JOURNALS EXPAND RULES ON DISCLOSING FINANCIAL TIES

Nature Publishing Group has greatly expanded its policy requiring contributors to disclose financial ties to products or companies that could benefit from the articles they write. The new policy, which applies to Nature and its sister publications, came in response to widespread criticism of an article in Nature Neuroscience about treatments for depression.

In that article the author praised three products to which he not only had significant financial ties but actually holds the patent on one of the products mentioned favorably in the piece. The author later said he would have disclosed his financial interests had the journal asked. Editors are Nature Neuroscience acknowledge the researchers had not violated journal policy at the time.

Until now, the journals required only the authors of articles describing original research to disclose their financial ties. The editors expanded that policy to other types of articles, including reviews of previously published research.

Disclosure policies vary widely among journals, from expansive disclosure rules to no policy at all.

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(Source: New York Times News Service)