The leadership of the global Cochrane Collaboration is acting to allay fears that drug company funding could damage the organisation's independence and credibility.

Jim Neilson, a joint chairman of the collaboration, told the BMJ that the collaboration's international steering group was taking the issue seriously. “We are very conscious of the need to maintain the credibility and unbiased nature of Cochrane reviews.”

The collaboration produces and disseminates systematic reviews of the evidence about healthcare interventions, and the question of industry funding has dominated …