Disclosure of Article Funding and Conflicts of Interest in High-Impact Clinical Journals

Excerpt

In light of strong evidence that financial relationships with industry may influence the conduct and reporting of clinical research, there has been a call for greater transparency via disclosure of financial conflicts of interest (COI).¹ Accurate disclosure of study funding and authors’ financial relationships provides editors, reviewers, and readers with key information when evaluating study results and is recommended by EQUATOR reporting guidelines for trials, observational studies, systematic reviews, and clinical practice guidelines.² However, the rate at which journals disclose funding and COI information in published articles is unknown. We therefore examined a cross section of high-impact clinical journals to determine the inclusion of funding and disclosure statements within articles and whether these practices varied by article type and clinical field. …