Competing interests in biomedical publications: Main guidelines and selected articles

Each year brings to light several cases of scientific fraud. In 2011, the Netherlands Academy of Sciences struck off a renowned social psychologist who had falsified the results in several of his articles published in respected journals such as Science. He was one of the most notorious cases, on the heels of another scandal two years earlier when a respected U.S. scientist in multimodal analgesia apparently manipulated data in at least 20 articles published since 1996.

These are extreme cases, and the harm caused to patients and public health, they say, is limited. However, there are other types of misconduct in the field of scientific research that are more widespread, subtle and difficult to detect. These include practices such as selective publication of data to support a previous hypothesis, biased discussion, the hiring of ghostwriters, plagiarism or the temptation of some journal editors to promote the articles with positive results.

These are just some examples of bad practice in the biomedical publishing world that organizations like the CSE (Council of Science Editors) and COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) are responsible for reporting. Ana Marušić, a former president of CSE, and COPE President Harvey Marcovitch, have edited a new Esteve Foundation Notebook containing a selection of guides and articles on conflict of interest in biomedical journals.

The publication is intended as a useful tool for readers, authors and editors of scientific journals, and for those who are interested to preserving the integrity of scientific knowledge. A collection of a wide range of resources for combating bad practices in biomedical publication, the book addresses conflict of interest as a factor that may have a significant adverse effect on the field of research. And although findings of malpractice are less serious than the falsification or fabrication of data, cumulatively their damage on scientific knowledge can be greater than that of the most notorious cases.

Please Note: – For copyright issues, it is not possible to download the full PDF of the Notebook or chapters 2, 12 or 15. – The updated version of Chapter 2 can be downloaded directly from theCSE website. – The PDF version of Chapter 12 can be requested via email from fundacion@esteve.org