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N otes for Authors- I CM J E
Co nflict o f interest fo r a given manuscript exists when a participant in the peer review and p ub lic atio n p ro c e s s — autho r, re vie we r, and e d ito r— has tie s to ac tivitie s that c o uld inappro priately influence his o r her judgment, whe the r o r no t jud gm e nt is in fac t affe c te d . Financial relatio nships with industry (fo r example, thro ug h e m p lo ym e nt, c o ns ultanc ie s , s to c k o wnership, ho no raria, expert testimo ny), either directly o r thro ugh immediate family, are usually co nsidered to be the mo st impo rtant co nflicts o f interest. Ho wever, co nflicts can o ccur fo r o ther reaso ns, such as perso nal relatio nships, academic co mpetitio n, and intellectual passio n.
Public trust in the peer review pro cess and the credibility o f published articles depend in part o n ho w well co nflict o f interest is handled during writing, peer review, and edito rial decisio n making. Bias can o ften be identified and eliminated by careful attentio n to the scientific metho ds and co nclusio ns o f the wo rk. Financial relatio nships and their effects are less easily detected than o ther co nflicts o f interest. Participants in peer review and p ub lic atio n sho uld d isc lo se the ir c o nflic ting interests, and the info rmatio n sho uld be made available so that o thers can judge their effects fo r themselves. Because readers may be less able to detect bias in review articles and edito rials than in repo rts o f o riginal research, so me jo urnals do no t accept reviews and edito rials fro m autho rs with a co nflict o f interest.
Authors
When they submit a manuscript, whether an article o r a letter, autho rs are respo nsib le fo r reco gnizing and disclo sing financial and o ther co nflicts o f interest that might bias their wo rk. They sho uld ackno wledge in the manuscript all financial suppo rt fo r the wo rk and o ther financial o r perso nal co nnectio ns to the wo rk.
Reviewers
External peer reviewers sho uld disclo se to edito rs any co nflicts o f interest that co uld bias their o pinio ns o f the m anuscript, and the y sho uld disq ualify the mse lve s fro m re vie wing spe cific manuscripts if they believe it to be appro priate. The edito rs must be made aware o f reviewers’ co nflicts o f interest to interpret the reviews and judge fo r themselves whether the reviewer sho uld b e d is q ualifie d . Re vie we rs s ho uld no t us e kno wledge o f the wo rk, befo re its publicatio n, to further their o wn interests.
Editors and Staff
Edito rs who make final de cisio ns ab o ut manuscripts sho uld have no perso nal financial invo lvement in any o f the issues they might judge. Othe r m e m b e rs o f the e d ito rial staff, if the y participate in edito rial decisio ns, sho uld pro vide edito rs with a current descriptio n o f their financial inte re s ts ( as the y m ight re late to e d ito rial judgments) and disqualify themselves fro m any decisio ns where they have a co nflict o f interest. Published articles and letters sho uld include a d e sc rip tio n o f all financ ial sup p o rt and any co nflict o f interest that, in the edito rs’ judgment, readers sho uld kno w abo ut. Edito rial staff sho uld no t use the info rmatio n gained thro ugh wo rking with manuscripts fo r private gain.
Conflict of Inte re st
International Committee of
Medical Journal Editors
Sao Paulo Med J/Rev Paul Med 1999; 117(3):136-7
Corre ctions, Re tractions, and
“Expre ssions of Conce rn”
about Re se arch Findings
International Committee of
Medical Journal Editors
Edito rs must assume initially that autho rs are repo rting wo rk based o n ho nest o bservatio ns. Nevertheless, two types o f difficulty may arise.
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The no tes in this statement are excerpts fro m: Internatio nal Co mmittee o f Medical Jo urnal Edito rs. Unifo rm Requirements fo r Manuscripts Submitted to Bio medical Jo rnals. Ann Intern Med 1 9 9 7 Jan 1 ;1 2 6 (1 ):3 6 -4 7 . Available o n website: http:/ / www.acpo nline.o rg / jo urnals/ 0 1 jan9 7 / unifreg r.htm. This article includes: issues to co nsider befo re submitting a manuscript, requirements fo r submissio n o f manuscripts, sending the manuscript to the jo urnal, and separate declaratio ns.
Inquires and comments should be sent to The Editor at the São Paulo M edical Journal ( Revista Paulista de M edicina) secretariat office, Associação Paulista de M edicina, Rua Brigadeiro Luís Antônio, 278, 7th floor. 01318- 901
Phone + 55 11 232 3141, extension 210; fax:+ 55 11 3107 7979;e- mail: revistas@ apm.org.br
Sao Paulo Med J/Rev Paul Med 1999; 117(3):136-7.
artic le s th at re q u ire th e p u b lic atio n o f a co rrectio n o r erratum o f part o f the wo rk. It is co nceivable that an erro r co uld be so serio us as to vitiate the entire bo dy o f the wo rk, but this is unlikely and sho uld be handled by edito rs and autho rs o n an individual b asis. Such an erro r s ho uld no t b e c o nfus e d with inad e q uac ie s e xp o se d b y the e m e rge nc e o f ne w sc ie ntific info rmatio n in the no rmal co urse o f research. The latter require no co rrectio ns o r withdrawals.
The seco nd type o f difficulty is scientific fraud. If substantial do ubts arise abo ut the ho nesty o f wo rk, either submitted o r published, it is the edito r’s respo nsibility to ensure that the questio n is ap p ro p riate ly p ursue d (inc lud ing p o ssib le co nsultatio n with the autho rs). Ho wever, it is no t the task o f edito rs to co nduct a full investigatio n o r to make a determinatio n; that respo nsibility lies with the institutio n where the wo rk was do ne o r with the funding agency. The edito r sho uld be pro mptly info rmed o f the final decisio n, and if a fraudulent paper has been published, the jo urnal m us t p rint a re trac tio n. If this m e tho d o f
investigatio n do es no t result in a satisfacto ry co nclusio n, the edito r may cho o se to publish an expressio n o f co ncern with an explanatio n.
The retractio n o r expressio n o f co ncern, so labeled, sho uld appear o n a numbered page in a pro minent sectio n o f the jo urnal, be listed in the co ntents page, and include in its heading the title o f the o riginal article. It sho uld no t simply be a letter to the edito r. Ideally, the first autho r sho uld be the same in the retractio n as in the article, altho ugh under certain circumstances the edito r m ay ac c e p t re trac tio ns b y o the r re sp o nsib le peo ple. The text o f the retractio n sho uld explain why the article is being retracted and include a biblio graphic reference to it.
