On Tue, 24 Sep 1996, Wendy Beaver wrote:

>      Our institution recently received from a private industry sponsor a
>      draft research contract that included an unusual publications clause.
>      The contract required us to provide any publications to the sponsor 90
>      days in advance.  In addition, the contract gave the sponsor the right
>      to rebut any proposed publications AND required us to print the
>      sponsor's rebuttal with our publication.
>
In this time of sound bites, this sounds like disaster waiting to happen.
The requirement to show the sponsor a draft of manuscripts or
presentations is not new. It permits the sponsor to remove trade secrets
or proprietary info, but the rebuttal clause worries me. First, I am not
certain that a sponsor COULD require a publisher to print the rebuttal.
In agreement with Dr. Brett, I foresee a situation were important results
go unreported because the sponsor did not get a chance to whine.
Second, if the sponsor is so concerned about publically responding to
the study results, maybe they already suspect (i.e., know) what will
happen and want to piggy-back on your institute's reputation to give their
side credibility.

Tread carefully,
Bruce

Bruce W. Steinert, Ph.D.
Department of Urology
William Beaumont Hospital
3601 West Thirteen Mile Road        (810) 551-2572 (Voice)
Royal Oak, MI  48073-6769           (810) 551-8107 (FAX)