Trump administration turns its focus on academic journals

Are scientific and medical journals the latest target of efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to reshape US research? The Trump-appointed interim US attorney for the District of Columbia has sent multiple journal editors letters asserting their publications are “partisans in various scientific debates” and asking for responses to a variety of questions, writes Catherine Offord for Science.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration plans to cut funding for two open-access, peer-reviewed journals published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Emerging Infectious Diseases and Preventing Chronic Disease – according to a leaked draft of an internal 2026 budget proposal for the Department of Health and Human Services.

The letter, first reported by MedPage Today, is signed by federal prosecutor Edward Martin Jr. A version addressed to the medical journal CHEST was circulated widely on social media and the journal confirmed its authenticity. Science has learned that another journal has received a nearly identical letter. Martin’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Full report on the Science site