WEDNESDAY, July 12 (HealthDay News) -- In response to criticism that some of its articles do not fully disclose potential conflicts of interest, the Journal of the American Medical Association has announced an updated policy requiring all corresponding authors to submit complete disclosures -- including specific financial interests, relationships and affiliations relevant to the subject matter -- in the Acknowledgements section of their manuscripts, according to an editorial published in the July 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Effective January 2007, the journal's Web-based manuscript submission system will require authors to state that they have included complete conflict-of-interest information in the manuscript at the time of submission. Between now and the end of 2006, JAMA will continue to allow submissions in which the information is not yet included, but with the proviso that the information will be provided before any revisions are considered.
Under the new policy, authors will be expected to provide all relevant information from the past five years and for the foreseeable future. This includes employment and affiliations, grants or funding, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, royalties, and patents filed, received, pending or in preparation.
"All authors are encouraged to read these policies carefully and to follow them completely," state the editorial's authors: Managing Deputy Editor, Annette Flanagin, R.N.; Executive Deputy Editor, Phil B. Fontanarosa, M.D.; and Editor in Chief, Catherine D. DeAngelis, M.D. "By doing so, peer reviewers and editors can expect full disclosure of potential conflicts of interest in manuscripts submitted to JAMA, and physicians, other health care professionals, and the public can expect complete reporting of conflict-of-interest information in articles published in JAMA."
Editorial
