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A comparison of conflict of interest policies at peer-reviewed journals in different scientific disciplines

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Abstract

Scientific journals can promote ethical publication practices through policies on conflicts of interest. However, the prevalence of conflict of interest policies and the definition of conflict of interest appear to vary across scientific disciplines. This survey of high-impact, peer-reviewed journals in 12 different scientific disciplines was conducted to assess these variations. The survey identified published conflict of interest policies in 28 of 84 journals (33%). However, when representatives of 49 of the 84 journals (58%) completed a Web-based survey about journal conflict of interest policies, 39 (80%) reported having such a policy. Frequency of policies (including those not published) varied by discipline, from 100% among general medical journals to none among physics journals. Financial interests were most frequently addressed with relation to authors; policies for reviewers most often addressed non-financial conflicts. Twenty-two of the 39 journals with policies (56%) had policies about editors’ conflicts. The highest impact journals in each category were most likely to have a published policy, and the frequency of policies fell linearly with rank; for example, policies were published by 58% of journals ranked 1 in their category, 42% of journals ranked third, and 8% of journals ranked seventh (test for trend, p = 0.003). Having a conflict of interest policy was also associated with a self-reported history of problems with conflict of interest. The prevalence of published conflict of interest policies was higher than that reported in a 1997 study, an increase that might be attributable to heightened awareness of conflict of interest issues. However, many of the journals with policies do not make them readily available and many of those policies that were available lacked clear definitions of conflict of interest or details about how disclosures would be managed during peer review and publication.

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Acknowledgment

Previous presentations: Parts of this study were previously presented at the Council of Science Editors Retreat on Conflicts of Interest, October 31, 2004, Oakbrook, Ill; and the Fifth International Congress on Peer Review and Biomedical Publication, September 17, 2005, Chicago, Ill.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University, 622 W. 168th Street, Vanderbilt Clinic 5th Floor, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    Jessica S. Ancker

  2. JAMA, 515 N State St., Chicago, IL, 60610, USA

    Annette Flanagin

Authors
  1. Jessica S. Ancker
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  2. Annette Flanagin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jessica S. Ancker.

Appendix; Journals included in study, in decreasing order of impact factor within ISI category

Appendix; Journals included in study, in decreasing order of impact factor within ISI category

Astronomy–astrophysics: Annual Review of Astronomy, Astrophysical Journal, Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Astronomical Journal, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Astroparticle Physics, New Astronomy

Biological sciences: Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, Ecological Monographs, Ecology Letters, Global Change Biology, The American Naturalist, Molecular Ecology

Biology: The FASEB Journal, Bioessays, Biological Reviews, Quarterly Review of Biology, Journal of Biological Rhythms, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences

Chemistry: Chemical Reviews, Accounts of Chemical Research, Chemical Society Reviews, Angewandte Chemie-International Edition, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Nano Letters, Topics in Current Chemistry

Engineering-multidisciplinary: Nanotechnology, Combustion and Flame, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, Computer Methods of Applied Mechanics and Engineering, Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements, Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, Composites Part B-Engineering

Medicine-general and internal: New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, Lancet, Annals of Internal Medicine, Annual Review of Medicine, BMJ, Archives of Internal Medicine

Medicine-research and experimental: Nature Medicine, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Trends in Molecular Medicine, Molecular Therapy, Gene Therapy, Human Gene Therapy

Multidisciplinary sciences: Nature, Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, IBM Journal of Research and Development, Scientific American, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Naturwissenschaften

Physics: Reviews of Modern Physics, Physics Reports-Review Section of Physics Letters, Reports on Progress in Physics, Physical Review Letters, Physics Today, Physics Letters B, Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data

Psychology: Annual Review of Psychology, Psychological Bulletin, Psychological Review, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychosomatic Medicine, Cognitive Psychology, Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews

Plant biology: Annual Review of Plant Biology, Trends in Plant Science, The Plant Cell, Current Opinion in Plant Biology, Annual Review of Phytopathology, Plant Journal, Plant Physiology

Zoology: Journal of Comparative Neurology, Journal of Animal Ecology, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Animal Behaviour, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Developmental & Comparative Immunology, Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research

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Ancker, J.S., Flanagin, A. A comparison of conflict of interest policies at peer-reviewed journals in different scientific disciplines. SCI ENG ETHICS 13, 147–157 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-007-9011-z

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