[Medical publications between law and ethics].

Medical publications are the result of an intellectual inventive effort, yielding legal and ethical questions related to medicine. Copyright's problems in cases of disputed innovation or plagiary are frequent. The Tunisian law has stipulated rules for the original scientific production. Medical publications are also involved in professional liability questions through the reported medical standards. Ethical guidelines recommend that medical research and publications must respect moral rules such as scientific integrity and independence. Respect of such rules must be more guaranteed by ethic committees assessment of the submitted papers. Each medical journal is under obligation towards its readers and must consecrate columns for them to allow exchanges. Transparency must be respected in the field of advertising and supplement issues edition.