PLOS EDITOR ABRUPTLY LEAVES, RETURNS TO LANCET
In a mysterious turn of events, Elsevier, the industry- leading STM publisher, sent out a press release last week touting the return of Dr. James Butcher to The Lancet’s editorial staff after a suspiciously brief (not quite three months) stint as a senior editor at the Public Library of Science’s (PLoS) recently launched journal PLoS MEDICINE. Butcher was previously Editor at The Lancet Neurology, a post he now returns to. While the U.K.’s GUARDIAN newspaper billed the defection as "a blow to the open access publishing movement," the circumstances surrounding the move are still unknown. Neither Butcher nor Elsevier officials commented further on why Butcher left the PLoS so quickly. PLoS officials said only that the move was unexpected. PLoS editor Virginia Barbour told the GUARDIAN that she was "very surprised," but stressed that Butcher’s departure would have little effect on PLoS Medicine. "It’s just one of those things," she told reporters. "People leave organizations."
Library Journal Academic Newswire: November 2, 2004
