Trump administration freeze forces journal to pull HHS article

An article that was written by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services employees and slated for publication in a medical journal this spring was placed on hold last week, apparently as a result of the Trump administration freeze on communications from government agencies.

The article reviewed the responsibilities of institutions that receive federal funding for research and was to have appeared in the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics. It was co-authored by the director and deputy director of the HHS Office of Research Integrity, who had previously discussed the topic at a public symposium last October at the University of Pennsylvania, according to a journal editor.

The event was focused on research misconduct, an issue of growing concern in scientific and public health circles, and included a panel in which the ORI officials discussed recently proposed regulations designed to promote scientific integrity. The HHS employees subsequently submitted their paper to the journal earlier this month and it was accepted last week for publication.