An academic journal published by the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco is taking new submissions on the tobacco industry’s transformation.
MADISON, Wis. — Nicotine & Tobacco Research, a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, announced that it is taking new paper submissions to discuss the tobacco industry’s transformation.
As defined by the journal editorial board, tobacco industry transformation is a “themed issue/section” that “will inform whether and how the tobacco control community should respond to and engage with the tobacco industry transformation narrative and with tobacco companies that claim to be transforming.”
“Critically assessing the validity of the industry’s transformation narrative will be important as sections of the industry are likely to increasingly use this framing in order to position themselves as legitimate stakeholders in debates about how to end the smoking epidemic and the nature and direction of tobacco control policies,” notes the Nicotine & Tobacco Research official call for papers.
The journal says that manuscripts must be submitted through the Nicotine & Tobacco Research submission system by March 1, 2022. They expect the journal issue on the tobacco industry transformation to be published early at some point in 2023.
Tobacco Reporter, additionally, notes that the journal will not consider submissions from tobacco industry employees or affiliated groups. These include organizations that themselves receive funding from tobacco industry groups or wholly or partially owned by a tobacco company. This includes organizations like the nonprofit Foundation for a Smoke-Free World in the US.
The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World is an independent nonprofit group that lobbies for tobacco harm reduction and tobacco control. Unfortunately, the foundation’s credibility is consistently questioned due to an initial endowment from tobacco giant Philip Morris International (PMI). The endowment is hefty and serves as a portion of PMI’s new “beyond nicotine” mantra.
The Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco has been criticized in the past for the organization’s blocking of tobacco industry researchers at society events and in their journals.
In August of this year, Vaping Post reported that British American Tobacco’s (BAT) science chief, David O’Reilly, has urged the society to reinstate the involvement of tobacco industry scientists to attend the group’s annual conference in 2022.
“BAT’s scientists have been proud to share their research at the SRNT Annual Meetings for many years,” he said. “Our participation has helped advance tobacco and nicotine science to the benefit of the society, and ultimately, the public good.”
Note: Michael McGrady has previously received funding from the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World through the 2019 Knowledge-Action-Change Tobacco Harm Reduction Scholarship program. He hasn’t received funding since and remains independent of the foundation, the tobacco industry, and vaping industry companies.
