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Nature Medicine 15, 598 (1 June 2009) | doi:10.1038/nm0609-598a

Publication of fake journals raises ethical questions

Stu Hutson

One of the world's largest publishers of medical literature, Elsevier, has come under fire for having distributed marketing periodicals that many people say deceptively resembled peer-reviewed journals. Since the 1980s, doctors have commonly received publications designed to promote pharmaceutical products through a mix of studies, opinion pieces and simple advertisements.