Conflict of Interest and Disclosures
The Medpedia Project takes conflicts of interest seriously. All Editors of Medpedia have an ethical obligation to disclose any financial, personal or professional associations that may influence their writing and/or editing on Medpedia.
The following questions are guidelines and suggestions for conflicts that should be disclosed. It is impossible to cover every possible conflict so you are also expected to disclose anything not listed here which could also bias your writing/editing or affect the objectivity of your medical and scientific views.
- Have you in the past two years been employed by an organization or institution that may in any way gain or lose from anything you may write and/or edit on Medpedia, or which could influence your views on medical topics and treatments?
- Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organization that may in any way gain or lose financially from your writing and/or editing, or which could influence your views on medical topics and treatments?
- Do you own or manage a company or organization which could stand to gain or lose from anything that you may write or edit on Medpedia, or which could influence your views on medical topics and treatments?
- Do you have any publications, books, or other media which you plan to promote on Medpedia?
- Do you have an academic or professional link or rivalry that could affect your writing/editing or influence your views on medical topics and treatments?
If you have answered "yes" to any of the above questions, you may have a competing interest which must be declared. Please draft a statement that will be included on your profile and visible when you make edits to or create articles on Medpedia and include it in the Disclosures area.
It might, for example, read:
I have been reimbursed by _______, the manufacturer of ______, for attending several conferences in the last 2 years; I have been paid by _______ for running educational seminars on ________ in 2008 and have my research on ___________ paid for by the ________. I also am a stockholder in _____ and have a financial interest in ___________. I am not being compensated by any of these organizations to create articles for or make edits to Medpedia.
Although it is not required, you may also want to disclose another sort of competing interest that could be awkward if others were to point them out before you such as:
- Employment or compensation from beyond 2 years ago which could still influence—or be perceived to influence—your views on medical topics and treatments.
- Prior associations with research groups or organizations that might have the potential to appear to bias or discredit your views.
- Deep personal, political, or religious convictions that could affect – or appear to affect—what you write.