Conflict of Interest
Ethics & integrity
Any financial, professional or personal interest that could bias — or appear to bias — a researcher's judgement; managed by disclosure, not concealment.
A conflict of interest exists when a secondary interest — financial, professional or personal — could reasonably be seen to influence the conduct or reporting of research. The test is appearance as well as actuality: a situation that a reasonable reader would consider capable of biasing the work must be disclosed even if no bias occurred.
Financial conflicts include funding, consultancy, employment, shareholdings and patents connected to the subject of the research. Non-financial ones include personal relationships with participants or reviewers, institutional loyalties, and strong prior commitment to a position the study is meant to test.
Journals require a declaration at submission, and ethics committees require it in the proposal. The remedy is disclosure rather than avoidance — industry-funded research is entirely legitimate provided the funding is stated and the funder's role in design, analysis and the decision to publish is described. Undisclosed conflicts discovered later are a recognised ground for retraction.
Where it's used
- Mandatory disclosure statements at journal submission
- Declaring employer funding or roles when researching one's own organisation
Related concepts
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