Notes from the AAP Meeting

Benard P Dreyer, MD, FAAP President and Karen Remley, MD, FAAP, Executive Vice President/CEO of the AAP sent members a letter based on actions taken at the Oct. Board of Directors Meeting.

We are writing to inform you of important actions taken at the October 20-21, 2016 Board of Directors meeting.

1.       In response to a resolution from the 2016 Annual Leadership Forum, the Board has approved the adoption of International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines that will allow the listing of more than two authors in AAP policy statements, clinical, and technical reports. This change will broaden the number of members who can be credited individually for significant contribution to AAP policy documents. Pediatric medical school department chairs and pediatric program directors will be alerted of this change in order to spread the message and alert academicians and others to this opportunity.

2.       Members applying for appointment to committees or election to section or council executive committees will now be asked to submit conflict of interest information at the time of application rather than after appointment or election.  The Board made this change while routinely reviewing COI polices and further information will be forthcoming.  The Board also intends to revise the amount of financial interest that must be disclosed.

3.       In another step to align our publications with best practices, the Board has adopted a plagiarism policy for our professional and public educational material which defines plagiarism, discusses its identification, and outlines the process for amelioration of allegations of plagiarism.

4.       Finally, the Board has adopted a policy to increase the numbers of members participating in leadership positions.  Beginning with Committee Chairperson appointments in January, a member will be permitted to hold only one Committee, Section, Council or Editorial Board position at a given time.  There will be a grace period for members rotating off Section Executive Committees (usually at the time of the NCE) to be appointed to Committees (terms beginning July 1).  This new policy will not be applied retroactively to those currently holding more than one position, nor does it apply to Chapter officers (unless required by individual Chapters).

Details regarding the implementation of these programs will be forthcoming through the staff managers during the upcoming months.  Feel free to call or email either Dr David Jaffe (djaffe@aap.org, 847 434-7898) or Dr Roger Suchyta (rsuchyta@aap.org, 847 434-7111) if you have questions.