Journals 'Fess Up to Authors' Financial Conflicts

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http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2003/oct/prof3_031020.html

 

Science Rules | Journals 'Fess Up to Authors' Financial Conflicts By Peg

Brickley

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Major peer-reviewed science journals are toughening rules that require authors

to say when they have a financial stake in topics of their articles. The moves

from Science and Nature come in response to letters exposing what critics say

were a series of publications by people whose pocketbooks could have been hurt

or helped by articles published in the journals. Nature's new policy takes

effect in October, while Science has underlined its existing policy and asked

its editorial board to ponder the issue.

Science recently made its existing policy more explicit by requiring all authors

to disclose all sources of funding for their research and to do so in a brief

statement, suitable for publication within the article, according to executive

editor Monica Bradford. But more sweeping changes may be in the works, she says,

including a new policy for publishing the declarations of financial interests

that are required of authors, something Science rarely does.

Science published five articles by authors with undisclosed financial interests,

according to a letter signed by a group of researchers and ethics experts.

Bradford says the editorial board will decide whether the magazine erred in

doing so. " We think that different interpretations could be given to some of

that, " Bradford says.

Charles Jennings, executive editor of Nature Publishing Group (NPG), defended

the authors and took responsibility for Nature Neuroscience's alleged failure to

disclose financial conflicts of Charles B. Nemeroff, chairman of the

neuropsychopharmacology laboratory at Emory University School of Medicine in

Atlanta. In an invited review piece in November 2002, Nemeroff cited work that

Cypress Biosciences was doing on fibromyalgia. There was no mention of

Nemeroff's $48,000-per-year post as director and scientific adviser at the

company, or of the stock options he holds in another biotech that was discussed

in the article. Nemeroff's coauthor Michael J. Owen received similar criticism

in a letter from other scientists.

For the past two years, NPG has asked authors of research papers to make

statements about their primary financial interests, and it has published a

statement of financial interest with almost every paper. The fault, Jennings

says, lay with NPG, which did not extend the disclosure policy formulated for

research articles to include review and comment pieces. Nemeroff and Owen did

not fail to disclose, the editor says. The magazine failed to ask.

In the future, NPG will ask all authors to disclose potential financial

conflicts. In a few previous cases, some authors had refused and the journals

remained silent. No more. Now if a paper's authors refuse to answer questions

about their financial ties to the subject of their research, NPG will publish

whatever the authors say, including, " none of your business, " and let readers

figure it out, Jennings says.

" The most important point is that every author has to make an active statement, "

Jennings says. " A lot of journals that claim to have a disclosure policy

actually have a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. "

As for policing the honesty of financial disclosure, NPG executive editor says,

the recent troubles proved that inquiring minds in the research community will

not let truths go unrevealed for long.

 

Peg Brickley (pegbrickley) is a freelance writer in Philadelphia.

 

 

 

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