The medical profession needs to have a serious discussion about whether or not the Lancet should still be treated as a top journal. In addition to this retract

The medical profession needs to have a serious discussion about whether or not the Lancet should still be treated as a top journal. In addition to this retraction, 3 of the top 10 most cited retracted papers of all time were published in the Lancet. [0] This includes the infamous Wakefield "vaccines cause autism" paper which is probably the most damaging scientific fraud of the last several decades. On the editorial side, they've become quite outspoken on political matters [1], publishing one piece calling for the ban of tobacco, a letter expressing strong opinions on the Israel/Palestine conflict, and a piece just a couple weeks ago calling for Americans to vote Trump out of office. The also published a rather controversial study that provided very high estimates of the civilian death toll of the Iraq War. I'm inclined to agree with their position on some issues and disagree with it on others, but either way they seem to court controversy. All of this has been under the same editor, Richard Horton (who is himself quite outspoken.) Put it all together, and the picture that emerges is a publication that values making a splash (whether by publishing shocking results or by taking a position on political issues) over getting things correct. That's irritating behavior in a tabloid. In a prestigious journal, it's horrifyingly irresponsible. [0] https://retractionwatch.com/the-retraction-watch-leaderboard/top-10-most-highly-cited-retracted-papers/ https://retractionwatch.com/the-retraction-watch-leaderboard... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lancet#Controversies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lancet#Controversies