10.3 Disclosure of Interests and Publication Transparency
Key Takeaways
Disclosure allows readers and editors to evaluate relationships; an interest does not automatically disqualify an author, and absence of disclosure does not prove absence of bias.
On the ICMJE form, support for the submitted work is reported without a time limit, while specified financial activities outside the work use the form’s 36-month period before submission; follow the current form and journal instructions.
Payments to an author’s institution can still be reportable when made on the author’s behalf or connected with the author’s work; “paid to institution” is not an automatic exemption.
Relevant nonfinancial relationships or activities should be reported under the current form or venue policy, using specific facts rather than claiming they are identical to financial categories.
Placement and format are venue-specific: a congress may require a particular slide or poster location, but ICMJE and GPP do not impose a universal slide-2, display-time, footer, or metadata rule.
Disclosure of Interests and Publication Transparency
A conflict or competing interest is a relationship or activity that could influence—or reasonably be perceived to influence—professional judgment. Disclosure gives editors and readers context; it is not a declaration of misconduct. Industry employment, a grant, consulting, intellectual property, or advocacy involvement does not automatically disqualify someone from authorship. The response is accurate reporting and appropriate management, not a categorical ban.
Use the current form and venue instructions
The ICMJE Disclosure of Interest form provides a common structure, but the receiving journal decides what must be submitted and published. Other journals, congresses, institutions, and professional societies may use different categories or time periods. Always retrieve the current form and instructions rather than copying an old disclosure paragraph.
The ICMJE form makes an important timing distinction:
- Support for the submitted work: report all support for the work under consideration, with no time limit. This can include funding, study materials, data analysis, article-processing charges, statistical support, or professional writing assistance, whether money was paid to the author or an institution.
- Financial activities outside the submitted work: the form asks about specified relationships during the 36 months before submission. Examples can include grants or contracts, royalties or licenses, consulting fees, honoraria, expert testimony, meeting support, patents, board participation, stock, or other financial interests.
- Other relationships or activities: disclose relationships or circumstances readers could perceive as influencing the work, as called for by the current form.
The 36-month period is a form requirement, not a general law, and it does not cut off disclosure of support for the submitted work. A journal can request a broader period or additional information. When uncertain, disclose the facts to the editor rather than unilaterally deciding a relationship is irrelevant.
Personal and institutional payments
Forms often distinguish “paid to you” from “paid to your institution.” A commercial grant routed through a university foundation may still be reportable if it supported the submitted work or was made to the institution on the author's behalf within a relevant category. Do not omit a relationship merely because the author did not receive cash in a personal account.
Describe the entity, nature of support, recipient, and relationship clearly. “Research support to institution” is more informative than “none personally.” Coordinate with the author's institution when records are needed, but each author remains responsible for the accuracy of their form.
Financial and nonfinancial interests
Potentially relevant financial interests can include salary or employment, consulting, advisory service, speaking fees, travel, stock or options, patents, royalties, sponsored research, gifts, equipment, or writing support. The exact category depends on the form.
Other relationships can include leadership in an advocacy or professional group, a close personal relationship, strongly held public position, academic competition, or another activity that readers might reasonably view as relevant. These are not measured in the same way as payments. Report specific facts under the form or venue policy and let the editor determine handling; avoid vague declarations such as “no nonfinancial conflicts” when a relevant role exists.
Build a reliable collection process
For each submission:
- identify every author and the current venue form;
- distinguish support for the work from activities outside it;
- give authors enough time and definitions to complete their own disclosures;
- compare forms with known study funding, contracts, contributor records, and prior disclosures to identify questions—not to overwrite an author's declaration;
- resolve discrepancies with the author;
- transfer information accurately into the manuscript, submission system, congress material, and final proofs;
- preserve dated forms and approvals under the retention policy;
- refresh disclosures during a long review or before a presentation if the venue requires it.
A coordinator should not answer substantive disclosure questions for an author. Nor should the sponsor narrow an author's disclosure because a relationship appears embarrassing.
Placement follows the venue
A journal may place disclosures on a title page, in a dedicated section, in supplementary files, in the published article, or in structured metadata. A congress may specify a disclosure slide, duration, template, poster box, mobile-app field, or verbal statement. Follow those instructions.
Do not memorize “oral disclosure must always be slide 2 for 5 to 10 seconds” or “poster disclosures always belong in the footer.” Such details vary by venue. The ethical requirement is conspicuous, accurate disclosure in the required form and location.
Funding, sponsor role, and writing support are related but distinct
A complete paper may need separate statements for:
- study funding;
- sponsor role in design, analysis, interpretation, writing, and publication decision;
- author conflicts or interests;
- data access;
- professional writing or editorial assistance and its funding;
- author contributions.
A generic conflict statement should not be used to hide the sponsor's operational role, and a funding statement does not replace individual disclosures.
Correcting an omission
If a relationship was omitted, verify the facts and notify the journal promptly. Explain what was missing, why, whether any submission declarations were inaccurate, and whether the relationship affects interpretation. The editor decides whether to publish a correction, seek institutional input, issue another notice, or take further action under the journal's policy.
Correction vocabulary varies; do not insist that every disclosure omission must be called an erratum or corrigendum. Deliberate concealment can be more serious than an inadvertent omission, but the remedy depends on materiality, reliability, policy, and evidence.
Important
For exam scenarios, favor over-disclosure to the editor when relevance is uncertain, preserve the distinction between work support and the 36-month outside-activity period, and follow the venue's placement rules.
Which statement correctly describes timing on the ICMJE Disclosure of Interest form?
Every category is limited to the prior 36 months.
Only relationships paid directly to the author are reportable.
Support for the submitted work is reported without a time limit, while specified financial activities outside the work use the form’s 36-month period before submission.
The 36-month period is a criminal-law requirement in every country.
A company grant for the submitted study was paid to an author’s university foundation. How should it be handled?
Omit it because the author did not receive personal income.
Report it only on a tax return.
Wait to see whether peer reviewers discover it.
Disclose it as support for the work, accurately identifying that payment went to the institution or was made on the author’s behalf, according to the form.
What is the central publication-ethics approach to an author’s commercial relationship?
Disclose and manage the relationship accurately; it does not automatically bar authorship if the author otherwise qualifies.
Keep it confidential between author and sponsor.
Remove the author from every publication.
Publish it only if the study result favors the sponsor.
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.