Ingelfinger Over-Ruled: The Role of the Web in the Future of Refereed Medical Journal Publishing

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Description/Abstract

Franz Ingelfinger, former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine formulated a rule, since called the "Ingelfinger Rule," to the effect that the journal will neither publish nor even referee a paper that whose contents have previously been made public in any way. This was originally intended to protect public health (from reports of unrefereed findings) and to protect the journal's priority. This Rule is reconsidered from the perspective of the online era of electronic publishing and archiving.