{"id":624919,"date":"2026-09-15T01:34:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T01:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/624919\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T01:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T01:34:12","slug":"diabetes-association-turmoil-roils-journal-as-group-tries-to-thwart-boycott-retraction-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/624919\/","title":{"rendered":"Diabetes association turmoil roils journal as group tries to thwart boycott \u2013 Retraction Watch"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A banner message on the Diabetes Care website tells visitors they \u201ccontinue to actively accept and appropriately review all new and previously submitted manuscripts,\u201d which contradicts a statement the journal\u2019s editors posted last week announcing a boycott of ADA activities, including manuscript review.<\/p>\n

Tensions between the American Diabetes Association and several editors of its flagship journal \u2014 who have boycotted the group over its handling of a protest at the association\u2019s June conference \u2014 have again boiled over, this time on the website of the journal.<\/p>\n

Steven Kahn<\/a>, editor-in-chief of Diabetes Care and professor of medicine at the University of Washington, was one of five researchers ejected from the association\u2019s June meeting<\/a> in New Orleans for distributing copies of a Diabetes Care editorial<\/a> on funding cuts outside the hall where National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya was scheduled to speak.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Sept. 1, ADA announced the results<\/a> of an independent review, which concluded the five attendees were removed because their actions violated the conference\u2019s code of conduct, not because of the nature of the material they were distributing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe investigation has been a sham, and the report is in line with that; i.e., it tries to exonerate those in charge of the ADA,\u201d Kahn wrote in a Sept. 10 post on LinkedIn<\/a>, with a link to a letter<\/a> to ADA\u2019s board of directors announcing a boycott<\/a> of ADA activities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The boycott includes all ADA activities, including planning or attending any of its scientific meetings as well as \u201cother ADA activities, presentations, fund raisers, grant reviews, manuscript reviews, journal management, manuscript submissions, or position statements,\u201d the letter reads. \u201cThis boycott will remain in place until the ADA Board of Directors allows a formal review of the overall structure and function of the ADA led by an independent academic leader and focused on having the ADA properly represent its professional membership.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe editorial leadership of Diabetes Care, the ADA\u2019s flagship journal devoted to clinical diabetes research, has signed the letter,\u201d Kahn wrote. \u201cIn line with the contents of the call for action, until the impasse is resolved or the editors are replaced, they will not be performing their duties, and therefore the journal will no longer be accepting new submissions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The journal\u2019s editors placed a notice on the submission page<\/a> for Diabetes Care notifying authors and reviewers \u201cthe editorial leadership of Diabetes Care has suspended its editorial review of new manuscripts submitted to the journal from September 10, 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe regret the uncertainty and inconvenience this situation may cause and are working to restore full editorial operations as quickly as possible,\u201d it continued.<\/p>\n

Kahn wrote in a comment<\/a> that someone from ADA called a journal staff member late on Sept. 10 asking that the message be removed.<\/p>\n

At some point that message was removed, and over the weekend a banner message appeared on the ADA website for professionals<\/a> as well as all of its journals<\/a>:<\/p>\n

A Message to Our Community:\u00a0
We understand that recent events have prompted questions among professionals in our community. The ADA\u2019s mission remains unchanged. Our work and commitments continue without interruption; no programs, events, or initiatives, including the 2027 Scientific Sessions, have been stalled, suspended, or stopped.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We also continue to actively accept and appropriately review all new and previously submitted manuscripts across ADA Journals (Diabetes Care, Diabetes, and Diabetes, Obesity, and CardioMetabolic CARE).\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ADA remains committed to serving the professional community and all people impacted by diabetes and obesity.<\/p>\n

The editors had agreed in advance to the statement about the boycott on the journal website but weren\u2019t involved in the banner message, said Michael Haller, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of Florida and an associate editor of Diabetes Care. \u201cHow exactly does the ADA think any meaningful editorial work is going to happen when the entire editorial board is boycotting?\u201d Haller wrote on LinkedIn<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Haller told Retraction Watch he and others support what ADA is supposed to represent. \u201cWe do not want to see the ADA dismantled but rather we need it to be reimagined to reflect the goals and interests of its members and the people with diabetes who it is supposed to represent,\u201d Haller said. \u201cOur efforts are aimed at rescuing the organization from failing leadership. We hope this boycott is short term and hope it forces the board to meet our demands of a truly independent review of what happened in New Orleans as well as the organization\u2019s overall leadership structure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ADA did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

In 2017, our cofounders bestowed ADA with the inaugural Doing the Right Thing Award<\/a> for defending their right to issue expressions of concern on problematic papers when one of the authors sued them. In July of this year, the organization \u201cnow finds itself mired in a self-made mess,\u201d our Adam Marcus and Ivan Oransky wrote in STAT<\/a>. \u201cIf the ADA is willing to muzzle its members for fear of costing the field government funding, how far is it willing to go? And what might it do to get more money?\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Retraction Watch? You can make a\u00a0tax-deductible contribution to support our work<\/a>, follow us\u00a0on X<\/a> or Bluesky<\/a>, like us\u00a0on Facebook<\/a>, follow us on LinkedIn<\/a>, add us to your\u00a0RSS reader<\/a>, or subscribe to our\u00a0daily digest<\/a>. If you find a retraction that\u2019s\u00a0not in our database<\/a>, you can\u00a0let us know here<\/a>. For comments or feedback, email us at\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n

\t