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Conflict of Interest in Scientific Medical Journal (http://www.thelancet.com/authors/lancet/suthorinfo)
Conflict of interest has recently become a more prominent issue in many medical journal publications and presentations. Many medical journals have recently provided instructions for authors on this issue. The Lancet is a very famous leading medical journal in the field of medical science including clinical oncology, and one can easily find a description on conflict of interest in this journal.
On first submission to the Lancet, authors' contribution and signature, conflict of interest and source of funding, and patients' consent and permission to publish should be included. These are very important and are essential elements in any scientific publication.
In the Lancet conflict of interest is defined as follows: "A conflict of interest exists when an author or the author's institution has financial or personal relationships with other people or organizations that inappropriately influence (bias) his or her action." A potential conflict of interest might occur as a result of personal relationships, academic competition, or intellectual passion. However, the Lancet has given clear instruction on this point. "The best way to verify is fully disclose to the editor. All submissions to the Lancet must include disclosure of all relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest. The editor may use such information as a basis for editorial decisions, and will publish such disclosure if they are believed to be important to readers in judging the manuscript." Full disclosure is essential for the submission of a manuscript. In practice, how do authors disclose a conflict of interest? Financial conflicts include: employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications, and travel grants, all within 3 years of beginning the work submitted. If no conflict of interest occurs, then authors should state that there are "none".
The concept of conflict of interest is not a familiar one in Japan. ASCO published a Special Article, entitled "American Society of Clinical Oncology: Revised Conflict of Interest Policy" in its official journal, Journal of Clinical Oncology, in the June 15, 2003 volume, on pages 2394 to 2396. In this article, ASCO clearly declares its policy on conflict of interest. Most Japanese academic societies do not have this type of policy. Some presentations or publications do indicate a risk of conflict of interest, but it is up to each journal and academic society to make it's position clear as soon as possible.
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