Year: 2010
Type: editorial
Abstract: We are writing to inquire about how the Journal handles issues of confl ict of interest, both fi nancial and intellectual.We raise these questions in the interest of stimulating discussion and encouraging greater transparency, not because we believe there is necessarily one right answer to any question.What is the operational basis of the Editor's evaluation for possible infl uence from disclosed fi nancial relationships?Given that such infl uences can be diffi cult for nonspecialists to detect and may operate beyond the awareness of authors themselves, what criteria are used to judge whether infl uence has occurred?1) Is potential confl ict of interest one of the criteria taken into account when inviting authors of editorials or review articles?For example, if faced with a choice of several possible authors, does the Journal give preference to those without potential confl icts of interest, all other factors being equal?2) Does the Journal's confl ict of interest policy take into account so-called intellectual confl ict of interest as well as fi nancial confl ict of interest?Some professional societies are beginning to pay attention to this type of confl ict in relationship to practice guidelines (1).Restrictions on authorship have costs of their own, including exclusion of the contributions of experts in a fi eld, and should not be undertaken lightly.However, the argument for preferring authors without fi nancial relationships with industry seems particularly strong in the case of editorials and reviews, the value of which resides principally in the reliance that readers can place on the opinions of the authors.Advocating norms of this sort is not to suggest that industry relationships are necessarily problematic in themselves, but recognizes that certain activities may be incompatible with playing an active role in developing treatment recommendations for the fi eld, as is the case for the development of DSM-5 (2).
Source: American Journal of Psychiatry
Author: Robert Freedman
Language: English
Subfield: Pharmacology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4244488395