Confusion at PNAS as unpublished dinosaur nest paper gets coverage. Plus: Fill our their survey!

This morning, a group of science writers added me to a conversation on Twitter about a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that was being widely covered by news outlets, but didn’t seem to have been published yet. The paper apparently claimed evidence of the oldest dinosaur nest yet found.

I assumed — incorrectly, as it turns out — that this was yet another case of the vexing PNAS problem, in which many of the papers that come off embargo on Mondays actually aren’t available on the PNAS site. That is irritating for reporters who want to link to papers, readers who want to learn more about studies, and authors who want to be able to discuss their work.

In fact, however, there seems to have simply been an error. The paper didn’t make it into the embargoed press list or the Early Edition table of contents, and yet this doesn’t seem to have been an embargo break.

Freelance science writer Lucas Brouwers tells Embargo Watch:

Reporters, take note: Elsevier promotes non-embargoed studies in new email service

Elsevier has relaunched a service for journalists highlighting interesting studies reporters may have missed. The new service describes itself this way under a headline, “Bringing the latest peer reviewed science direct to your inbox…”

Study about potential effects of new autism definition spotlights the Ingelfinger Rule

Reactions to a New York Times story from last week about a new definition of autism that could limit the number of people diagnosed with the condition — and therefore eligible for support and services — have turned into a good case study in how the Ingelfinger Rule works.

For the uninitiated, here’s how veteran medical trade reporter Bob Finn describes the rule:

Franz J. Ingelfinger, M.D., (1910-1980) was editor of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) from 1967-1977. During his tenure he decreed that for an article to be published in his journal it must not previously have appeared elsewhere. The rule prohibited authors from releasing their results to the news media before the date they were published in the journal. A small number of other journals (such as JAMA) developed similar policies, and the net result is that scientists are often afraid to talk to reporters for fear that they’ll lose the opportunity to publish in JAMA or NEJM (or Nature or Cell or Science).

The new study, by Yale’s Fred Volkmar and colleagues, took a look at the likely effects of the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) criteria for autism. The fifth edition of the DSM is scheduled to be published in 2013, and has already been plagued by controversy. As the Times reports:

AACR joins the Embargo Watch Honor Roll with a new policy on sanctions

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has a new policy that’s a breath of transparent air into what can be an inconsistent area that many organizations would rather sweep under the rug: How to sanction embargo breakers. (Yes, I mixed some metaphors.)

Here’s the policy, which the AACR tells me they’ll be announcing today:

American Journal of Preventive Medicine lifts exergames study embargo early after break

From an email sent out this morning:

THE EMBARGO ON THIS STORY HAS BEEN BROKEN AND THEREFORE THE EMBARGO IS LIFTED EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.

 NEWS RELEASE

UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL JANUARY 17, 2012, 12:01 AM ET

 Contact:

[snip]

“Exergames” May Provide Cognitive Benefit for Older Adults

New Findings Reported in American Journal of Preventive Medicine

 San Diego, CA, January 17, 2012 –

Wiley lifts embargo on smoking Mayans study early after biologist posts a press release he never signed up for

This morning, University of California, Davis genome biologist and well-known science blogger Jonathan Eisen sent out a tweet that, not surprisingly, caught my attention:

So – if people keep sending me embargoed press releases even when I do not ask for them, do I have to follow the embargo?

My response, as Embargo Watch readers could have predicted:

Dutch news agency breaks PNAS Stradivarius study embargo

The ANP Dutch news agency broke the embargo yesterday on a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) of whether violinists can tell the difference between a Stradivarius and other instruments.

ANP’s story ran several hours before the PNAS embargo lifted at 3 p.m. Eastern.

EurekAlert, which distributes PNAS releases, told at least one news organization that they had contacted the publication and asked them to remove the article. That doesn’t seem to have happened before the embargo lifted. EurekAlert also contacted PNAS, but the journal was closed for the holiday, according to their alert last week.

ANP told one reporter that communications from the German press agency DPA had confused the issue. The German agency

A blog spoke, they listened: A look at groups that joined the Embargo Watch Honor Roll in 2011

Photo b jma.work via Flickr http://bit.ly/tbxvYX

The end of 2011 has snuck up on me, and there’s not much time left for a Best of 2011 post. So I’ll just call attention to the scientific societies and journals that did something to earn a spot on the Embargo Watch Honor Roll this year. These are all organizations who changed their policies following Embargo Watch criticism:

Do PR agencies really think it’s a good idea to send reporters gifts?

From a letter sent this week to a member of my Reuters Health staff:

Let’s face it. News is often a stressful business that can literally leave you in pain. The hours spent racing deadlines while hunkered over your desk definitely take their toll.

To help you usher in 2012 with a little less pain, DISC Sports & Spine Center (DISC) has two gifts for our media colleagues:

1. The Brookstone Orthopedic Back Cushion, a pressure-relieving memory foam pillow designed to provide soothing lower back relief whether you’re on the job, in the car or at home…

And there, in the box containing the letter, was the cushion.

Neurology breaks its own embargo — again

The journal Neurology lifted the embargo on their January issue early this week after their publisher posted the issue ahead of schedule. An email from Wednesday:

Dear Reporters,

We would like to inform you that the embargo on the following article featured in the press release below has been lifted as our publisher has posted the article online to Neurology’s website at www.neurology.org.   Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.

Here was the top of the original release, sent out on Tuesday: