Q: What should be included in a disclosure of conflict of interest?

Detailed Question -

1. From how long ago do I need to disclose Conflict of Interest (COI) on research papers? Does it date back to 1 year or 3 years?

2. Do I need to disclose a COI even if the funding that was received for the research was a small amount?

3. Do I need to disclose profits from the stocks of a company that has:

a. nothing to do with medical sector

b. something to do with medical sector, but has no relation with the contents of my paper

c. something to do with medical sector and is related to the contents of my paper

If disclosure is required, what is the minimum margin of profits that is subject to disclosure?

Asked on 23 Mar, 2018

1 Answer to this question

Answer:

Here are the responses to your questions:

There is no particular time frame for declaring conflict of interest on your manuscript. If you have nothing to declare, you can just add the following sentence for a research article “Authors have no conflict of interest to declare”. But if you feel there could be a potential conflict of interest with a company where you had been working in teh past, it is best to disclose it, even if it was 5 years ago.
Even if the funding amount that was received from a sponsor was very small, you must mention it in the disclosure of conflict of interest statement.
Disclosure of profits of the sponsor company is not necessary in your manuscript.

Related reading