Peer Reviewed Publications by FDA and Other Government Agencies

The USDA recently enacted an internal policy that all peer reviewed publications authored by its scientists carry a disclaimer that it represents “preliminary” findings. While this policy seems to be limited to USDA only, but it was not publicized and there is no way to know if similar policies exist at other government agencies such as FDA. US government scientists publish numerous peer reviewed articles based on original research. Agencies such as FDA frequently refer to their own publications when advising stakeholders. Publications offer an additional insight into a given agency’s research and provide an additional overview of its experts. These publications usually carry disclaimer that these findings do not represent the official position of the author’s Agency but till now the disclaimer did not try to discredit the research. The USDA policy to call the findings “preliminary” could be considered to try to dissuade a reader from putting much weight on the reported scientific findings. One can reason that the Agency is trying to differentiate the peer reviewed publications from official communications, but it seems to be an overkill. A similar disclaimer by FDA would have little effect on its acceptance by the FDA-regulated industry. FDA-authored publications are widely respected and referenced by the industry it regulates. Similarly, USDA publications are also widely respected and referenced. Publications can never be considered the official communications from any government agency. It is hard to imagine the reasoning behind USDA’s policy. The fact that this policy is limited to that Agency shows that other within the government do not agree that such policy is needed by every agency. And that’s the way it should be.