The Society of Toxicology (SOT) Statements Procedure Highlights:
- SOT has a new, revised process for developing Issue Statements.
- SOT has instituted a procedure for developing documents/writings known as Express Statements.
- All members are encouraged to suggest topics for Express or Issue Statements using the form on the Issue and Position Statements page of the SOT website.
In 2010, the Society developed and approved a process by which SOT would develop Issue Statements, which were defined as “short and balanced presentations of the science and related issues underlying an area of relevance to SOT and the field of toxicology.” Since the process was developed, SOT has published two official Issues Statements—one on the toxicological implications of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and one on hydraulic fracturing—and has one in the pipeline on hookah smoking that soon will be issued to the membership for comment and review.
In order to build upon the successes and limitations of the process, as discovered during the development of the aforementioned Issue Statements, SOT Council appointed a Task Force, consisting of Matthew S. Bogdanffy, Lorrene A. Buckley, John C. Lipscomb, John A. Wisler, and Judith T. Zelikoff, to review the procedure. The review resulted in a few minor changes to the Issue Statement process to help streamline the workflow, but it also revealed the need for the Society to have a secondary communication mechanism that could respond more rapidly to issues of importance to toxicology. This resulted in the development of a new type of document/writing titled Express Statements, which are defined as “brief (generally < 1,000 words) communications on recent news and/or other activities that impact the understanding of toxicology.” The Task Force combined both of these processes into the new SOT Statements Procedure document, which SOT Council approved earlier this fall. This new process can be found on the SOT Issue and Position Statements page of the website.
All SOT members are welcome to propose topics for SOT Statement consideration at any time by submitting the proposal form found on the SOT Issue and Position Statements page to me.