Letter to The Lancet on Reed Elsevier | SGR: Responsible Science

A group of medical professionals and scientists argue that Reed Elsevier's ownership of The Lancet is contradictory to its role as a promoter of arms fairs, specifically the Defence Systems and Equipment International (DSEi) event. The authors contend that promoting arms sales, including cluster bombs and small arms, violates the medical principle of 'do no harm' and contradicts Reed Elsevier's commitment to the UN Global Compact.

• Reed Elsevier, the owner and publisher of The Lancet, promotes the global arms trade through its exhibition wing, Reed Exhibitions, and its company Spearhead.
• The Defence Systems and Equipment International (DSEi) fair in London, UK, promotes a range of weaponry including warships, cluster bombs, and small arms, the latter of which are estimated to cause 500,000 deaths annually.
• The DSEi fair has invited military buyers from regimes with serious human rights abuses, including Saudi Arabia, Colombia, and Syria, and has shown a lack of effective regulation regarding the display of cluster munitions.
• The authors assert that Reed Elsevier's involvement in the arms trade is incompatible with the medical maxim to 'do no harm' and contradicts the company's own subscription to the UN Global Compact, which aims to prevent human rights abuse and conflict.

APA

Feder, G., Rohde, J. E., Sebastian, M. S., Janlert, U., Jimba, M., Materia, E., Hurtig, A.-K., Goldin, S., Stafford, T., Edvardsson, B., Hilt, B., Parkinson, S., Birch, M., Jones, A., Archibald, K., & Pastore, J. O. (2005). Letter to The Lancet on Reed Elsevier | SGR: Responsible Science. Scientists for Global Responsibility. https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/letter-lancet-reed-elsevier

Chicago

Feder, Gene, Jon E Rohde, Miguel San Sebastian, Urban Janlert, Masamine Jimba, Enrico Materia, Anna-Karin Hurtig, et al. Letter to The Lancet on Reed Elsevier | SGR: Responsible Science. Scientists for Global Responsibility, 2005. https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/letter-lancet-reed-elsevier.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@misc{feder2005letter, author = {Feder, Gene and Rohde, Jon E and Sebastian, Miguel San and Janlert, Urban and Jimba, Masamine and Materia, Enrico and Hurtig, Anna-Karin and Goldin, Stephen and Stafford, Tom and Edvardsson, Berit and Hilt, Bjorn and Parkinson, Stuart and Birch, Marion and Jones, Anna and Archibald, Kathy and Pastore, John O}, title = {{Letter to The Lancet on Reed Elsevier | SGR: Responsible Science}}, publisher = {Scientists for Global Responsibility}, year = {2005}, month = sep, url = {https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/letter-lancet-reed-elsevier}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }