Several psychiatry researchers have been unsuccessfully seeking distance from a dodgy journal with which they’re affiliated – and which has now published an article claiming homosexuality and masturbation deserve to be considered (or reconsidered, as the case may be) mental illnesses.
The 2021 paper, “Review of Removing Homosexuality and Masturbation from the List of Sexual Dysfunctions in DSM,” was written by Sayed Ali Marashi, of the Department of Psychology at Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, in Iran It appeared in Clinical Schizophrenia & Related Psychoses.
Oddly, the header text on the paper reads “Metallurgical Investigation of Tie Rod used for lifting Ferro-Alloy during Steel Making: A Safety Issues.”
According to the article:
A detailed review shows that the reasons for the elimination of homosexuality and masturbation from DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) were not scientific reasons, but the real causes for this move were philosophical, libertarian, and social and political considerations. So, therapists do not need to follow this view. Instead, there are many reasons and evidences that show these behaviors are abnormal and harmful. It is therefore recommended that therapists and researchers seek effective ways to treat these two disorders, and at least not encourage these behaviors
We reached out to Peter Buckley, who’s listed as the editor of the journal, for a comment about the article – and, more specifically, whether it underwent peer review. Buckley, the chancellor of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, told us that he was no longer affiliated with the publication:
the prior publisher of Clinical Schizophrenia & Related Psychoses sold the journal several years ago and I have not been involved since then and so I don’t know anything about this issue.
Deanna Kelly, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Maryland, was also concerned. She told us:
We are being exploited and unsuccessful so far in the removal of our names from their journal.
And another member of the advisory board, Brian Kirkpatrick, told us:
There are three of us in this situation. We’ve tried to resolve this problem multiple times, so far without success.
Peter Walsh, of Walsh Medical Media, which formerly published the journal but is still listed as the owner, told Buckley in an email that he:
would be meeting with his attorney later the week about writing another letter insisting that our Editorial Board be taken down.
The new publisher has not responded to a request for comment.
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