Biomedical research is becoming more complex as a result of involvement by individual investigators, universities, commercial research units and industry. Financial conflicts of interest have been the subject of many editorials, and most peer-reviewed journals now require any conflicts to be identified and explained when authors submit manuscripts for publication. Clear statements of industry sponsored research and author participation in corporate activities are required for evaluation of a manuscript. Full disclosure of financial interests by authors is essential to retain public trust in biomedical research, the peer-review process and the integrity of the authors and of the universities 1 . We already require that each author sign a statement of his or her financial arrangements with public, private and industry sources of support. These declarations alert the editor, reviewer and physician-reader to any potential bias in the interpretation and presentation of the data. Patients' lives may depend on an accurate and complete understanding of how and why authors obtained facts relating to therapies.
Non-financial conflicts of interest between authors and corporate sponsors are of equal concern and require our attention. These include the need for an open and candid relationship between authors and the policies of the sponsoring companies with regard to academic freedom. Issues of control and complete access to all data, conduct of statistical studies and analyses, manuscript preparation, and decisions to publish are of increasing importance and concern. Corporate sponsors must not be allowed to influence publication, or indeed to prevent it, especially when the data are not supportive of their product. Authors, editors and industry sponsors are aware of these matters and it is now time to address them. 1 These issues have been addressed in recent editorials in JAMA and The New England