profession
Journal editors finalize conflict-disclosure form
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 12, 2010
The influential International Committee of Medical Journal Editors in July announced the final version of its uniform conflict-of-interest disclosure document.
The five-page form queries authors submitting articles for publication about their financial ties to industry firms in the previous three years. In a shift from the original version unveiled in October 2009, authors will not be asked about their spouse's or children's financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies.
The document, which a user can fill out online, is aimed at simplifying the author-disclosure process. Many authors, after failing to share information about a financial conflict, claim confusion about what they were required to disclose. The ICMJE is made up of 12 of the leading medical journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Hundreds of journals already follow the committee's uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. An editorial outlining the rationale for the form was published online July 1 in JAMA (link).
The form is available at the ICMJE website (link).
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/07/12/prbf0712.htm.