Abstract
ImportanceIt is unclear how medical journals address authors’ financial and non-financial conflict of interest (COI).ObjectiveTo assess the policies of clinical journals for disclosure of financial and non-financial COI.MethodsCross sectional study that included both review of public documents as well as a simulation of a manuscript submission for the National Library of Medicine’s “core clinical journals”. The study did not involve human subjects. Investigators who abstracted the data, reviewed “instructions for authors” on the journal website and, in order to reflect the actual implementation of the COI disclosure policy, simulated the submission of a manuscript. Two individuals working in duplicate and independently to abstract information using a standardized data abstraction form, resolved disagreements by discussion or with the help of a third person.ResultsAll but one of 117 core clinical journals had a COI policy. All journals required disclosure of financial COI pertaining to the authors and a minority (35%) asked for financial COI disclosure pertaining to the family members or authors' institution (29%). Over half required the disclosure of at least one form of non-financial COI (57%), out of which only two (3%) specifically referred to intellectual COI. Small minorities of journals (17% and 24% respectively) described a potential impact of disclosed COI and of non-disclosure of COI on the editorial process.ConclusionWhile financial COI disclosure was well defined by the majority of the journals, many did not have clear policies on disclosure of non-financial COI, disclosure of financial COI of family members and institutions of the authors, and effect of disclosed COI or non-disclosure of COI on editorial policies.
Highlights
An Institute of Medicine Report defined conflict of interest (COI) as “a set of circumstances that creates a risk that professional judgment or actions regarding a primary interest will be unduly influenced by a secondary interest” [1]
All journals required disclosure of financial COI pertaining to the authors and a minority (35%) asked for financial COI disclosure pertaining to the family members or authors' institution (29%)
While financial COI disclosure was well defined by the majority of the journals, many did not have clear policies on disclosure of non-financial COI, disclosure of financial COI of family members and institutions of the authors, and effect of disclosed COI or non-disclosure of COI on editorial policies
Summary
An Institute of Medicine Report defined conflict of interest (COI) as “a set of circumstances that creates a risk that professional judgment or actions regarding a primary interest will be unduly influenced by a secondary interest” [1]. While the focus has been on "financial" COI, about half of the conflicts of interest cases brought to Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) forum for advice involved non-financial COIs [4]. One type of non-financial COI that has received increased attention is intellectual COI [6,7,8,9]. We defined intellectual COI in the context of clinical practice guidelines as “academic activities that create the potential for an attachment to a specific point of view that could unduly affect an individual’s judgment about a specific recommendation” [7]. The operational definition of ‘important intellectual COI’ consisted of authorship of original studies, and peerreviewed grant funding directly bearing on a recommendation. [7]
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