing in Nature. It refers to the study of studies, which has sprung up as medical journals have come to trust pharmaceutical companies less. New Standards Shuchman says the relationship between journals and those who conduct trials has always been a complex one, as one would have a hard time existing without the other. But in the past six or seven years, she added, the relationship has become “a dance,” with top…more...