EDITORIAL Editors’ statement on considerations of biodefence and biosecurity The threat of bioterrorism requires active consideration by scientists. On 9 January 2003, the US National Academy of Sciences held a discussion on the balance between scientific openness and security. The next day, a group of editors met to discuss the issues with specific reference to the scientific publication process. The following statement has emerged from that meeting. The principles dis- cussed will be considered and followed through by Nature Medicine The process of scientific publication, is a view, shared by nearly all, that there is FOURTH: We recognize that on occasions through which new findings are reviewed information that, although we cannot an editor may conclude that the potential for quality and then presented to the rest now capture it with lists or definitions, harm of publication outweighs the poten- of the scientific community and the pub- presents enough risk of use by terrorists tial societal benefits. Under such circum- lic, is a vital element in our national life. that it should not be published. How and stances, the paper should be modified, or New discoveries reported in research pa- by what processes it might be identified not be published. Scientific information is pers have helped improve the human con- will continue to challenge us, because – as also communicated by other means: semi- dition in myriad ways: protecting public all present acknowledged — it is also true nars, meetings, electronic posting, etc. health, multiplying agricultural yields, that open publication brings benefits not Journals and scientific societies can play fostering technological development and only to public health but also in efforts to an important role in encouraging investi- economic growth, and enhancing global combat terrorism. gators to communicate results of research stability and security. in ways that maximize public benefits and But new science, as we know, may The statements follow: minimize risks of misuse. sometimes have costs as well as benefits. FIRST: The scientific information pub- ATTENDEE LIST—Editors Meeting January 10, 2003 http://www.nature.com/naturemedicine The prospect that weapons of mass de- lished in peer-reviewed research journals Ronald Atlas, President, ASM, and Editor, struction might find their way into the carries special status, and confers unique CRC Critical Reviews in Microbiology hands of terrorists did not suddenly ap- responsibilities on editors and authors. Philip Campbell, Editor, Nature Nicholas R. Cozzarelli, Editor, PNAS pear on September 11, 2001. A policy We must protect the integrity of the sci- Greg Curfman, Deputy Editor, focus on nuclear proliferation, no stranger entific process by publishing manuscripts New England Journal of Medicine to the physics community, has been with of high quality, in sufficient detail to per- Lynn Enquist, Editor, Journal of Virology us for many years. But the events of mit reproducibility. Without indepen- Gerald Fink, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Annette Flanagin, Managing Senior Editor, September 11 brought a new understand- dent verification – a requirement for Journal of the American Medical Association, and ing of the urgency of dealing with terror- scientific progress – we can neither ad- President, Council of Science Editors Jacqueline Fletcher, President, ism. And the subsequent harmful use of vance biomedical research nor provide American Phytopathological Society infectious agents brought a new set of is- the knowledge base for building strong Elizabeth George, Program Manager, sues to the life sciences. As a result, ques- biodefence system. National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy tions have been asked by the scientists Gordon Hammes, Editor, Biochemistry © Group 2003 Nature Publishing themselves and by some political leaders SECOND: We recognize that the prospect David Heyman, Senior Fellow and Director of Science and Security Initiatives, Center for Strategic and about the possibility that new information of bioterrorism has raised legitimate con- International Studies published in research journals might give cerns about the potential abuse of pub- Thomas Inglesby, Editor, Biosecurity and Bioterrorism aid to those with malevolent ends. lished information, but also recognize that Samuel Kaplan, Chair, ASM Publications Board Journals that dealt especially with mi- research in the very same fields will be crit- Donald Kennedy, Editor, Science Judith Krug, Director, Office for Intellectual Freedom, crobiology, infectious agents, public ical to society in meeting the challenges of American Library Association health and plant and agricultural systems defense. We are committed to dealing re- Rachel Levinson, Assistant Director for Life Sciences, faced these issues earlier than some oth- sponsibly and effectively with safety and Office of Science and Technology Policy Emilie Marcus, Editor, Neuron ers, and have attempted to deal with security issues that may be raised by pa- Henry Metzger, National Institute of Arthritis and them. The American Society of pers submitted for publication, and to in- Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, Microbiology, in particular, urged the creasing our capacity to identify such National Institutes of Health Stephen S. Morse, Columbia University National Academy of Sciences to take an issues as they arise. Alison O’Brien, Editor, Infection and Immunity active role in organizing a meeting of Andrew Onderdonk, Editor, publishers, scientists, security experts THIRD: Scientists and their journals Journal of Clinical Microbiology George Poste, Chief Executive Officer, and government officials to explore the should consider the appropriate level and Health Technology Networks issues and discuss what steps might be design of processes to accomplish effective Beatrice Renault, Editor, Nature Medicine taken to resolve them. In a one-day work- review of papers that raise such security is- Robert Rich, Editor, Journal of Immunology shop at the Academy in Washington on sues. Journals in disciplines that have at- Ariella Rosengard, University of Pennsylvania Steven Salzburg, The Institute for Genome Research January 9, 2003, an open forum was held tracted numbers of such papers have Mary Scanlan, Director, Publishing Operations, for that purpose. A day later, a group of already devised procedures that might be American Chemical Society journal editors, augmented by scientist- employed as models in considering Thomas Shenk, President-Elect, ASM, and Past Editor, Journal of Virology authors, government officials and others, process design. Some of us represent some Herbert Tabor, Editor, Journal of Biological Chemistry held a separate meeting designed to ex- of those journals; others among us are Harold Varmus, plore possible approaches. committed to the timely implementation Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Eckard Wimmer, What follows reflects some outcomes of of such processes, about which we will no- State University of New York at Stony Brook that preliminary discussion. Fundamental tify our readers and authors. Keith Yamamoto, Editor, Molecular Biology of the Cell 240 NATURE MEDICINE • VOLUME 9 • NUMBER 3 • MARCH 2003.