Editors at leading medical journals have agreed to adopt a new standard conflict of interest disclosure form that probes deep into the financial and nonfinancial interests of published authors. The Lancet, The Journal of the American Medical Association, The New England Journal of Medicine, and The British Medical Journal, among other medical journals, will be phasing in the more rigorous requirements over the next couple of months, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The disclosure form, which was drafted by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), prompts authors for information regarding financial relationships -- such as board membership, consultancy, expert testimony, honoraria and stock options -- and potentially conflicting financial relationships among spouses and children under age 18. Authors are asked to submit financial disclosures for arrangements stretching back up to three years prior to the submission of a manuscript. The form also asks for information regarding "relevant nonfinancial associations," such as political, personal, institutional, or religious affiliations that "a reasonable reader would want to know about in relation to the submitted work."

The move follows increasing calls for medical journals to standardize their conflict disclosure policies. Last summer, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) unveiled disclosure guidelines that closely parallel the rules set forth by the ICMJE. Merrill Goozner, former director of the CSPI's Integrity in Science project and lead author on that organization's disclosure guidelines, told The Scientist that the ICMJE's rules are welcome, if not overdue. "We feel like our work set the stage for what the ICMJE came out with yesterday," he said. "We helped plant the idea that this is the proper thing to do. We're very glad they did it."

Regarding the disclosure of nonfinancial conflicts, such as political or religious affiliations, Goozner noted that the disclosure is between author and editors. "There's obviously room for discretion on the part of the editor as far as what gets published," he said. "I think that's the right thing to do."

The ICMJE's new disclosure guidelines apply only to authors, not peer reviewers or editors. Goozner suggested that this is a shortcoming in the new rules. "This is something editors need to know so they can discriminate among who they ask to conduct peer review," he said.


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