What is Conflict of Interest in Research?
Conflicts of interest in research are situations where professional objectivity may be compromised, or perceived to be compromised, because of competing financial, personal, or professional connections or personal values and stands. It is quite common to see some type of conflict of interest in research and academic publishing. While their mere existence is not deemed unethical not recognizing or declaring them is, and this mistake can mar the reputation of a researcher. It is the responsibility of everyone involved in research and publication, especially authors, to identify and declare potential conflicts to ensure the smooth processing of a manuscript.
Types of Conflicts of Interest in Research
All types of submissions to a journal, such as original research articles, review articles, opinion pieces, and editorials should include a conflict of interest statement. Here are the major types of conflicts of interest to look out for when working on your research paper.
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Financial/tangible
The most common type of conflict of interest in research is financial connections, such as sources of funds/grants for the research conducted, receipt of a consulting fee from a company manufacturing the drugs/equipment used in the research, stocks in such a company, or other financial connections that might influence an individual’s thinking and affect the research outcome.
Some journals may require authors to declare not just any competing financial connections they may have individually, but also any that their immediate family members (spouse, parent, or child) may have, since these may also pose indirect conflicts of interest in research.
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Non-financial/intangible
The most common non-financial conflicts of interest in research are personal relationships or professional affiliations. For example, this type of conflict of interest would exist if an author is the spouse/sibling/child of the editor of the journal to which they submit a manuscript or if the editor is, or was until recently, a supervisor who the author reported to.
Some of the more complicated conflicts of interest in research are private or publicly held beliefs and ideologies that can give rise to potential biases in a researcher’s work. For example, it is considered a conflict of interest in research if the author has a strongly held religious belief or political opinion related to the topic of research, which can influence how the research was conducted and the results presented.
Not only can conflicts of interest exist for authors but also others involved in academic publishing, such as peer reviewers, journal editorial staff, and publishers. Strong professional rivalries among individuals working in the same specialization can also constitute conflicts of interest in research, especially at the peer review or editorial decision-making stages. In such cases too, individuals are expected to declare these competing conflicts and ideally consider recusing themselves from being involved in evaluating an author’s manuscript.
How to declare conflicts of interest in research papers
A recent review of the Retraction Watch Database suggests that the conflicts of interest in research accounted for around 1% of the retraction notices issued between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2020. While this accounts for a small proportion of retractions, it is still as serious a problem as any other form of academic misconduct. Individuals assessing a manuscript and those who read the published manuscript should have all the information they need to judge the quality of the research. Therefore, it is an ethical obligation to be upfront and disclose any potential conflicts of interest in research.
Here is how you can identify and appropriately declare conflicts of interest in research:
- List down all sources of financial support you and your co-authors receive that may be considered as posing a conflict to your research objectives. These need not be just the support you receive for the research you are trying to publish now but any other grants/funds that you receive for other projects.
- List down any social or personal activities/interests that may be considered to influence how you conduct your research.
- Review any institutional ties you may have in the present or have had in the recent past (where you worked/volunteered, etc.) that can be said to affect your objectivity in your work.
- Review and comply with all the guidelines provided by your target journal on what they define as conflicts of interest in research and how they want authors to disclose them. Some journals provide form templates to declare conflicts of interest, which need to be filled out and signed by all co-authors.
- Potential for conflicts and ways to deal with them are constantly evolving. Keep yourself updated and seek out new information.
As per the US Office of Research Integrity, “Having a conflict of interest is not in itself unethical, and some are unavoidable. Full transparency is always the best course of action, and, if in doubt, disclose.”
Ensuring your manuscript is submission-ready
As an author, you likely spend several years putting in painstaking efforts to conduct your research. So, your biggest aspiration would naturally be to have your manuscript accepted for publication without many hassles. The best way toward achieving this is to ensure that your manuscript is ready and has all the important components typically needed for a submission to be considered complete, including conflict of interest statements.
One sophisticated manuscript assessment tool that can help you do this is My Research Projects by Researcher.Life, which saves authors valuable time and effort by doing a thorough check of their manuscript. Leveraging the power of artificial intelligence, this AI powered manuscript optimizer gives users a one-stop solution to check their manuscript against multiple parameters.
By signing up for free for the Researcher.Life Essentials Pack, users get full access to My Research Projects, which is designed to help you plan, manage and communicate your research effectively. Users can simply upload their file on the platform to receive a free report that provides an in-depth assessment of the language quality and references, and checks for image copyrights, facts and figures, structural completeness, and ethical declarations, including those related to conflicts of interest in research, while maintaining total confidentiality. The report comes with premium features such as a globally accepted plagiarism check, full access to language issues in your paper, a downloadable WORD file with improvements suggested in Track Changes, and unlimited checks for your chosen manuscript.
The tool screens a manuscript to check if authors have added any conflict of interest statements. If none are present, it flags this absence in the report and suggests authors check for and declare any and all potential conflicts of interest in research. The AI tool also identifies any sentences in the manuscript that talk about financial support such as funding or grants, and points out certain non-financial conflicts of interest in research that are typically included in the acknowledgments section (e.g., fellowships). It highlights for authors a list of these specific conflict of interest statements and their locations in the manuscript.
Additionally, while My Research Projects helps authors deliver a ready-to-publish document, it also offers suggestions on which journals to approach for publishing, and provides detailed article summaries to help convey your findings more effectively.
The journey from conceptualizing your research to seeing your name in print can be daunting and overwhelming. But Researcher.Life, based on 20+ years of STEM editing experience, is the ideal partner to collaborate with on your publishing journey. Finally, by keeping in mind the diktats of the publishing world in mind, like declaring conflicts of interest in research, and effectively using smart tools like My Research Projects, you can have a fulfilling experience as a published author.
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