ISMPP Code of Ethics

View Code of Ethics

Ethics Case Studies

About The International Society for Medical Publication Professionals™ (ISMPP)

The International Society for Medical Publication Professionals™(ISMPP) is a non-profit, voluntary professional association dedicated to advancing medical publication planning and development, supporting medical publication professionals, and ensuring ethical medical publication practices worldwide.

ISMPP membership has representation from all stakeholders involved in the publication of medical research, including pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and device companies, medical publications and communications agencies, medical journal publishers and editors, and professional medical writers.

ISMPP promotes high standards for ethical medical publication practices, and encourages its members to maintain the highest standards of practice. Members of ISMPP should always act with integrity to reflect positively on the individual, ISMPP, and the medical publication profession, consistent with generally accepted scientific, legal, and ethical principles.

ISMPP has adopted these voluntary ethical principles as a guide to serve as a professional resource for medical writers and communicators, publication planners, editors, publishers, and other diverse professions that ISMPP members represent.

Read the ISMPP Code of Ethics.

Ethics Case Studies

As part of their normal work duties, publication professionals are frequently required to untangle difficult ethical problems. As a service to its members, the ISMPP Ethics Committee developed the CoE to be used as a touchstone to provide guidance on the most appropriate and ethical practices and conduct. To demonstrate how the CoE might facilitate discussions and find the best solution to ethical dilemmas, the ISMPP Ethics Committee has created some hypothetical case studies to illustrate how the CoE might aid you in your professional life. The case studies are not prescriptive, as each ethical dilemma encountered is unique. The Ethics Committee does believe, however, that through a collective experience, you may find some useful commonalities to your particular issue. In all cases, you should consider the wider impact of your decisions on patients and their treatment.

NOTE: Although these cases are provided as a tool to assist you, your first step to a resolution of your ethical issue should be to consult your organization’s compliance department, if available.

To view the Ethics Case Studies, click here.