Conflicts of interest in medical publishing: it's all about trustworthiness.

Abstract

Openness and transparency are vital for the trustworthiness of scientific journals and researchers. The term 'conflict of interest' should be defined broadly. Both financial and nonfinancial conflicts of interest may influence the reporting and evaluation of medical research. This should not hinder scientific cooperation between academic and industry-affiliated researchers. In the name of transparency, scientific journals should disclose the identity of a paper's peer reviewers and publish more information on the authors.