A conflict of interest is any
influence on an investigator or author that could sway his or her judgment or
decisions concerning the investigator’s or author’s research, such as the valid
reporting of data or its analysis or interpretation. Potential conflicts of
interest include: professional or financial gain; personal or academic
relationships or competition; religious, philosophical, or political beliefs;
or any factor that prevents the independent preparation or publishing of a
manuscript.
The public perception of a
conflict of interest is similarly as harmful as an actual conflict of interest.
Authors are responsible for reporting any potential or actual conflict of
interest upon first submission of a manuscript, with appropriate changes as
appropriate in further revisions, if appropriate. A conflict of interest
statement should include all sources of financial support (for example,
sponsors, and grant numbers) other support for the study (such as collecting,
analyzing, or interpreting data), writing or revising the manuscript, or any
factor that limited (or will limit in the future) the investigators’ full
access to the data and its analysis.