Morning Briefing

"As researchers from both sides of the debate over two controversial H5N1 studies weighed in [Tuesday] on full publication versus a more cautionary approach, two U.S. journals" -- the Journal of Infectious Diseases (JID) and its sister publication, Clinical Infectious Diseases -- "said they are developing policies to address any future such instances," CIDRAP News writes. "We are developing policies that address these issues on a case-by-case basis, so that freedom of scientific expression can be maintained without sacrificing individual safety or national security," JID Editor Martin Hirsch wrote in an editorial, the news service notes, adding, "He also introduced three new JID perspective pieces that discuss the difficult issues" (Schnirring, 3/28).