Conflict of Interest Statement Generator

How to Use the Conflict of Interest Statement Generator

1. 1. Enter every author. Add a panel per author. An author with nothing to declare needs only a name — the statement says so for them.
2. 2. Add each declaration. Choose the type of interest, name the organization (or describe the patent or relationship), and add details such as "paid to the author's institution". Tick Outside the submitted work when the relationship is not connected to this study.
3. 3. Pick the wording. Standard sentences uses the two sentences Nature Portfolio prints; Elsevier declaration uses the two options of Elsevier's declaration-of-interest template.
4. 4. Copy and check. Paste the statement into your manuscript or the submission form, and fill in the journal's own disclosure form if it has one.

What a Competing Interests Statement Must Cover

The ICMJE describes a conflict of interest as a situation where professional judgment about a primary interest — the validity of the research, a patient's welfare — may be influenced by a secondary interest such as financial gain, and adds that a perceived conflict matters as much as an actual one. A statement does not admit to bias. It lets readers, reviewers and editors judge for themselves.

• Financial interests. The ICMJE lists employment, consultancies, stock ownership or options, honoraria, patents and paid expert testimony. Nature Portfolio adds research funding from organizations that may gain or lose financially through the publication.
• Non-financial interests. Personal relationships or rivalries, academic competition and intellectual beliefs, in the ICMJE's words. PLOS also names membership of a government or other advisory board, membership of lobbying or advocacy organizations, and personal convictions — political, religious or ideological.
• The time window. The ICMJE Disclosure Form asks about all support for the present manuscript with no time limit, and about everything else in the past 36 months. PLOS asks authors to declare interests from within five years of the research or the writing.

Medical journals that follow the ICMJE recommendations require each author to complete the ICMJE Disclosure Form, which has 13 items and defines "related" broadly: a paper on the epidemiology of hypertension calls for disclosing ties to makers of blood-pressure drugs, even ones the paper never mentions. The statement this tool writes summarizes those disclosures for the published article; it does not replace the form.

Example Statement

Try an example loads three illustrative authors: one has received consulting fees from a company, paid to her institution and unrelated to the study; one holds stock in the same company; the third has nothing to declare. With standard sentences and full names, the generator writes:

The sentences adjust to the numbers: a single-author paper reads "The author declares", and the closing sentence appears only when some authors have nothing to declare.

Common Mistakes

• Declaring "none" for everyone without asking. The corresponding author usually submits the statement, but each co-author's interests are their own. Ask every author before you write "The authors declare no competing interests."
• Disclosing only money. A spouse employed by the drug's manufacturer, an unpaid advisory role or a public stance on the question can all matter to a reader.
• Being vague. "Has received fees from industry" tells a reader nothing. Name the organization and the kind of relationship.
• Using the wrong window. Check whether your journal follows the ICMJE's 36 months, PLOS's five years or a rule of its own.
• Confusing funding with interests. Who paid for the study belongs in the funding statement. A funder that could gain or lose from the results may need to appear in the competing interests statement as well.

Frequently Asked Questions

What counts as a conflict of interest in research?

Any financial or non-financial interest that could influence, or be seen to influence, how the work was done or reported. Typical examples are employment by, consulting for or owning stock in a company affected by the results, patents, honoraria, paid expert testimony, and personal or professional relationships.

What should I write if I have no conflicts of interest?

Use your journal's wording. Nature Portfolio prints "The authors declare no competing interests." Elsevier's template says the authors "have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this article", and PLOS publishes "The authors have declared that no competing interests exist."

Do I have to declare interests that seem unrelated to my paper?

Declare anything a reader could reasonably see as related, and define related broadly. The ICMJE Disclosure Form says that if you are in doubt about whether to list a relationship, it is preferable to list it. Tick Outside the submitted work to make clear it was not part of this study.

How far back do I need to disclose?

Under the ICMJE Disclosure Form, all support for the present manuscript is reported with no time limit and every other item covers the past 36 months. PLOS uses five years. If your journal states a different window, follow the journal.

What is the ICMJE Disclosure Form?

A standard form from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors that every author fills in, listing support for the manuscript and relationships such as grants, consulting fees, honoraria, patents, board memberships and stock. ICMJE member journals require it; the competing interests statement in the article is the short, published summary.

Will declaring a conflict of interest get my paper rejected?

Not by itself. Disclosure is a commitment to transparency, and the ICMJE form states that it does not necessarily indicate a bias. An interest left undeclared and discovered after publication is far more damaging, and can lead to a correction.