documents released during a court case indicate that the assessment of differences between vioxx and naproxen to ascertain gastrointestinal tolerability and effectiveness (advantage) trial of vioxx conducted by merck may have been a seeding trial, with the intention being to introduce the drug to physicians rather than test its efficacy. it appears merck knew about the potential criticism they would face; an internal email suggested: "it may be a seeding study, but let's not call it that in our internal documents". the 2003 study was originally published in the "annals of internal medicine" but was strongly criticized for its deception by the journal's editors in a 2008 editorial, calling for greater responsibility in academia to end the practice of "marketing in the guise of science".