Reporting Conflicts of Interest, Financial Aspects of Research, and Role of Sponsors in Funded Studies

RESEARCH STUDIES IN BIOMEDICAL JOURNALS ARE INcreasingly scrutinized, not only for their scientific findings and clinical and public health implications, but also because of concerns related to conflicts of interest of investigators and concerns about misleading reporting of industry-sponsored research. The perception that conflicts of interest or financial concerns may have potentially detrimental effects on medical science has prompted medical journals to critically examine and more vigorously enforce policies for disclosure of potential conflicts and for reporting of relationships with industry. The need for transparency in reporting the financial conflicts of interest of authors and the relationships between investigators and funding sources has never been greater and is essential to help maintain confidence and trust in the scientific integrity of medical research articles. In this editorial, we review and update our policies for authors reporting conflicts of interest and disclosing financial support and other paid contributions for their work, as well as the requirements for reporting of industry-sponsored studies. Much of this information and the rationale for these policies have been described in previous editorials and are detailed in the current JAMA Instructions for Authors. Reporting Financial Conflicts of Interest. All authors of all manuscripts submitted to JAMA (including research reports, reviews, opinion pieces, letters to the editor, and book reviews) are required to report potential conflicts of interest, including specific financial interests relevant to the subject of their manuscript. Authors are expected to provide detailed information about any relevant financial interests or financial conflicts within the past 5 years and for the foreseeable future, particularly those present at the time the research was conducted or the paper was written and up to the time of publication. Authors also must report other financial interests that represent potential future financial gain, such as relevant filed or pending patents or patent applications in preparation. Although many universities and other institutions and organizations have established policies and thresholds for reporting financial interests and other conflicts of interest, JAMA requires complete disclosure of all relevant financial relationships and potential financial conflicts of interest, regardless of amount or value. Authors who are uncertain about what might constitute a potential financial conflict of interest should always err on the side of full disclosure and should contact the editorial office if they have questions or concerns. To report this information, each author is required to sign and submit the following disclosure statement on the JAMA authorship form: “I certify that all my affiliations with or financial involvement, within the past 5 years and foreseeable future (eg, employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, royalties) with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript are completely disclosed.” Authors may include these disclosures on the JAMA financial disclosure form or should indicate that the disclosures are included in an attachment to the form or in the manuscript. In addition, authors who have no relevant financial interests should provide a statement indicating that they have no financial interests related to the material in the manuscript. Authors will be reminded to report this information at the time they submit their manuscript via our online manuscript submission and review system. For all accepted manuscripts, each author’s disclosures of relevant financial interests or declarations of no relevant financial interests will be published. Decisions about whether financial information provided by authors should be published, and thereby disclosed to readers, are usually straightforward. Editors are willing to discuss disclosure of specific