Seeing through the lies: Why we need to disrupt medical publishing

Surgeons’ careers are built partly on their publishing record. You need a good record to get a grant, promotion or just progress. Medical publishers are in symbiosis with universities, and are surprisingly easy to fool. Using examples, I will show how easy it is to lie, especially in surgery, and the dire consequences which can follow. I speak from personal experience, and make some suggestions as to how we can change the way we publish to deserve the trust of the public. Their trust is the basis of our professionalism; it takes years to build, and seconds to break.