Towards more uniform conflict disclosures

The great variability in the processes that different journals use to ask about and report authors’ potential conflicts of interest creates confusion for authors, readers, and the public. To help reduce this confusion, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) developed an electronic uniform disclosure form and placed it in the public domain in October 2009. The ICMJE member journals piloted the form, encouraged other journals to use it, and invited feedback. We recognised that the reporting of competing interests is complex and nuanced, and sometimes contentious, and thus anticipated modifying the form on the basis of the feedback received. We are grateful to the many authors, editors, and other interested parties who took the time to comment on the form and its implementation. The matters raised ranged from technical problems about the correct deployment of the form (it requires the user to download the free Adobe 8.0 reader or higher to function) to concerns about the ethics of inquiring about non-financial associations. The committee considered these valuable comments and …