Franz Joseph Ingelfinger (August 20, 1910 – March 27, 1980) was a

German-American German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, researcher and journal editor. He served as Chief of

Gastroenterology Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- “belly”, -énteron “intestine”, and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract ...

at Evans Memorial Department of Clinical Research, part of Boston University School of Medicine. He also served as Editor of the ''

New England Journal of Medicine ''The New England Journal of Medicine'' (''NEJM'') is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals as well as the oldest continuously published one. Hist ...

'' (NEJM) from 1967 to 1976. His work was influential in the field of

science journalism Science journalism conveys reporting about science to the public. The field typically involves interactions between scientists, journalists, and the public. Origins Modern science journalism dates back to ''Digdarshan'' (means showing the di ...

Life and career

Ingelfinger was born in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, the only child of Eleanor Holden and Joseph Franz Ingelfinger. He came to the United States with his family in the early 1920s to live in his mother's home town of

Swampscott, Massachusetts Swampscott () is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located up the coast from Boston in an area known as the North Shore. The population was 15,111 as of the 2020 United States Census. A former summer resort on Massachusetts Ba ...

where his German father established a general practice as a physician. After initially wanting to enter the business world, faced with dwindling job opportunities after the

Wall Street crash The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...

he decided to follow in his father and go into medicine. Ingelfinger earned diplomas from

Phillips Andover Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

, followed by

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1932 and

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

in 1936. The

Ingelfinger rule In scientific publishing, the 1969 Ingelfinger rule originally stipulated that ''The New England Journal of Medicine'' (''NEJM'') would not publish findings that had been published elsewhere, in other media or in other journals. The rule was subseq ...

is named after him. In 1969, one of Ingelfinger's first acts as editor of ''

NEJM ''The New England Journal of Medicine'' (''NEJM'') is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals as well as the oldest continuously published one. Hist ...

'' was to draw up rules for authors forbidding prior submission or publication of their work in other media. This stipulation for authors and the related press embargo were designed to ensure that the articles published were original and "newsworthy." It also helped prevent what later ''NEJM'' editors called

science by press conference Science by press conference or science by press release is the practice by which scientists put an unusual focus on publicizing results of research in the media, in the form of press conference events or press release statements. The term is usual ...

, the practice of going directly to the media with scientific results rather than waiting for the

peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

process designed to check the work for errors and flaws. He served as president of the

American Gastroenterological Association The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) is a medical association of gastroenterologists. Approximately 16,000 scientists and physicians are members of the organization. Overview The American Gastroenterological Association is a pr ...

. In 1979 he was presented the George Kober Medal of the

Association of American Physicians The Association of American Physicians (AAP) is an honorary medical society founded in 1885 by the Canadian physician Sir William Osler and six other distinguished physicians of his era for "the advancement of scientific and practical medicine." ...

, given to leaders in academic medicine, research and teaching. He died from complications of

esophageal cancer Esophageal cancer is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include difficulty in swallowing and weight loss. Other symptoms may include pain when swallowing, a hoarse voice ...

in Boston, Massachusetts.

References

1910 births 1980 deaths The New England Journal of Medicine people Boston University faculty Harvard Medical School alumni American gastroenterologists Medical journal editors Yale University alumni Phillips Academy alumni German emigrants to the United States {{US-physician-stub