Disclosure of competing interests
A key role of ISDB is to prepare and disseminate high-quality, unbiased drug information. This requires independence from the pharmaceutical industry, It is thus vital that ISDB bulletins recognise and effectively manage competing interests, both real and perceived.1
Bulletins may already have policies on conflict of interest, but to assist those which do not and those which want to improve their policies, ISDB has produced forms for disclosing conflict of interest These forms are adapted from those of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.2 They are designed to provide readers and ISDB with information regarding the extent to which bulletin content can be seen to be independent of commercial and other biases. The forms are to be completed, stored by the bulletin and should be publicly available .
The chief editor of each member bulletin is responsible for providing information about financial support for the bulletin (Form A). The chief editor may also collect individual returns from staff members (Form B) and from external authors and reviewers (Form C). Form B is to be updated annually. Since competing interests may vary according to topic, Form C for external authors (and reviewers) needs to be completed for each article considered for publication.
- http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/s/competing-interests
- Adapted from http://www.icmje.org/conflicts-of-interest/