Conflicts of Interest and Scientific Objectivity

An individual has a conflict of interest when the individual has financial, professional, personal, political, or other interests that are likely to undermine the individual’s ability to fulfill the individual’s primary professional, ethical, or legal obligations. Researchers and research institutions have a variety of financial, personal, and political interests that sometimes conflict with their professional, ethical, or legal obligations. These situations can create conflicts of interest or the appearance of conflicts of interest. This chapter discusses how conflicts of interest can negatively impact research, how they are defined, and how they should be managed. It also describes how government agencies, journals, and research institutions have responded to conflicts of interest in research and discusses some cases from science.