The recent change in CMAJ's editorial leadership is troubling and disappointing. John Hoey and Anne Marie Todkill can be proud of their very forward leadership for the Journal during their tenure, and the Journal, its staff, and Canadian physicians will miss their invigorating leadership. One suspects that all the events surrounding their removal will not be revealed, perhaps, for a very long time.
CMAJ, Canada's only general medical journal, is la grande dame of this country's peer-reviewed medical journals and has enjoyed international prestige for many years. Although recent events are regrettable, it is very important that we look forward to the continuation of the Journal's mission and role in providing the best in information about medicine, public health and health policy. We were asked fill the gap as Acting Editor-in-Chief and Editor Emeritus until the governance of the Journal has been reviewed and new editors are appointed. We will be, we suspect, reviled by some Canadian physicians and medical journal editors for choosing to step in. Our concern for the Journal, Canadian medicine, and the very competent editorial staff has persuaded us that we must step in, in spite of the hostile reactions. Both of us are temporary, and shall step down as soon as new editors are appointed. Also, we are assured by CMA and CMA Media that we will have complete editorial independence.
The crux of this interim period is the formation of a governance review committee chaired by former Chief Justice, the Rt Honourable Antonio Lamer, with Dr. John Dossetor, CMAJ ombudsman–ethicist, as vice chair. In the meantime, the CMA has agreed to an interim governance program (www.cmaj.ca/pdfs/governance.pdf) that reflects the structure and processes developed at JAMA after Editor-in-Chief George Lundberg was dismissed in 1999.1,2
In addition, the Journal Oversight Committee has been reconstituted to be chaired by Dr. Peter Tugwell, Editor of the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, with committee members, Dr. Bruce Dancik, Dr. Stanley Vollant (an elected senior CMA official), Dr. Jean Gray and Dr. Carol Herbert. Finally, some, but not all, of the associate editors have agreed to stay with us (See the companion editorial, “Why we are staying on”). We are extremely grateful for their devotion to the Journal. Our challenge as interim editors is to maintain the momentum that previous journal editors have nurtured. We shall do everything in our power to do so. We need your support and good wishes.