english.prescrire.org > Spotlight > Archives : 2017 > Wholly self-financed through subscriptions, Prescrire makes its accounts public every year

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Wholly self-financed through subscriptions, Prescrire makes its accounts public every year

 ABOUT PRESCRIRE  The French journal Prescrire and its English edition Prescrire International are published by Association Mieux Prescrire, an independent, non-profit continuing education organisation. Prescrire accepts no advertising, grants or outside support of any kind, and publishes its financial statements every year.

Prescrire TransparencyAssociation Mieux Prescrire is a non-profit organisation for the continuing education of healthcare professionals, under the French law of 1901. This structure reflects the intention to provide a service to healthcare professionals, and not become a commercial publisher.

Self-supporting
 Prescrire is wholly self-supporting through subscriptions, without any advertising revenue or other outside support of any kind. Prescrire does not produce "sponsored" supplements, and turns down any disguised gifts such as subscriptions for healthcare practitioners paid for by pharmaceutical companies. This is, practically speaking, the only way to speak with total freedom about the value of diagnostic and therapeutic tools, as well the policies of the Ministry of Health, regulatory agencies, the health insurance system, or medical and pharmaceutical professional groups.

Independent from industrial interests
In France and elsewhere, almost all medical and pharmaceutical publications are largely financed through advertising, and may become totally dependent on advertising revenue. The presence of advertising inserts or "advertorials", of pharmaceutical industry press releases or transcripts of press conferences take up a greater or a lesser proportion of space in these publications. All of this creates a great deal of confusion and compromise, which Prescrire has decided to avoid altogether.

A strict policy on "reprints"
Prescrire produces very few reprints and is careful not to depend on them financially. Only the cost of printing and a reasonable copyright fee are charged. Reprints are marked "Reproduced with permission from Prescrire and without financial compensation".
> Charter governing reprints of texts from a Prescrire publication (pdf)

©Prescrire 1 June 2017

"The finances of Association Mieux Prescrire: 2016 Prescrire annual report" Prescrire Int 2017; 26 (183): 166-167. (Pdf, free)
For more information:

The finances of Association
Mieux Prescrire: 2016
Prescrire annual report
Prescrire Int 2017;
26 (183): 166-167.
Pdf, free

Prescrire is a non-profit
continuing education
organisation, committed
to better patient care
(June 2017)
Free