Canadian Medical Association Journal editor fired, again

What goes around, comes around it seems, at the Canadian Medical Association Journal, which went through a major crisis in 2006 when the publisher of the journal fired its editor and second-in-command as part of a move to privatize it. A large part of the magazine's editorial board quit as a result, as did several members of the board, moving their support to an online journal, Open Medicine. 

Now, 10 years on, the editor in chief, John Fletcher, has been fired and the publication's oversight committee has been disbanded. The magazine's editor will now report to the board of directors on editorial matters. (The matter of editorial integrity and independence were among the key issues in the 2006 crisis.) The president of the CMA, Cindy Forbes, is quoted in the Globe and Mail saying changes to the journal were the result of falling revenue and declining submissions.  

On Monday, the remaining editors at the CMAJ published an editorial criticizing the CMA for the changes and for suggesting that the journal's reputation is in decline. CMAJ's interim editor-in-chief is Dr. Diane Kelsall.