Publication planning is the sub-industry to the pharmaceutical industry that does the organizational and practical work of shaping pharmaceutical companies' data and turning it into medical journal articles. Its main purpose is to create and communicate scientific information to support the marketing of products. This report is based mostly on information presented at the 2007 annual meeting of the International Society of Medical Planning Professionals, including a workshop entitled "Publication Planning 101/201", attended by one of us. We provide some analysis of the role of publication planning in medical publishing, and its implications for the structuring of medical knowledge.