V

Vancouver Group is another name for the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICJME) – because they first met in Vancouver. Verbal branding simply means the careful and consistent choice of words. Some companies develop preferred terms and phrases for describing their products and their competitors. Disparaging and insensitive terms such as 'spastic' and 'mentally deficient' have been replaced by 'cerebral palsy' and 'learning disability'. Most journals insist that generic product names should be used in papers, and restrict the use of trade names, which can usually be mentioned only once, in the methods section, and often may not be used in titles. Research sponsors should not have the right to veto a publication. The best way to avoid protracted negotiations from delaying the publication schedule is to involve all interested parties in the earliest stages of planning. If everybody agrees on the outline for each publication this will greatly reduce the risk of differences in interpretation scuppering the schedule.