Section: Research Student Profiles

Rachel Hendrick

Name
Rachel Hendrick
Organisation
Social Policy, School of Social and Political Science
University of Edinburgh
Address
Edinburgh UK
E-Mail
URL
http://www.socialpolicy.ed.ac.uk/student_profiles/hendrick_rachel
Rachel Hendrick

PhD Title

Communication Ethics in Medical Journal Publications

Qualifications

M.A. Creative and Critical Writing, University of Sussex, UK

B.A. English Literature, University of Sussex, UK 

Thesis Overview

This PhD seeks to explore the ethical challenges which exist within the business of medical journal publishing, resulting from undisclosed relationships between the different actors involved in the process.  It will examine how these relationships allow industrial interests to shape scientific discourse, so that their products are presented in a favourable light, and how this impacts on health policy.

This has risen to prominence as an issue of concern in recent years following a number of lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies in which documents that were made public demonstrated the ways in which medical journals can be used as vehicles for marketing products.

Supervisors

Dr Jeff Collin and Dr Katherine Smith

Awards

ESRC CASE Doctoral Studentship, run in collaboration with the British Medical Journal 

Publications

‘Ghosts in the Machine’, BMJ, 2011, 343:d7860

Presentations

Oral Presentation: ‘Publishing Ethics: The Political Economy of Medical Writing Companies’, paper presented at the British Sociological Association Medical Sociology annual conference, 14th-16th September 2011.

Poster Presentation: Privatised Science', poster presented at the University of Strathclyde 'Research Day', June 2011.

 

Professional Experience

Prior to taking up my PhD, I worked as an Acquisitions Editor at the medical publisher Wolters Kluwer Health, where I developed their new UK book programme.  I have continued to work on a freelance basis for WKH, taking the books I commissioned as Editor through to publication.  Before then I worked at SAGE publications on their Media, Culture & Communications and Education book and journal lists.

Teaching Experience

Tutor for two 1st year Sociology undergraduate classes at Strathclyde University.

Membership

Committee on Publication Ethics

Society for Social Medicine

British Sociological Association  

Healthy Skepticism 

 

This page was published on 11 May 2012


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