Conflict of interest in science is a complex and many-layered concept, and none of us who publish our research can be entirely free of competing interests. However, the one conflict of interest that is orders of magnitude greater than the others is that which affects all areas of life - money. It appears to have been a key components in the Wakefield saga. It has been a major problem with the reporting of industry associated research for decades.
More recently , institutions and funding bodies have started asking the scientists whether there may be any intellectual property in our research findings. The successful forming of a "spin-off" company is viewed as a success. Collaborations between academic groups cannot be undertaken without the lawyers that represent institutions arguing over the sharing of IP. As a result the unpleasant smell of money begins to taint almost every realm of biomedical research - scientists cannot help to have their judgement clouded by the hint of profit.
It is time that institutions with the mission of teaching, conducting research or funding research stopped behaving like businesses with the mission of making money. Let scientists do the research and publish the results in the public domain. Let business pick up the interesting ideas and turn them into money. Let the government tax the profit of those businesses and plough it back into the institutions responsible for the science. Scientists whose primary goal is to understand our world a little better can then work free from a pernicious and all-pervasive CoI as well the tyranny of corporate lawyers. Scientists whose primary goal is to get rich can get a job in industry.
Competing interests:
My academic career is dependent on regular publication in high profile journals.
11 November 2011
Paul D. Pharoah
University Reader
University of Cambridge
Strangeways Research Laboratory, Worts Causeway, Cambridge, CB1 8RN
Rapid Response:
Re: Institutional research misconduct
Conflict of interest in science is a complex and many-layered concept, and none of us who publish our research can be entirely free of competing interests. However, the one conflict of interest that is orders of magnitude greater than the others is that which affects all areas of life - money. It appears to have been a key components in the Wakefield saga. It has been a major problem with the reporting of industry associated research for decades.
More recently , institutions and funding bodies have started asking the scientists whether there may be any intellectual property in our research findings. The successful forming of a "spin-off" company is viewed as a success. Collaborations between academic groups cannot be undertaken without the lawyers that represent institutions arguing over the sharing of IP. As a result the unpleasant smell of money begins to taint almost every realm of biomedical research - scientists cannot help to have their judgement clouded by the hint of profit.
It is time that institutions with the mission of teaching, conducting research or funding research stopped behaving like businesses with the mission of making money. Let scientists do the research and publish the results in the public domain. Let business pick up the interesting ideas and turn them into money. Let the government tax the profit of those businesses and plough it back into the institutions responsible for the science. Scientists whose primary goal is to understand our world a little better can then work free from a pernicious and all-pervasive CoI as well the tyranny of corporate lawyers. Scientists whose primary goal is to get rich can get a job in industry.
Competing interests: My academic career is dependent on regular publication in high profile journals.