Editorial: Embracing Scrutiny

are accustomed to scrutiny such as experimental protocol reviews, oversight on research conduct, and critiques provided during the peer-review publication process. We especially anticipate the post-publication period during which others attempt to reproduce, validate , and then build on our work. All this scrutiny is basic to establishing the credibility of our findings. We therefore should not be put off by the greater attention now being focused on full disclosure of competing financial interests. What is essential to us as scientists is credibility. If our work is to contribute to the scientific and medical knowledge base, full disclosure is just one more process that must be embraced to establish and maintain the credibility of scientific and medical research. " The potential for conflict of interest can exist whether or not an individual believes that the relationship affects his or her scientific judgment " (Davidoff et al. 2001); this quote should be the rule upon which authors lean when deciding on the necessity of providing a financial interest disclosure. Authors should also realize that disclosing financial support does not automatically diminish the credibility of the research. However, failure to disclose a competing financial interest that is subsequently discovered immediately opens the authors to questions about objectivity. The need for full disclosure has become even more compelling as commercial organizations provide an increasing percentage of research support. Recognizing the growing importance of full disclosure, EHP clarified its policies in 2003. We feel that our disclosure requirements, which focus only on competing financial interests, are clear. However, a recent survey of the disclosure statements of some of our authors raised doubts about compliance. (Davis 2004) as saying that " these journals were picked because they have the best policies. " The CSPI investigative study covered December 2003 through February 2004, during which time EHP published 37 scientific studies. In a letter to EHP, Goozner (2004) stated that Only 2 of the studies indicated they were funded by industry, and 2 studies included conflict of interest disclosure statements for at least some of the authors. … The CSPI investigated the first and last authors involved in the 35 studies who did not disclose conflicts of interest. Our investigation revealed at least 3 articles (8.6%) where either the first or last authors should have disclosed conflicts in accordance with the disclosure policy. A fourth article was noted, but not included, because the issue identified would …