In Other Journals

A comment piece in The Lancet condemns Oxford University’s investment in the arms industry. The article comes three years after Reed Elsevier, publisher of the The Lancet, announced the sale of its arms exhibitions business in response to concerns from readers and authors. The Lancet comment piece, written by a student activist group called Oxford Anti-War Action, argues that Oxford can “no longer ignore the ethical implications of their investment”. Using a freedom of information request, the authors found that Oxford had invested £4.5 million through third-party funds in UK and US arms manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems, between 2008 and 2010. The authors report that in June 2010, the university’s governing council decided against screening out arms companies from their investment portfolio.