Medical journal bans Sunday Times from reports after embargo break

This article was migrated from an old version of our website in 2025. As a result, it might have some low-quality images or non-functioning links - if there's any issues you'd like to see fixed, get in touch with us at info@journalism.co.uk.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has banned Sunday Times journalists from access to its material following the breach of an embargo.

A JAMA report sent to journalists called 'Women Who Drink Moderately Appear to Gain Less Weight Than Non-Drinkers' was placed under embargo until 3:00pm (CT) on 8 March. But a story by Jonathan Leake on the report was published by the Sunday Times on 7 March .

"The embargo on the Archives of Internal Medicine paper was broken by Jonathan Leake of The Sunday Times of London. In response to this violation, reporters and editors at The Sunday Times will no longer have pre- or post-embargo access to any JAMA/Archives materials," says a statement from JAMA.

"The JAMA/Archives Media Relations Department again thanks reporters who continue to abide by the embargo, and who notify us of embargo violations." According to the website Embargo Watch , the Sunday Times is also banned from pre-print access to material from journal PNAS [Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences] following an embargo break, also by Leake, earlier this month.

"Credentialled reporters can register for access to the JAMA and Archives Journals through the media website , where they can access upcoming articles and news releases that have been prepared by science writers and approved by JAMA editors, with these confidential materials available several days before the publication date. Reporters are granted access to this information if and only if they agree to abide by the journal embargo policy," an editorial by the JAMA on its policy for releasing information to the public states.

"Allowing reporters access to this information along with the news embargo policy are intended to provide journalists from various competitive news media equal access to news sources and an equal amount of time to prepare their news stories.

"Authors of accepted papers are encouraged to cooperate with reporters for interviews or to discuss other information related to the study during the week before publication but only on the condition that the journalist agrees to abide by the journal embargo policy. Authors should resist pressure from their institutions, sponsors, the news media, or others to release information before the embargo."